Melbourn set for by-election after eighth parish council member resigns
The candidates for the Melbourn Parish Council by-election have been announced. - Credit: Archant
The eighth councillor to resign from Melbourn Parish Council said she did not want to stand down but ‘her arm was twisted’.
Councillor Maureen Townsend’s resignation leaves just three councillors remaining and council meetings continue to be suspended after members of the public lost faith in the conduct of the authority
“I resigned due to residential pressure really, I had a letter asking me to resign,” Councillor Townsend said. “I don’t know who sent the letter, but there were three pages of signatures with it. “
Earlier this month, chairman Bob Tulloch, Kimmi Crosby, Mike Linnette, Irene Bloomfield, Andrew Mulcock, Siegmar Parton and Sally Ann Hart all resigned from the parish council.
This follows the resignation of four councillors in May this year.
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“The villagers wanted us to resign, they don’t want us anymore and it’s up to the village to find 16 new councillors,” Councillor Townsend said.
“I didn’t want to resign but my arm was twisted.”
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The three remaining council members are councillors Mike Sherwen, Rosemary Gatward and and Chris Stead.
Eight vacancies have been advertised on the parish council website and a by-election was called after 10 electors from the village gave notice for the election to be held. This will take place on Thursday, September 22, between 7am and 10pm.
If eight or fewer canadidates stand, Melbourn Parish Council will fill the vacancies by co-option.
A grievance panel report following a serious complaint in relation to the council, remains unpublished.
The Crow has put in an FOI request to the parish council to publish the details of the report.
