Longhope Parish Councillors survive parish poll
The remaining members of a turmoil-stricken parish council survived a vote which called for them to stand down.
Longhope Parish Council has struggled in recent years with resignations and numerous code of conduct complaints lodged against parish councillors.
The council also alleged in a public letter that financial irregularities had recently been noted in their finances.
And a parish poll was organised after it was called for by residents. The move came after 11 out 40 people at a recent public meeting voted to start a formal procedure to remove the council’s three remaining members.
Only 12.7 per cent of the village’s 1,332 electorate took part in the non-binding vote yesterday.
They were asked if they felt the remaining parish council members were properly representing and whether serving them and should remain in office.
A total of 104 voters said yes while 61 disagreed to both of these questions.
While 101 agreed that councillors had acted properly, and showed respect for the positions they hold with 63 people disagreeing.
There have been numerous conduct complaints lodged regarding Longhope Parish Council over the last year, according to a Forest of Dean District Council letter from January.
The letter signed by the council’s monitoring officer said “in two cases, I have concluded that the behaviour would have been serious enough to merit further action, had that been in the public interest”.
However, she did not deem it to be in the public interest to take the matter further amid a “real possibility that the outcome of an investigation would stoke further and deeper division, when what the people of Longhope really need is stability in the parish council”.
Yesterday, voters were also asked if they believe there is a public interest and a need for the district council’s monitoring officer to properly investigate and deal with any code of conduct breaches by the three remaining councillors.
However, this was defeated by 95 to 69.