Council minutes called into question after member threatened resignation over Neighbouhood Plan

The minutes of a Colyton Parish Council meeting held in September were called into question last week, after one councillor stood down but later rescinded his resignation.

Councillor Howard West announced his immediate resignation during a heated discussion on the Draft Neighbourhood Plan in a virtual meeting of the parish council in September. At the time, he declined to comment further on his reasons for resigning.

However, he later reversed his decision and remains on the parish council as he never gave a written letter of resignation to the council chairman.

Draft minutes of the September meeting did initially include reference to Councillor West's verbal resignation, but this had been removed from the final draft of the minutes put forward for approval at last week's virtual meeting.

Councillor Joy Gardiner questioned whether the council were following correct protocol by not referring to Councillor West's resignation.

She said the minutes were "not a true record of the meeting" and raised particular concern as a new vice-chairman of the council's Planning Committee - a position previously held by Councillor West - had been elected based on his resignation mentioned in the original draft minutes.

Parish clerk Sasha Haines said she had removed reference to Councillor West's resignation on the advice of the Devon Association of Local Councils (DALC), as it was not a formal motion of the council.

Councillor Paul Arnott agreed it did not have to be included as it was not a decision of the council. He added that a lot of other "hostile" comments were made at the meeting that were not included in the minutes.

Referring to the election of a new vice-chairman of planning, Councillor Gardiner questioned: "But were they [DALC] aware that a subsequent action had been taken based on his resignation?"

Members were unclear of the answer and agreed to seek further advice from DALC before approving the minutes.

Later in the meeting, Councillor West raised concerns over the Draft Neighbourhood Plan, which had led him to announce his resignation at the previous meeting.

He said there were a number of inaccuracies in the plan - which is being made to guide future sustainable change, growth and development within the parish - and he felt it should not have been put out to public consultation.

"There are some important points that we should really have discussed before this went out to public consultation," he commented.

"For example, the plan says we don't have a very good bus service between us and Sidmouth and Exeter; well, we don't have a bus service at all to Sidmouth and Exeter, There's quite a few things like that in the plan which are actually incorrect."

Chairman Andrew Parr said: "When we discussed this at the last meeting, we agreed that there were mistakes there but, because of the time element, we were willing to accept the mistakes and they would get rectified during the consultation process."

Councillor Arnott said that it was not true that mistakes were accepted, as councillors weren't allowed to discuss Councillor West's concerns at the previous meeting.

He said it was a "pity" that the council were unable to discuss mistakes before the draft plan went out to public consultation but there would definitely be an opportunity to rectify them in the future.

Councillor Parr suggested that the council would have a meeting to specifically discuss any mistakes and comments raised during the public consultation period.

The draft Colyton Neighbourhood Plan, which has been five years in the making, went out to public consultation on Monday, October 5 for a 10-week period.

The plan can be viewed on the Colyton Parish Council website or a hard copy is available to view at the council offices in the town hall, mornings only by prior arrangement (call 01297 552460). A copy is also available in the porch of St Michael's Chapel of Ease in Colyford, open 9am to 5pm Monday to Saturday.

You can make comments on the plan preferably by completing an online form on the parish council website or by completing a paper form and submitting it in the response box or posting or handing it in to Colyton Parish Council, Feoffees Town Hall, Market Place, Colyton, EX24 6JR.

Alternatively, you may submit your written comments in any form, but you must include your name, organisation (if applicable) and postcode for these to be accepted. All comments must be received by 5pm on Monday, December 14th.