IMPROVED standards of respect between members of Oxfordshire County Council are set to be pursued in the wake of a row involving “disgusting”, “appalling” and “baseless” claims.
Councillor Richard Webber (Lib Dem, Sutton Courtenay & Marcham) led calls for his colleagues of all political persuasions to consider their behaviour when thrashing out matters.
His address came prior to the controversial debate over weight restrictions for lorries travelling through Burford, a decision called in for review by 14 councillors.
A letter written by Councillor Nick Field-Johnson (Con, Burford & Carterton North) implied that Councillor Duncan Enright (Lab, Witney North & East), the county’s cabinet member for travel and development strategy and sole decision maker on the matter, had “predetermined” the outcome in favour of the area he represents.
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The county’s monitoring officer Anita Bradley, the officer of the council whose job it is to make sure decisions are lawful and fair, insisted there was “no evidence” to back up those claims and that it was “quite damaging to make such accusations without the evidence to support it”.
That came in the midst of a spiky exchange that lasted more than two hours and after Cllr Webber had made his plea.
He revealed he had been “lobbied quite heavily by more than one person” and had become “a little alarmed” by the accusations against Cllr Enright.
“We are a new council and I think it is very important to agree to some rules or actions for the way we behave and the way we hope our residents and our own councillors will behave,” he said.
“Please, could I ask that people agree that we should behave properly, respect each other and people’s positions on this council.
“I feel so strongly about this particular issue that I am urging this should go to full council for a consideration that we actually need to get into our governance review.
“Please can we all respect each other. That way we will get sensible, rational debate.”
Cllr Field-Johnson said there was “nothing either personal or politically motivated” about the letter but continued to state his belief that Cllr Enright had been “compromised and conflicted by being a member of the Witney Town Council”.
Councillor Yvonne Constance MBE (Con, Shrivenham) said that the raising of concerns “was not an attack on him personally” but the comments cut no ice with the Place Overview & Scrutiny Committee, the gathering of councillors asked to review initial decision on Burford.
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Councillor Sally Povolotsky (Lib Dem, Hendreds & Harwell) apologised “on behalf of other people” and said: “I think it has been pretty disgusting hearing this in the chamber.”
Councillor Dan Levy (Lib Dem, Eynsham) said “the attempt to personalise this has been appalling”, while Councillor Charlie Hicks (Lab, Cowley) argued that “a lot of the personal attacks made against him are entirely baseless and I think they speak more to the people who are making them than they do to him”.
Councillor Brad Baines (Lab, Isis) called the claims “erroneous and somewhat scandalous”, adding they were “completely unacceptable”.
The scrutiny committee referred the decision on the lifting of Burford's lorry ban back to the full cabinet to review the facts.
It is hoped that it will be on the agenda for February 15.
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