LAST night’s virtual meeting of Melksham Town Council boiled over into acrimony as members of the public were angry over the questions they could ask and the number of questions allowed while the appointment of locum town clerk was queried. In the second part of the meeting, which was held behind closed doors with the public and press excluded, other councillors also voted to controversially exclude cllr Jon Hubbard.
In the second part of the extraordinary town council meeting, councillors discussed HR matters following the suspension of the town clerk and her deputy. During the public part of the meeting, the clerk’s deputy, Patsy Clover, asked for her anonymity to be removed and wanted the discussion to be in public, but this was refused.
Following his exclusion from the second part of the meeting, cllr Hubbard said, “At the meeting of Melksham Town Council last night the public were refused answers to their questions. So I attempted to ask as an elected councillor questions on behalf of the people I represent.
“I wanted to know about recent events where a few councillors had assumed to take executive powers upon themselves against all principles of democracy, Town Council rules and the law.
“These are important questions that it is essential that councillors are allowed to ask.
“This is the whole point of democracy.
“These questions need to be asked as the council appears to be dysfunctional at a time when we need to see all councillors working together to support our community.
“As a community we are facing challenges like never before, Covid-19, climate change, delegation of services to the Town Council as Wiltshire Council increasingly faces cuts. Now is the time to be working as a team, not playing petty personal politics.
“The result of my asking these questions was that as soon as the press and public were excluded from the meeting, the Liberal Democrat councillors voted en-bloc to kick me out.
“They didn’t want these questions to be asked.
“It is time we all starting look forwards and focus on why we were elected and what the people of our town expect of their elected representatives.”
