The former chairman of Camber Parish Council says he is shocked by how he has been treated after twice being barred from being a councillor for not attending meetings.
John Bradford says both decisions go against the wishes of the people who voted for him. “I have worked in local government for over forty years, but this is something else. It’s become personal and stressful.” He stood down as leader in May last year but remained a councillor telling Rye News: “It was a personal decision as catching up with family events after Covid would have impacted my role as chairman.” Despite giving reasons for his non-attendance at the council meetings, his fellow councillors removed him from Camber Parish Council in November. He was re-elected by Camber residents in May this year, however he has once again been prevented from being a councillor and voted off because he didn’t attend that month’s meeting as he was abroad on pre-arranged business.
He missed five meetings from May to December last year but denies that affected his ability to be an effective councillor. “I worked assiduously on council business no matter where I was or what I was doing. It is inaccurate and disingenuous to imply I was always on holiday and did not fulfil my role as a councillor. The parish council was notified in advance of each meeting I had to miss, and my apologies were recorded. I attended every meeting in 2021 and I undertook my role as chairman very seriously. In the six years I’ve been on the council I’ve missed a handful of meetings.”
A notice posted on the Camber Parish Council website and parish noticeboards gives the current chairman’s reasons for barring John Bradford. In the statement Councillor Peter Atkinson says: “In November 2022 advice was taken from Democratic Services and then the electoral authority and the result was that John was disqualified as a parish councillor due to failure to attend meetings over a required period. Councillors followed lawful procedure in a vote. The result of which was that the majority of councillors had lost confidence in him.”
John Bradford says the proper procedure was not followed. “In November I received a hand-delivered letter stating my place on the council had been forfeited. It was claimed this was because of absences over six months, but the procedure should be that any councillor who is approaching a six-month absence is contacted, warned and given an opportunity to formally request that their absence is approved. That didn’t happen. It’s outrageous that four councillors can overturn the electorate’s vote.”
Rye News approached Camber Parish Council for comment but was told next week’s council meeting would decide whether a formal reply would be made to the paper and pointed to the statement on its website. You can read it here. The statement includes details of the council vacancy and the possibility of co-opting a councillor on to the parish council, however an election seems more likely as Rother Council is said to have received enough representations to ensure a ballot. John Bradford feels he must stand. “I can’t just walk away. Every day I walk along the front at Camber and people always ask me what’s happening. There’s so much that needs to be done, but it’s just not happening.”
Image Credits: John Bradford .
I am aware of the rules governing local councils, but it a manifest distortion of democracy that other elected representatives can remove a representative with whom his constituency is happy. Attendance is of course crucially important, but attendance (or not) is NO BUSINESS OF THE OTHER ELECTED PEOPLE. Attendance should obviously be recorded and published, but if electors are returning the candidate, that is the end of the story.
Once he was re-elected on 4th May the period during which John Bradford had to have attend a meeting started from that date. Something seems wrong as we are only two months on from that. Is there some other issue such as failure to sign a declaration of acceptance of office?
It seems extremely unfair to vote off a councillor because of his absence! Surely being a councillor is more about what you do for the community than attending meetings?
So it appears there will be another election that will cost RDC, well us, another £2000 to possibly elect the same candidate. Perhaps the councillors on Camber Parish Council should reconsider their actions and spend more time worrying what’s good for Camber than this procedural fiasco.
I’m looking forward to their collective reply, pity it’ll take another meeting to decide the content.