News: Cllr Tony Ewer resigns as Chair of CPC

In an announcement at Chilbolton’s Annual Parish meeting, Cllr Tony Ewer said that he would be stepping aside as Chair due to “too many health problems”.

He will be replaced by Cllr Julian Hudson, who was voted as the new Chair of the Council. His first act was to announce that he would relinquish his registration of interest in one of the downsize homes planned by CPC. He said that he and his wife had concluded that “we’re happy in the home we own”.

The Council then appointed Cllr Ewer as Vice-Chair, at which he said “I assure you I won’t get involved in any discussions about property”

The change of guard follows a tumultuous six months for the Council which has seen concerns raised by villagers over a lack of transparency and clarity, a botched planning pre-application to Test Valley Borough Council and divisions within the Parish Council over how a re-written planning pre-app would be produced.

The Council has been doggedly trying to move forward from these difficulties, and the Annual Meeting continued in that vein .

It was revealed at the last Parish Council meeting that they had written to the Monitoring Officer at TVBC asking for advice on the implications of pecuniary interest for discussions and decisions at its committees.

That advice seemed to have borne fruit at the Annual Meeting. Councillors unanimously agreed a new Code of Conduct, closely aligned with TVBC’s own Code. This sets out more clearly what pecuniary interest and personal interest comprise. It also clarifies when councillors should withdraw from discussions where they have an interest.

The role of CPC’s Planning Committee in respect of the proposed new homes was also discussed. Cllr George Marits asked “Can [they] comment on their own development?” It was agreed that advice should be sought from the Monitoring Officer at TVBC.

The meeting hit rockier ground when it turned to the new Community Development Committee. The status of the Terms of Reference was questioned and there was controversy over how committee members would be selected.

Cllr Debbie Collis complained that she had not seen the list of candidates and recommended that the Parish Council should be involved in their selection.

Candidates would be asked for a brief description of their background and skills. The Council would discuss it privately, and would approve CDC’s membership at the next meeting.

The Annual Parish meeting put in place some building blocks for better governance. Nonetheless, it was clear that some difficult decisions lie ahead and some difficult discussions are to be had.