‘Paralysed’ Shirebrook Council hopes to appoint new councillors after 11 resignations

The district council voted at an extraordinary meeting, on December 16, in favour of making an order under section 91 of the Local Government Act 1972 to temporarily appoint five district councillors as acting Shirebrook town councillors to allow the council to return to business and appoint up to nine new town councillors at a town council meeting on December 22.

Jim Fiedlsend, Bolsover Council monitoring officer told the meeting: “This is quite an unusual scenario we find ourselves in – I have never known this at Bolsover Council.”

Eleven Shirebrook town councillors, including former chair Sarah Brooks, resigned around August and September and then in December after the council had been at the centre of a degree of discord and disagreements among the public and councillors which led to two confidential meetings being abandoned.

The town council, which needs a minimum of six members to function as a quorate, had sought support from the Derbyshire Association of Local Councils which was putting together a package of recommendations for the authority including training sessions.

However, following the latest two resignations of Ms Brooks and Coun Tony Burns, in December, the council has been reduced from 16 to just five councillors.

A Boslover Council spokesperson stated: “This means that the town council in effect has been paralysed from conducting any town council business.

“The remaining councillors are unable to make any decisions and may not complete the co-option of councillors.”

Mr Fieldsend explained at least six councillors are required, or at least one-third of its membership of 16, for the town council to be a functioning quorate but with only five councillors it is unable to make decisions.

The district council stated a Notice of Vacancy was received after nine councillors originally resigned around August and September but no election was called as the town council began a process to co-opt new councillors.

However by December 4, the district council was informed that two more councillors had resigned.

District councillors voted unanimously in favour of making an order under section 91 of the Local Government Act 1972 to make temporary appointments to the town council with five district councillors – John Ritchie, Mary Dooley, Tom Munro, Amanda Davis and Will Fletcher – until other town councillors are elected or co-opted and take up office.

Shirebrook Council has received a number of applications from potential town councillors hoping to be appointed and co-opted by the town council onto the authority into any of nine of the 11 vacant places without the need for an election.

The nine other town councillors who resigned from the town council earlier in the year include Jennifer Wilson, Nicola Smith, Pauline Chapman, Terry Chapman, Paul Harford, Vicky Kirby, Marian Stockdale, Steve Fritchley and Christine Dale.

Mr Fritchley, who used to be leader of Bolsover District Council, and former town councillor, Ms Wilson, will both continue to serve as Bolsover councillors for Langwith and Shirebrook North respectively.

The five remaining Shirebrook town councillors include Martin Barber, Shaun Cheeseman, Fred Gobey, Brian Murray-Carr and Dale Smith.

During the discord at the town council, two confidential meetings had to be abandoned concerning Shirebrook Town Football Club’s bid to take over the running and maintenance of the council’s village hall for the club and the community.

This was followed by a number of councillors’ resignations.

A council spokesperson stated these meetings were abandoned after some councillors did not agree with the proposed project for the village hall while others felt a public consultation should have taken place and some did not want to take the matter forward with the public excluded.

Disputes in the community alongside the councillors’ resignations have also attracted a lot of online and social media fervour with some alarming and personal comments.