Attacks on councillors unwarranted

I am sorry to see that Cllr Thornton has once again written a letter personally attacking councillors, both borough and parish.

There may be some genuine confusion about the role of the councillor, and it might be useful to recap.

A borough councillor such as myself stands for a ward with boundaries defined by the Boundaries Commission . My own ward is the ward of Anston/Woodsetts and having spent 24 years in Anston and now one year in Woodsetts I feel reasonably well placed to try and serve the interests of those people living in those communities.

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A parish councillor must live within three miles of the parish boundary and, as such, Woodsetts falls well within that criterion.

The parish councillors that Cllr Thornton chooses to criticise live within yards of the Anston Parish Boundary.

Anston Parish Council, after hours of discussion, voted overwhelmingly to maintain the parish precept at last year’s level, not increase it.

We do not take decisions about finance lightly and Cllr Thornton’s suggestion that councillors do not care what happens to Anston is unacceptable and without foundation.

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The public might also wish to know that, so far, Cllr Thornton has made over a dozen complaints to the Standards Board about different members of Anston Parish Council at a cost of thousands of pounds to the taxpayer.

Not ONE of these complaints has been substantiated.

If Cllr Thornton was seriously interested in the use of taxpayer’s money, he might be more willing to take advice from the Standards Board, rather than spending it so needlessly, making personal attacks on other people.

All the meetings are open to the public and, if people want to watch and see what kind of contribution our councillors make, then please come to any of our parish council meetings which take place on the third Monday of the month at 7.30pm. You would be very, very welcome.

Cllr Jo Burton, Labour, Anston/Woodsetts ward.

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