Village in disarray after explosive row erupts over parish website

Small village is left in disarray after explosive row erupts between councillors over who controls the parish website – sparking mass resignations, more than £100,000 of community funds on hold and a police probe

• The dispute in Spooner Row in triggered mass resignations by councillors
• The ongoing row means £102,000 of community funds remain unspent

A small village has been left in disarray over an explosive feud between councillors about who has control of the parish website.

The extraordinary dispute in idyllic Spooner Row in Norfolk has triggered mass resignations by councillors, a bitter leaflet campaign, brickbats being thrown about on an online noticeboard, and even a police investigation.

Experts from South Norfolk Council, the Norfolk Association of Local Councils and Norfolk Parish Training Services have been called in but failed to quell the bad blood.

The ongoing row means £102,000 of community funds remain unspent, while locals complain the ‘shambles’ means they are not being properly represented.

At the heart of the issue is Cllr Robert Foster, who helped set up the council’s website and is able to read all his colleagues’ emails.

Fellow councillors asked him to transfer the admin passwords to them but he refused, arguing he needs access as the authority’s communications officer.

Pictured left to right: Neil Griffin (retired), Martyn Lemon, Susan Hewitson, Tony Cleary (retired), Robert Foster, and Stephen Ward. Spooner Row council members are seen at its first meeting in 2019

With no solution in sight, members turned to the village’s online notice board to post resignation letters in which Mr Foster was criticised for his ‘derisive attitude and appalling behaviour’ and chairman Sue Hewitson described herself as feeling ‘like an abused victim’.

But Mr Foster, a company secretary at a law firm, today claimed the email privacy issue was being used to distract attention from the activities of a clique of councillors he had stood up against as they were obsessed with spending money on the community hall.

He said: ‘The situation with the website has been manipulated by members of the council for their own aims.’

Explaining that he had set up, designed and paid for the council website himself, he added: ‘I’m not going to give up control of the website without proper assurances that certain individuals would not turn it into a cesspit like the Spooner Row message board has become.

‘I have seen a whisper campaign against me and the attacks on the forum are ongoing.’

A difference of opinion first arose over how the council should spend its funds, with projects on the drawing board including gym equipment and a fitness trail on the playing fields and a new kitchen in the village hall.

With the situation becoming increasingly acrimonious, members complained that Mr Foster was able to read every email they sent and received.

South Norfolk Council, which oversees the parish, said the matter needed to be addressed but Mr Foster refused to relinquish control.

As the dispute became increasingly heated, police were called in when Mr Foster was accused of sending ‘malicious communications’ during an email argument in which he allegedly challenged a detractor if he ‘had the balls’ to confront him in person.

After a three-week investigation, Mr Foster was told there was no evidence against him and there would be no further action.

He responded with a leaflet campaign in the lead-up to the local elections in May, in which he campaigned under the slogan ‘The truth will come out’.

The leaflets contained allegations that members of the Village Hall Association were trying to ‘load’ the council with its allies to control how the funds were spent.

Since the election, six councillors have quit – although Mr Foster said some had done so in solidarity with him. Others have been co-opted onto the council but there are still three vacancies.

The latest to leave, Nicola Skey, said: ‘I gave it my best shot but it has been difficult.’

Responding to the ‘cesspit’ allegation, the community noticeboard’s administrator, who is known only as Webstation, said: ‘His claim is nonsense. It is moderated responsibly with impartiality.’

Local businessman Richard Foreman said the row was infuriating residents, adding: ‘The council no longer represents the electorate.’

The quarrel is the latest to paralyse the lowest tier of local government in Norfolk.

In June it emerged only one councillor was left at Geldeston Parish Council after every other member and the clerk quit over his ‘abusive’ behaviour.

Earlier this month, West Norfolk Council – where three parishes were unable to form administrations in May due to a lack of volunteers – has debated the problem of mass resignations and problems finding people willing to be elected to parish councils.

Cllr Hewitson has been contacted for comment.

A Norfolk Police spokeswoman said: ‘I can confirm these matters were investigated but no further action will be taken.’ 

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