{"id":85894,"date":"2023-09-25T15:21:16","date_gmt":"2023-09-25T15:21:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/celebritytidings.com\/?p=85894"},"modified":"2023-09-25T15:21:16","modified_gmt":"2023-09-25T15:21:16","slug":"village-in-disarray-after-explosive-row-erupts-over-parish-website","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/celebritytidings.com\/world-news\/village-in-disarray-after-explosive-row-erupts-over-parish-website\/","title":{"rendered":"Village in disarray after explosive row erupts over parish website"},"content":{"rendered":"<h2>Small village is left in disarray after explosive row erupts between councillors over who controls the parish website &#8211; sparking mass resignations, more than \u00a3100,000 of community funds on hold and a police probe<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>The dispute in Spooner Row in triggered mass resignations by councillors<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong>The ongoing row means \u00a3102,000 of community funds remain unspent<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>A small village has been left in disarray over an explosive feud between councillors about who has control of the parish website.<\/p>\n<p>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.<\/p>\n<p>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.<\/p>\n<p>The ongoing row means \u00a3102,000 of community funds remain unspent, while locals complain the &#8216;shambles&#8217; means they are not being properly represented.<\/p>\n<p>At the heart of the issue is Cllr Robert Foster, who helped set up the council&#8217;s website and is able to read all his colleagues&#8217; emails.<\/p>\n<p>Fellow councillors asked him to transfer the admin passwords to them but he refused, arguing he needs access as the authority&#8217;s communications officer.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/i.dailymail.co.uk\/1s\/2023\/09\/25\/14\/75812497-12558189-image-a-1_1695650181521.jpg\" height=\"374\" width=\"634\"><\/p>\n<p>Pictured left to right: Neil Griffin (retired), Martyn Lemon, Susan Hewitson, Tony Cleary (retired), Robert Foster, and Stephen Ward.\u00a0Spooner Row council members are seen at its first meeting in 2019<\/p>\n<p>With no solution in sight, members turned to the village&#8217;s online notice board to post resignation letters in which Mr Foster was criticised for his &#8216;derisive attitude and appalling behaviour&#8217; and chairman Sue Hewitson described herself as feeling &#8216;like an abused victim&#8217;.<\/p>\n<p>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.<\/p>\n<p>He said: &#8216;The situation with the website has been manipulated by members of the council for their own aims.&#8217;<\/p>\n<p>Explaining that he had set up, designed and paid for the council website himself, he added: &#8216;I&#8217;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.<\/p>\n<p>&#8216;I have seen a whisper campaign against me and the attacks on the forum are ongoing.&#8217;<\/p>\n<p>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.<\/p>\n<p>With the situation becoming increasingly acrimonious, members complained that Mr Foster was able to read every email they sent and received.<\/p>\n<p>South Norfolk Council, which oversees the parish, said the matter needed to be addressed but Mr Foster refused to relinquish control.<\/p>\n<p>As the dispute became increasingly heated, police were called in when Mr Foster was accused of sending &#8216;malicious communications&#8217; during an email argument in which he allegedly challenged a detractor if he &#8216;had the balls&#8217; to confront him in person.<\/p>\n<p>After a three-week investigation, Mr Foster was told there was no evidence against him and there would be no further action.<\/p>\n<p>He responded with a leaflet campaign in the lead-up to the local elections in May, in which he campaigned under the slogan &#8216;The truth will come out&#8217;.<\/p>\n<p>The leaflets contained allegations that members of the Village Hall Association were trying to &#8216;load&#8217; the council with its allies to control how the funds were spent.<\/p>\n<p>Since the election, six councillors have quit \u2013 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.<\/p>\n<p>The latest to leave, Nicola Skey, said: &#8216;I gave it my best shot but it has been difficult.&#8217;<\/p>\n<p>Responding to the &#8216;cesspit&#8217; allegation, the community noticeboard&#8217;s administrator, who is known only as Webstation, said: &#8216;His claim is nonsense. It is moderated responsibly with impartiality.&#8217;<\/p>\n<p>Local businessman Richard Foreman said the row was infuriating residents, adding: &#8216;The council no longer represents the electorate.&#8217;<\/p>\n<p>The quarrel is the latest to paralyse the lowest tier of local government in Norfolk.<\/p>\n<p>In June it emerged only one councillor was left at Geldeston Parish Council after every other member and the clerk quit over his &#8216;abusive&#8217; behaviour.<\/p>\n<p>Earlier this month, West Norfolk Council \u2013 where three parishes were unable to form administrations in May due to a lack of volunteers &#8211; has debated the problem of mass resignations and problems finding people willing to be elected to parish councils.<\/p>\n<p>Cllr Hewitson has been contacted for comment.<\/p>\n<p>A Norfolk Police spokeswoman said: &#8216;I can confirm these matters were investigated but no further action will be taken.&#8217;\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Source: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.dailymail.co.uk\/news\/article-12558189\/Small-village-left-disarray-explosive-row-erupts-councillors-controls-parish-website-sparking-mass-resignations-100-000-community-funds-hold-police-probe.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Read Full Article<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Small village is left in disarray after explosive row erupts between councillors over who controls the parish website &#8211; sparking mass resignations, more than \u00a3100,000 of community funds on hold and a police probe The dispute in Spooner Row in triggered mass resignations by councillors The ongoing row means \u00a3102,000 of community funds remain unspent A small village has been<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":85893,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v21.8 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Village in disarray after explosive row erupts over parish website - Celebrity Tidings<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/celebritytidings.com\/world-news\/village-in-disarray-after-explosive-row-erupts-over-parish-website\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Village in disarray after explosive row erupts over parish website - Celebrity Tidings\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Small village is left in disarray after explosive row erupts between councillors over who controls the parish website &#8211; 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