Spooner Row Message Board

Firstly thank you Stephen for your hard work. Can I ask why this person can not be removed from CC ? 

THIS IS MY PERSONAL VIEW. 

It is very sad that we have come to this BUT I say straight away that Stephen is correct in everything he says and I certainly support and understand his position.

The toxic nature of Robert is affecting how the whole council is being perceived and energies are being expended, which have compromised several on going projects , and have indirectly or directly caused their cancellation. We have also lost some excellent hard working councillors along the way and now of course, Stephen.   

Speaking for myself, I would also find it impossible to work with Robert Foster going forward and I have lost count of the number of potential candidates who have simply said the same. Other serving councillors are similarly conflicted . His relentless verbal attacks on other councillors and the clerk, who confounds me by putting up with this level of abuse is MASSIVELY to her credit . Past clerks who have been similarly abused, have simply walked and we hear he is now also verbally attacking to her face, at least one of the members of the village Hall committee. 

Okay I hear you say why not tell him to resign ? We have, but he refuses to do so, claiming he has done nothing wrong or saying nothing, telling us that he is following instruction from his solicitor. He said this is full council yesterday so is in the public domain, and does not require formal acceptance in the minutes.       

This is a real chicken and egg situation. If we do not get more than seven candidates at the forthcoming election in May , there will be no election and anyone correctly filling in a nomination form will automatically be elected, and so I urge you to think seriously about this and if you want some support with form filling, I will and I am sure others will help you.

The council I suspect will simply die if that happens becuase of wholesale resignations or not enough candidates  

We are rapidly approaching the time when nomination forms need to be submitted so could I  ask if you are reading this, to seriously think about applying .

Unfortunately Andy, as with politicians, there are only 2 ways to remove a publicly elected member of parliament or a council. Theses are for the person to resign or for them not to be re-elected. If Spooner Row wishes to remove Councillor Foster, then the Community needs at least 7 other people to stand and then secure more votes than he does.

Anonymous wrote:

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Fortunate? having guy like that on OUR council. don't make me laugh. Sooner, Spooner get back to Wymondham the better, i would be happy to pay more. It was good before we set up this council.

Stephen, i hope you done this for a good reason, and not just thrown the towel in.

So, if Martin, Julian do same then what?

 

having councillor that i/we don't trust, that really isn't sitting well with me.

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Reading the letter, Stephen has made it quite clear as to why he has resigned and for good reason and who can blame him.

Good for you to want to go back with Wymondham and pay more council tax, but  many of us don't want this and cannot afford it. You can always move to Wymondham and pay your high rates there.

I am extremely sad that Stephen has decided to step down,I think he’s a good man with good morals and was genuine in his reasons to be on the council.

I really want to say alot about Robert Foster but I fear webstation may edit everything out. Yes Mark he definitely does have his own agenda,and no nothing of what he wants is for the good of the village.

Snakes do slip up!

Thanks for that Stephen. Is it possible to have a villagers vote of no confidence in RF .As he is not representing us , the villagers , in the correct manner then we should have a say . The problem I see here is you could put yourself forward for CC , then other good councillors could resign and you could end up on the committee with RF !!!!!!

 A vote of no confidence at our level is meaningless and it is only by tradition that it brings about the resignation of the Govt. One was taken and passed on a councillor at Wymondham Town council spme years ago now and NOTHING happened as a consequence.

Stephen is almost correct in terms of excluding serving councillors  

There is one other key reason/ process that can remove a councillor and that is he/she is found guilty of an offence that results in 3 months in prison suspended or otherwise without the option of a fine for 5 years since and before the day of the election. There are other reasons but as you can infer it is a hard test to pass. See section 80 of the local Govt Act 1972 refers.    

This statement says it was read out at the meeting -so in fairness to all concerned -Why has the Community Council published this statement from Cllr Ward and NOT the earlier statement from Cllr Foster? Surely this whole matter needs some kind of perspective and not just one side of the coin? Who on the council published this ?..i think everyone needs to know .Was it the clerk?  I fear this public message board is heading down a darkly dangerous route with the very public destruction of an individual of whos input strangely seems to be missing. This looks like some kind of smear campaign 

(Dear Anon, Cllr Robert Foster's Statement was sent anonymously, he also claims he did not post it, so therefore it was not published here as previously explained under that thread.

I can confirm that Cllr Stephen Ward from the Spooner Row Community Council was the author of this Statement and it was his request that it be published on this message board.

Cllr Foster is welcome to post a reply. There is no smear campaign.

Webstation)

-- Edited by webstation on Friday 10th of March 2023 08:41:56 PM

It's outrageous that councillors cannot access their email accounts and the contents accessed without their knowledge. We have all contributed to the council's communication facility through our precept. Is Cllr Foster going to reimburse the community as the service is now unavailable?  How do we email the council?

looks Like you’ve all got your pitchforks out ! Poor show and very unprofessional to wash your dirty linen in this way ..not a great example to set 

Come on Robert Foster , let’s hear your side of the story.

Why are you looking at other councillors emails?

Why are you not giving up spooner row cc? 
why would you have set that Domain up in the first place?

please don’t say you were acting in the best interests of the village,as I and others are not that stupid.

you should be called out on what you have done and shamed and resign !

For many years Robert has spent a great deal of his personal time in the community, working hard to protect our interests and promote new projects for the community.  These efforts do not go unnoticed and are welcome by many in Spooner Row.  Given the huge challenges this community faces in the future with infrastructure changes and major developments such as new housing, Spooner Row needs Councillors like Robert to ensure we are adequately represented and protected. 

However, these current tensions within the Community Council certainly do not paint it in a good light. 

We need more people from the community to engage with the Community Council. 

We need people to be prepared to get involved and be a part of opportunities that arise to enhance our village rather than let other people do it for them.  

However, reading some of the messages posted is not encouraging and I fear that more people will simply turn away from community issues and will not want to get involved if the Community Council fails to function properly.

The absolute deadline to register as a nominee to become a councillor is 1600  NEXT Tuesday the 4th April at the Aviva building just outside Norwich .

Papers must be presented in person and this is real opportunity to make a difference  in the community for the next 4 years. You only need TWO supporters and surely you must see things you want improved, changed or provided .

I would like to see a speed limit in Suton street , and Eleven mile lane and possibly other streets and certainly a speed reduction on London road. How about a bus shelter near May gurney? I am sure there are lots of other ideas and whilst SOME the community council are not directly rsponsible for, elected councillors can certainly attempt to influence and push for. 

Please do think about applying but you have little time to do so   

Thank you Stephen 

I have said previously and will say again here that if Robert Foster gets re elected I will resign , if I am elected to serve on the community council alongside him 

I'm not interested in the bickering or infighting but I don't think the council is being transparent and honest about the school expansion project.

Did the most recent council minutes indicate that there was a public consultation? I'm from the village, yet I didn't see this advertised. Did it proceed?   

In the past when questioned about the proposed plans,  councillors have been evasive and even suggested that there was no need for consultation because they had been chosen by the general public to decide on our behalf on the community areas. 

A lack of space being considered by Ofsted has occasionally been used to support the enlargement of the school grounds. I looked through the schools Ofsted report but couldn't find the details. The school being oversubscribed is another rationale , and while this is true, many of the pupils (at least 6/15 in year group my child is in)  do not live in catchment as they are Wymondham , Whispering Oaks estate residents.

I'm neither for or against the expansion ( have yet to see the plans), but I do believe the neighbourhood should be informed and consulted over any space that will be used by more than just the school.This is my personal experience as a resident of the community with a child in the school.

Just for interest the leaflets produced by Robert Foster , ( I assume) as has been pointed out by others, is illegal as they do not acknowledge who had produced them. 

This is a criminal matter as was his admission in the council minutes in January, that he illegally intercepted e mail traffic between council members not addressed to him. It was not malicious or unfounded as he says in his leaflet and was investigated by the police.

Do you really want someone who demonstrably breaks the law representing you and claiming that they are going to get the community council reputation back , on such a pretext 

You are right Robert ... the truth will come out , and it has. 

I apologise for being a stuck record and will comment no further. 

Further to my last message regarding leaflets, which I posted earlier today whilst travelling, I have now returned home and read through the leaflets from Cllr Robert Foster. I would now like to set another untruth straight. Cllr Foster has not submitted full and costed proposal for 14 of the 15 items listed on one of the leaflets he has delivered. In therefore stating that they have been undermined or ignored is yet another bending of the truth to fit his agenda.

in December 2021, Cllr Foster placed a similar list of projects on the table at a committee meeting during a discussion on setting the precept for Financial Year 2022/23. He did not give any notice to other Councillors of this list and it was not submitted as a proposal to be read before the meeting, which is standard practice. He used the list to try to argue that the Parish precept should be maintained at collecting circa £25,000 annually from you as residents to deliver his list of project’s. The majority of the Council though voted to reduce the precept to £10,300.00 to cover our annual operating costs, until the Council planned and delivered projects to reduce the near £100,000 that had already been accrued in the Bank Account. The Council thought that it was morally wrong to continue to take a high precept from you as a community, whilst we were failing to deliver projects and reduce the reserve we already had.

Since that meeting, when the majority of Councillors agreed to reduce the precept, Councillor Foster has only submitted one costed proposal on his list to the Council for consideration. This proposal was submitted to the October 2022 meeting, which was for the purchase of the fitness equipment for the Playing Field.  At this meeting 2 other very similar proposals were also tabled. The 3 Councillors involved were therefore asked to consolidate their proposals in to one and also  to research / canvass other local councils for more information on similar equipment they had purchased. Since October 2022 Councillor Foster has not returned the proposal to the Council.

I can provide agendas and minutes to the relevant meeting as evidence if anyone requires. As I have said before, if Councillor Foster disputes the truth, then I would welcome him to post the evidence on here for the community to consider.

Seems like we need Jackie Weaver. I am astounded by the behaviour seen from some within our community, slanderous leaflets through peoples letterboxes, a widespread “poor me” campaign when fair challenge to an election is made. Goodness knows what has been going on behind the scenes if this is the public face?

Thanks Lisa and I appreciate you feedback. Although an agenda was published for the September 2022 Community Council Meeting, the meeting did not take place due to the death of her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II.

In terms of communication and canvassing opinion, I agree with you that the council may not have done enough. It is however, difficult in a community to talk to everyone all the time, hence trying to engage through various online forums and also putting our contact details out there for people to ask questions of any of us if they have concerns. All of the Councillors are also volunteers, so like you have busy lives of their own, leaflet dropping and surveys take a considerable amount of time and effort to deliver and unfortunately we have had limited feedback from them.

This is not an excuse and any organisation can always try harder. I am hopeful that whoever sits on the Council for the next 4 years will try to to build on what has already been done and may find a better way to communicate. The Council currently has put in place two noticeboards, had a website www.spoonerrow.cc despite the recent ownership issue which will hopefully be resolved moving forward, set up a IP based telephone (01953) 304 401 which the Clerk and some Councillors are on a call pickup group for, set up a closed group on NextDoor which anyone in the community can request to join and has also used Twitter on a limited basis. As you say we distributed 3 leaflets and pushed out a survey. We also have also had a stand at the village fete ever year, but again hardly anyone came over for a chat.

A message for the whole community, communications works both ways, so please use all of the mediums at your disposal to tell the new Community Council when it forms what you as a community want them to do for you.

Stephen. The September meeting that was cancelled because of the Queen's death was on 8 September. The extra meeting with Enrich Trust was on 1 September. There is an agenda but no minutes on the website.

Hi Lisa

Sorry for the confusion. There was originally a meeting scheduled for the 1st September but there was an issue with publishing the agenda within the legal time limit; from memory I think this was to do with an email issue. The meeting was therefore postponed a week to 8th September and then subsequently cancelled.