Residents of the Ancient Town are upset at a decision by Icklesham Parish Council to co-opt a non-resident to represent Winchelsea ward, despite there being applications from up to five residents of the town. Their annoyance has been compounded by the fact that the new councillor was co-opted by the votes of councillors from other wards over the votes cast by councillors who represent or are resident in Winchelsea, all of whom voted for candidates who are also residents.
At a meeting of the Council this week, Patsy Hollands of Winchelsea Beach was co-opted to be the new councillor for Winchelsea ward, to fill the casual vacancy left by another co-opted resident of Winchelsea Beach, Clive Pope. Mrs Hollands was voted into office by the ward councillors for Icklesham, Winchelsea Beach and Rye Harbour. The council rejected applications by three residents of Winchelsea. Two others had withdrawn their applications before the meeting, one in favour of the other candidates, whom he felt were better qualified, and the other because of sudden ill health.
Eyebrows have been raised further in Winchelsea because the rejected candidates were exceptionally well qualified. One is the chief executive of a national charity, a trustee and organiser of the Rye Arts Festival, a doctor in semiotics and was involved in the reconstruction of civil society in the Balkans. Another is a semi-retired consultant with an extensive experience in the public service and a former school governor. The third was a former councillor who had served almost three terms on the council (yours truly). All are actively involved in Winchelsea clubs, societies and community campaigns. The successful candidate explained that she had “a background in education” but had not been involved in anything in Winchelsea and was connected with the town by the fact that her grand-daughter had attended the primary school there.
Icklesham Parish Council had delayed the decision to co-opt a new councillor until the latest meeting, despite having received several applications well ahead of their previous meeting. Mrs Hollands did not apply, according to one councillor, until last weekend and after the deadline for applications.
Some in Winchelsea have suggested that the latest co-option follows a pattern. Thus, the councillor being replaced, non-resident Clive Pope, had himself been co-opted in preference to a Winchelsea resident at a hastily-called special meeting of the council about a year ago. Before that, Icklesham Parish Council had co-opted a resident of Icklesham, Mrs Anne Rumsey, as ward councillor for Winchelsea instead of two Winchelsea applicants. One of the rejected candidates on that occasion had applied repeatedly for several months beforehand but the parish clerk at that time claimed not to have received two of his applications and to have mislaid a third. When a date for a decision was eventually agreed by the council, it did not in fact appear on the agenda of that meeting, but was deferred for another three weeks. It was during that time that Mrs Rumsey first communicated her interest in standing as a councillor. The location of the meeting at which the decision was taken was then moved at short notice, and for no valid reason, from Winchelsea to Icklesham by the council chairman, Mrs Corinne Merricks, a friend and neighbour of Mrs Rumsey.
The irony is that Icklesham Parish Council cannot attract enough interest at elections from residents of Icklesham, Winchelsea Beach and Rye Harbour to fill all the seats reserved for those wards and tends to fill these seats with Winchelsea residents who have been rejected by voters in Winchelsea. Thus, for Icklesham ward, the council co-opted Winchelsea resident, Peter Turner, who has not been able to get elected in Winchelsea ward. For Winchelsea Beach, the council co-opted Tony Moore of Winchelsea, who no longer even stands for election in the town following electoral defeat and the scandal over the use of public funds to repair his Grade II-listed property. Meanwhile, Rye Harbour also relies on a resident of Winchelsea Beach, Jacqueline Stanford, who will not stand for her own ward. It has previously also relied on a resident of Rye.
Photo: Richard Comotto
If it’s true Mrs Hollands’ application came after a deadline, then the whole thing should be invalidated on procedural grounds…
I am a resident of Winchelsea, and I’d like to say that I am not’ upset’ by the decision to appoint a non resident to represent Winchelsea ward. Neither am I ‘annoyed’ or ‘raising my eyebrows’. I also disagree that Winchelsea has been ‘stitched up’, as the headline suggests.
Just because Mr Comotto has the good fortune to have this platform to voice his views about all things Winchelsea, it doesn’t mean that all of the residents of Winchelsea share his views, which he clearly implies in this article. This Ancient town requires some new blood.
Mrs Holland may not have the qualifications of some of the other candidates but what she dose have, is life skills and sees things as they are, which in my opinion would be a good thing.
To Rob
If this town needs some new blood any chance you could put your name forward along with some others.
To Peter
Icklesham Parish Council has never bothered with Procedure, why should they start now?
Hi Rob
I am not sure if you are a resident of Winchelsea, as your post is anonymous
However, you offer an interesting thesis: that I cannot possibly know what many residents of Winchelsea are saying but you can!
But the biggest question must be hat you do not think Winchelsea should be represented by someone who actually knows something about the day-to-day issues in Winchelsea, ie a resident. That seems a very desirable principle at this most local level of local government.
And of course the same principle was applied in the article to other wards, ie Winchelsea Beach should be represented by a resident of Winchelsea Beach, not Winchelsea. And certainly not by a Winchelsea reject. No horror about it so please don’t try to use that old chestnut.
It is also surprising that you have no problem with the fact that Winchelsea councillors were outvoted, yet again, on a purely Winchelsea issue by councillors from other wards. Or that you have no problem with the chronically dodgy nature of the co-option process at Icklesham Parish Council.
As for my own candidature, there was as much chance of my former colleagues on the council co-opting me as hell freezing over. The point is that more than enough residents were willing to stand.
Rob’s comments would have carried more weight if he had the courage to put his full name to them.
I am a resident of Winchelsea, was one of the other candidates, and was present at the meeting. I completely endorse Richard Comotto’s comments about the process of co-option where Winchelsea councillors were voted down.
Finally, it should be stated that I am not being a ‘sore loser’. I accepted the result and wished Mrs Hollands well before leaving the meeting.
John Clarke
As a resident of Winchelsea, and happy to put my name to my comment, I write as the potential fourth candidate for the casual vacancy for a Winchelsea ward councillor. I did not proceed with my application because I learned that at least three Winchelsea residents, all of them very well qualified for the post, were going to stand. Additionally, I was scheduled to be away on the date of the meeting, and would have wanted to represent myself. In a letter to the clerk to the council I explained my reason for not pursuing the application, stressing the importance of having ward councillors who were residents in their wards, and noting that there were suitably qualified candidates applying.
I do not know Mrs Hollands and have no reason to doubt her ability. I do know the three Winchelsea residents who stood and have absolutely no doubt that any one of them would have proved an excellent councillor for the ward, and indeed for the parish.
As a resident in the Parish, I have followed Mr Comotto’s and other residents of Winchelsea’s long feud with Ickelsham Parish Council.
Firstly, what deems someone who is a chair and of a Local Charity or Dr in Semiotics or a member of the Arts Society more qualified than a non resident?
I know nothing of the new Parish Councillor but perhaps she has all these so called qualifications too but perhaps felt the need not to brag about them, but show she is actually more about the community
I believe your argument here is with the Parish Council.
I know for a fact that many of the groups in Winchelsea are a clique and how judgemental many residents are.
As somebody else previously commented maybe a bit of ‘fresh blood’ is what is needed on the Parish Council and in Winchelsea.
No need also to bring Tony Moore into this.
The whole article sounds like SOUR GRAPES to me and absolutely laughable.
[NOTE: this comment has been edited by Rye News to meet our guidelines for comments]