Parish council at war over ‘libellous’ letter about councillor being displayed in the community noticeboard (and nobody will own up to hiding the key so they can’t remove it)
- Historian John Crowfoot has been a parish councillor in Geldeston since 2019
- Police have attended his home in the usually peaceful village to offer ‘advice’
A parish council has been torn apart by an extraordinary dispute that has seen all but one member and the clerk quit – and someone hide the key to the community noticeboard.
The mass walk-out was announced in a letter that blamed remaining councillor John Crowfoot for his allegedly ‘abusive’ behaviour.
Mr Crowfoot says the letter is ‘libellous and unlawful’ and must be removed from public display in the parish noticeboard.
But he is unable to do anything about it, as none of his former colleagues will admit to holding to key.
Police attended historian and translator Mr Crowfoot’s house in the normally peaceful village of Geldeston in Norfolk and offered him ‘words of advice’.
The mass walk-out was announced in a letter that blamed remaining councillor John Crowfoot (pictured) for his ‘abusive’ behaviour
But he dismissed it as a ‘waste of time’ and plans on forming a new administration. In the meantime, he is being assisted in running the parish by South Norfolk District Council.
‘There are important issues the people of Geldeston want examined – road safety, flooding and so on. You can’t carry on without a parish council,’ he said yesterday.
‘It’s been an extraordinary event but we will get on with addressing local issues for local people. It’s been a bit of a storm in a teacup.’
READ: Village in turmoil after ousted vicar insists he is being ‘guided by the Holy Spirit’ and won’t quit despite unanimous vote
The internecine war began on May 10, when the parish council held its first meeting since the local elections six days earlier.
The hot-tempered assembly saw Mr Crowfoot object to it being opened by Ian Ansell, who was chairman before the election and was yet to be formally reinstated. Clerk Tina Newby overruled the objection.
Another argument followed when Mr Crowfoot objected to Mr Ansell and his deputy, John Ashfield, being re-elected to their posts, despite all the other councillors voting in favour of the motion.
A member of public walked out of the meeting during a debate about fencing at the village’s allotments after being upset by an unnamed councillor, the minutes reveal. Mr Crowfoot admitted the member was him.
The bad blood saw Mr Ansell and Ms Newby quit at the end of May, followed by five other members two weeks ago.
The letter, which has remained in the noticeboard since, named Mr Crowfoot – who helped set up a literature prize in Russia and worked with a human rights organisation that has been closed by Vladimir Putin – as the cause of the breakdown in relations and blasted his ‘consistent unacceptable behaviour’.
It added: ‘We no longer feel that this councillor represents the community’s best interests or conducts himself in an acceptable manner and is therefore unable to fulfil his role as a parish councillor.
‘This ‘vote of no confidence’ is in response to the actions of this councillor, spanning several months, in which he has been abusive not only to other members of the parish council but also members of the public at parish meetings and, in particular, the clerk, Tina Newby.’
The other councillors and Ms Newby have declined to discuss what happened.
Mr Crowfoot – who was visited by police on Saturday – complained he had been smeared by the accusations and anyone levelling them at him should spell them out ‘chapter and verse’ so that he can refute them.
Police attended historian and translator Mr Crowfoot’s house in the normally peaceful village of Geldeston in Norfolk (general view pictured) and offered him ‘words of advice’
He added: ‘It seems to have come to a head and now we are forming a new parish council.
‘South Norfolk Council has said that you can’t have a parish council cease to exist. There must be one that looks after people’s needs.’
John Crowfoot was re-elected to the council in the May local elections. He became a parish councillor in 2019.
The village, which has fewer than 500 residents, is on the north bank of the River Waveney, near Beccles in Suffolk.
It was home to Nobel Prize-winning chemist Dorothy Hodgkin, whose work advanced the technique of X-ray crystallography used to determine the structure of biomolecules. She died in 1994.
Margaret Thatcher, who was taught chemistry by Hodgkin at Oxford in the 1940s, hung a portrait in her office at Downing Street while prime minister.
A Norfolk Police spokesman said: ‘Police received a report of harassment on June 2, 2023. Officers visited the suspect at their home address and words of advice were given.’
The district council was approached for a comment.
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