GBC Executive Shock as GGG’s Susan Parker Resigns Over ‘Conduct’ Claim

Published on: 27 Aug, 2019
Updated on: 27 Aug, 2019

Cllr Susan Parker

Susan Parker, the leader of the Guildford Greenbelt Group (GGG), has resigned from the Guildford Borough Council Executive today over “questions of conduct”. She was the lead councillor for the environment and rural strategy.

The announcement came this evening (August 27) just an hour before the GBC Executive 7pm meeting.

A council statement reads: “The leader of the council, Cllr Caroline Reeves, has announced the resignation of Cllr Susan Parker from the Guildford Borough Council Executive today (27 August) in light of questions over conduct.

“A confidential review is underway and in the meantime Cllr Parker will return to the backbenches as a ward councillor for Send and the leader of Guildford Greenbelt Group. No further comments will be made during the confidential review.”

The council statement leaves the “questions of conduct” unexplained but the GBC had earlier notified The Guildford Dragon NEWS that an email sent for publication from Cllr Parker included personal information.

A GBC spokesperson said: “The contents of the email contained personal data about a member of the public. Because of this, and the confidential nature of the enforcement case itself, we have to report this as a data breach to the Information Commissioner.

In Cllr Parker’s letter of resignation to leader Cllr Reeves, she says because she has, “been uncomfortable for some time with a number of the decisions made by the Executive as led by you I feel that I can no longer be a part of this Executive”, but she disputes that she has committed a data breach.

Listing 11 reasons behind her decision, she continues: “I was invited to be part of an Executive that would review the Local Plan on coming into office. Far from this being the case, no such review has started and there does not seem to be any such review being meditated.”

Regarding the Judicial Reviews of the Local Plan and the decision to obtain a second QC’s opinion she says: “Even the second QC … apparently, was not invited to consider whether it was possible to challenge the plan. This is not exactly the impartial reconsideration for which I believe the council voted.”

On climate change Cllr Parker writes: “I was offered the portfolio of the Environment and Rural Strategy in your Executive, which I accepted gladly. However, since taking up that portfolio, there have been repeated steps taken by you to limit the scope of the portfolio.  We have never had a discussion about the role or its responsibilities, despite the fact that I have asked for this repeatedly.

“Most significantly, I would have expected that the Environment portfolio would have included responsibility for Climate Change.  No member of the Executive has responsibility for Climate Change. You have instead said that this goes across all portfolios, and the previous Climate Change working group has been watered down and re-incorporated within the Innovation group.”

She adds: “You commented adversely on the letter that I wrote to the Guildford Dragon which criticised the chair of the Planning Committee and the position taken by officers at that committee, in relation to a number of anomalous decisions taken, including a repeat vote on a decision relating to Send where good planning grounds were provided by a councillor but disregarded.

“I stand by that letter in its entirety. I consider that the role of elected members is to use their judgement, intelligence and sense to weigh alternatives.”

Regarding the alleged data breach she said: “You are aware that I have made a formal complaint about officers in the planning and enforcement teams. I stand by my actions.  I consider that the public would be very concerned about industrial spoil being spread on AONB pasture, and I do consider that this a matter that Enforcement should have taken seriously.

“You informed me that I should not have made such a complaint, and that  this is a breach of GDPR guidelines. I am afraid that I cannot see that referring to Residents ABCD & E [sic] is a breach of GDPR. I also do not accept that members of the Executive should not be permitted to criticise officers.”

The letter, in full, can be seen here.

Editor Martin Giles comments: Cllr Parker has been a controversial and outspoken figure at Millmead since her election to council in 2015, among three successful GGG candidates who opposed the Local Plan, already outlined at that stage and, in particular, the inclusion of several large “strategic sites” on green-belt land designated for housing development.

She became a thorn in the side of the former Conservative leadership. Their treatment of her often seemed harsh, even vindictive, to some observers. But others lost sympathy because of her dogmatic and repetitive style.

Nonetheless, her tenacity against green-belt development was much admired by campaigners who felt Cllr Parker represented their views which others were ignoring.

The resignation might present a challenge to the Residents for Guildford Leadership whose voters shared many concerns over the green belt and the Local Plan. If R4GV is seen to align too closely to the Lib Dems this could cost them support.

Then there is Caroline’s Reeves’ decision on who replaces Cllr Parker on the Executive. To replace her with a Lib Dem will weaken the claim that the Executive represents more than a minority of voters at the last election.

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