Owl says: remember the Nolan Principles – Selflessness; Integrity; Objectivity; Accountability; Openness; Honesty; Leadership

Hannah Corfield   honiton.nub.news /n/honiton-town-council-backstory-of-disputes

It is the issue which has ignited public fury in Honiton; a series of disputes stretching back almost eight years, which has left locals in despair with the town council.

Now there are calls for every councillor to resign and seek re-election.

Action group, Honiton Residents, has even started a petition following a series of major disagreements within the town council going back to 2012 – when plans for the The Beehive first emerged.

These include:

• May 2012: Decision to build The Beehive – opposed by two Town Polls. These are not binding on the council and HTC had lots of reasons and evidence in favour. HTC voted to build; 12 votes to three.
• Dec 2012: How will the Beehive be Managed? By a HTC run company, or by a separate charity? Five current members of HTC were opposed to the charity; Howard, Coombs, McNally, Taylor, Zarczynski.
• 2012 – present day: Overspend on the building of The Beehive (Baileys Dispute) – currently ongoing with court case pending against Baileys (Architects). 
• 2014: How much should HTC be paying in service charges to Honiton Community Complex Co (Charity that leases and runs The Beehive)?
• June 2017 – December 2019: HTC questioned invoices relating to the service charge submitted by HCC (The Beehive) and subsequently ceased payment for two years while negotiations took place.
• July 2019/February 2020: Lack of public confidence with co-option of councillors.

This has resulted in the following concerns around Honiton Town Council’s conduct:

• Non-compliance with transparency code regarding publication of expenditure.
• The very large expenditure on legal fees.
• The over-use of Part B agendas and the lack of information regarding Part B issues.
• Two successive Clerks going on sick leave. The first resulting in over £40,000 being spent in employing an interim clerk and deputy clerk.
• The large number of councillors who have left the council since 2015.
• The lack of confidence of some councillors and members of the public in the co-option procedure.
• The open row at the council meeting this month (February) that resulted in the Clerk and several councillors walking out.