Should councillors speak up or shut up?

This was the contentious question considered by Neyland Town Council at last night’s meeting after one of their members leaked a highly political Notice of Motion to another newspaper.

The Motion was handed over to the media without it being debated, moved, seconded or adopted by the town council.

When the Notice was eventually brought before Neyland Town Council in last month’s meeting, councillors rejected it’s political content and requested certain amendments. 

“Our purpose is not to talk politically, but to talk as one,” commented Cllr Steve Thomas.

“This isn’t a question of us, as councillors, being unable to speak to the press. But if any member is going to choose to do this, they need to make it clear that it’s their own personal belief and not part of the council as a whole.”

MORE NEWS

Cllr Thomas went on to suggest that all media enquiries should be referred to the town clerk, who would subsequently issue a statement on behalf of the town council.

“Neyland Town Council is a healthy democratic body that welcomes all decisions and debates,” he said. “As a result, we should have a single voice.”

Cllr Thomas confirmed that Neyland Town Council is now looking into adopting a PR policy which will determine how all council statements will be issued to the media.

But this suggestion was strongly criticised by Cllr Andrew Lye.

“We should be a bastion of democracy because each individual councillor has been elected by the people to be their voices,” he said angrily.

“Freedom of speech is a vital part of local democracy and we shouldn’t have to get official clearance every time we speak to the newspapers.

"By taking this away from us, it’ll give too much power to one or two individuals and this is a power grab thing.

“If this happens, members of the public will have more power than the people sitting around here who are trying to represent them. We should have the right to speak to the press and not feel that we are gagged.”

Meanwhile Cllr Mike Harry urged members to adopt the common sense approach.

“This has always been a highly contentious matter as whatever we say to the press, certain people will always think we’re wrong,” he said.

“All we can do is use our common sense, so if a councillor wishes to speak to the press, they should make it clear that that’s their own personal opinion and not necessarily the opinion of Neyland Town Council.”