Oswestry Town Council Lib Dems hit back over Climate Panel review after Green attack

Councillor Kerr (Green and Progressive Independent) said the suspension of the Cimate Change Partnership Panel had been an “unpleasant shock” and that “neither the public or the panel were consulted on the suspension”.

The changes had been proposed by Councillor James Owen (Lib Dem, Cabin Lane), who said he had been “astounded” by all the “groups with fancy titles” at the council.

He says the objective of the review, agreed at the first meeting of the council since the elections on May 1, is to bring issues into the open and provide “public oversight".

Councillor Owen is also the Portfolio Holder for Housing and Leisure in Shropshire Council’s new Liberal Democrat administration.

Councillor Owen said that ever since joining the council it has “astounded [him] how many groups with fancy titles there were for key issues, yet so little action and any discussion kept behind closed doors".

He said the group had met infrequently and one meeting had not gone ahead as “not enough councillors turned up".

“It clearly wasn’t working as intended,” he added.

Councillor Kerr had claimed that the group “had been spectacularly successful” including working with thousands of schoolchildren. Councillor Kerr is the only non-Lib Dem among the 18 councillors.

But Councillor Owen said: “Following conversations I’d had with other members of the new council and residents, I proposed that the council review this group and others to ensure that the issues they had in their names are actually considered in all our decisions, not abandoned for six months at a time or left unattended.

“The other groups I proposed to suspend hadn’t met since I joined the council in October 2023 - they clearly also need review.”

The result is that a Transformation Working Group has been set up to review the committee structure and develop priorities in consultation with councillors and the public.

Other groups being reviewed include the Allotment Liaison Committee and Equality and Diversity Group.

Councillor Kerr had also claimed that the Lib Dems “were told what to do” and that ” work with partners on climate change isn’t part” of the Lib Dem agenda.

Councillor Darrell Brindley, one of the new town councillors, said: “It is disappointing, as somebody new to the table, to see statements already being made to the media by a fellow member of the council that are focused more on party politics than working with his fellow councillors in the chamber to argue his case with reason, not rhetoric.

“I am also deeply saddened by Councillor Kerr’s claims that we were told how to vote. To anyone present at the meeting, that was obviously untrue.

“Several members, myself included, chose to vote against suspending the groups for our own reasons.

“I personally felt a little overwhelmed at the pace of changes, so preferred to vote for the status quo while I got settled.”