Oswestry Lib Dems accused of smirking at former Tory councillor amid heated meeting
A former Conservative councillor has accused the ruling Oswestry Liberal Democrats of “smirking” at him when he was speaking at a heated meeting.
Les Maguire lost his Cabin Lane ward set on the town council at last May’s local elections, with the Lib Dems winning 17 out of the 18 available seats.
He tried to get back onto the council at a by-election for the Carreg Llwyd ward in November, but again lost out, this time by just one vote.
One of the contentious issues in Oswestry is the town council taking on devolved services from Shropshire Council. This has led to its precept – the contibution it receives from council tax – going up by 39 per cent.
It has led to some councillors resigning from the Liberal Democrats, with the party now only having 12 members on the town council.
The precept and budget was agreed last Wednesday (January 14), with only the opposition members voting against it. At the start of the meeting, Mr Maguire wanted councillors to “pause, re-think and slow down the process” and engage with residents.
He said: “No one is arguing about well maintained green spaces or decent local services, what they are arguing against is asking residents to pay a significant amount more without honest consultation and without clear long-term costings.”
Mr Maguire went on to explain why he believes it is wrong for the Lib Dems on Shropshire Council to say that “the Tories left us in this mess.”
However, he made reference to someone “smirking”, telling them not to “because it is serious.”
Talking to the Local Democracy Reporting Service afterwards, Mr Maguire said it made him “feel uncomfortable and disrespected”.
“I don’t know which councillor it was, but was from the other side of the room where the Lib Dems were sat,” said Mr Maguire.
“I felt what I had to say on behalf of the residents was to them irrelevant and to them fun.
“It caused me to have stop what I had to say and ask them to stop as it was important. I will be raising a formal complaint to both the monitoring officer and the the mayor.”
Later in the meeting, Councillor Jay Moore – who is now an Independent after leaving the Lib Dems – left during a heated debate on the council’s budget.
The Green and Indpendent councillors proposed to revitalise the outdoor market by cattling stall prices, and to improve sports facilities in Cae Glas park, including resurfacing the tennis courts. However, both were rejected by the Lib Dems. Cllr Moore accused some councillors of “smirking” and left, saying he was going home to his children.
“After two hours of point scoring, snide comments and clearly no interest in listening to other councillors, I realised there was in no point in remaining at the meeting,” said Cllr Moore.
“And that, walking out would serve to highlight the ineptitude of the ruling party far more than me simply being outvoted by them.
“I also felt their treatment of the member of the public who was trying to speak during public session was appalling.”
In a statement, the Liberal Democrat Group said it takes the role of working for its residents extremely seriously.
“Oswestry is our home, we are trying to secure the future of this great town for our friends and neighbours, there is no room for anything other than complete seriousness at a time like this,” said a spokesperson.
“The Conservatives’ claims that they had nothing to do with the state of the finances at Shropshire Council despite being the only party in charge since 2009 may be laughable as a claim but it is certainly no laughing matter.
“We are trying desperately to prevent government from coming and selling off all the assets that communities rely upon. We will continue to work hard for this town and its residents.”
