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In addition to the papers included as part of the Agenda,
additional papers were distributed at the meeting, namely a letter
dated 9th December 2005 received from Mr Summerfield in which he
responded to the report of the meeting between himself, his wife
and the Solicitor for the Monitoring Officer together with a copy
of a letter dated 6th June 2003 which he had sent to the Public
Footpaths Officer of the County Council.
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Meirion Jones, Solicitor to the Monitoring Officer had
investigated the alleged breach and presented the appropriate
papers to the Committee for a decision as to whether or not there
is sufficient evidence to proceed to a full Hearing.
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He drew attention to the following facts:
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Ÿ
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Mr Richard Pritchard and Mrs Dionne Louise Pritchard had
submitted a complaint against Mr Bernard Summerfield who, as a then
member of the Llanfaelog Community Council, had signed and accepted
the Code of Conduct on 28 November 2001. He had subsequently
resigned from the Community Council in May 2003. The fact that Mr
Summerfield is no longer a Community Councillor has no bearing on
the Committee's decision as to whether or not to proceed to a full
Hearing;
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Ÿ
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The complaint alleged that Mr Summerfield failed to
declare a personal interest and participated in a Community Council
meeting and objected to a proposal, which proposal, had it been
refused, could have resulted in financial and commercial gain. In
particular, he had attended and participated in a meeting of the
Llanfaelog Community Council on Wednesday 23rd October 2002 when
the "main topic of discussion was the proposed deletion of the spur
on path number 4a at Ty'n Pwll Bach, Rhosneigr" which was a subject
matter of dispute between himself and his neighbours Mr and Mrs
Prichard of Ty'n Pwll Bach;
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Ÿ
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It was important to note that the numbering of the Welsh
Assembly Government's Model Code of Conduct, which has been accepted by the
County Council, differs from that accepted by the Llanfaelog
Community Council and members were asked to ensure they referred to
the correct Code;
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Ÿ
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A copy of the minutes of the meeting of the Llanfaelog
Community Council held on Wednesday 27th November 2002 was also
distributed to Members. Attention was drawn to the fact that
there was no reference to the Minutes of the previous meeting.
However, the Clerk had produced his written notes of the meeting
which included the comment: "Minutes - OK". This confirmed that the
minutes for the meeting held on 23rd October 2002, which showed Mr
Summerfield to have been present and having taken part in the
discussion, were correct. Furthermore, there was no reference to
footpaths in "2.0 MATTERS ARISING".
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A proposal was made that the Standards Committee move to a
full hearing. Due, however, to the complexities of determining the
precise location of the properties and footpaths referred to in the
submitted papers, it was requested that the Committee should be
supplied with a more detailed, high quality map showing all the
relevant properties and footpaths. A request was also made for the
following additional information:
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3.1
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on the functions of Community Councils and their powers
concerning footpaths;
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3.2
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what damage, if any, had been incurred to the
complainants;
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3.3
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what opportunities are given to Community Councillors to
declare an interest and whether it is mandatory to do
so;
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3.4
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concerning the training of Community
Councillors;
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In order to allow sufficient time for the additional
evidence to be collated, the Committee RESOLVED that a full Hearing into the alleged breach
of the Code of Conduct be held on Tuesday 7th February
2006.
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4
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COMPLAINT AGAINST A COUNTY COUNCILLOR
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The Monitoring Officer introduced the Ombudsman's report
with respect to two complaints of an alleged failure by Councillor
Robert Lloyd Hughes to declare an interest in relation to two
planning applications submitted by Mr & Mrs Wood in 2003
regarding Tan y Felin and The Mill, Llangoed. Councillor Hughes had
Chaired the Planning Committee held on 3rd December and had not
declared an interest when the applications were
considered.
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The Ombudsman had found no evidence that Councillor Hughes
had breached paragraphs 5.1.3.1 and 5.1.3.2 of the Council's Code
of Conduct in relation to Mr and Mrs Wood's planning application
concerning the development at Tan y Felin and had not upheld that
aspect of their allegation.
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The Ombudsman had found Councillor Hughes had breached
paragraphs 5.1.3.1 and 5.1.3.2 of the Council's Code of Conduct by
failing to declare a personal interest and failing to withdraw from
the Planning Committee on 3 December 2003 with respect to
consideration of Mr and Mrs Wood's planning application regarding
the Mill and, under section 69(4)(c) of the Local Government Act
2000, had referred the breach to the Monitoring Officer for
consideration by the Council's Standards Committee.
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The Standards Committee therefore needed to consider what
sanction, if any, should be imposed with regard to the breach.
However, the rules required that the Committee adjourn to a further
hearing date at which time Councillor Hughes would be entitled to
respond either in writing or in person to the Ombudsman's findings.
Councillor Hughes has also been advised that he is entitled to
legal representation but that the Standards Committee has no power
with regard to ordering an award of legal costs. The Monitoring
Officer also informed the Committee that the complainants wished to
present a written submission to the Committee for the
hearing.
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RESOLVED that a sanction hearing into the Ombudsman's
findings be held on Tuesday the 14th February 2006.
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