by Alan Smith
ajsmith@thekmgroup.co.uk

Stand down and fight an election. That was the challenge laid down to a parish council accused of being out of touch with its villagers.

Members of Benenden Parish Council were told by Tunbridge Wells Borough Councillor Sean Holden (Con) that they should resign and seek re-election if they seriously thought they were representing the views of their villagers.

His challenge came during a noisy parish council meeting in the village‘s Memorial Hall on Tuesday attended by about 40 members of the public.

The council was due to re-consider its opposition to a planning application for a new primary school near The Glebe, after members had the benefit of attending a public meeting organised by KCC, in which nearly every speaker was in favour of the scheme.

But the council caused uproar in the public ranks when members decided to stick to their original motion to oppose the application.

The parish council prefers an alternative site in the village, known as the orchard site, which has not been selected by KCC.

One of the borough councillors for Benenden and Cranbrook, Cllr Sean Holden, won applause when he suggested the whole council should stand down and fight an election on the issue as the best solution to the controversy.

He claims the parish council was putting was putting the prospect of a new school at risk by telling the county council it had chosen the wrong site.

He warned that the county had told him there was no money to work up another planning application for some other site.

Mary Kellett, chairman of the parish council, was unavailable for comment.

Full story in this week's Kent Messenger Weald edition.