Former mayor and parish councillor rapped after convincing other council members in WhatsApp chat to quash next-door neighbours' planning application
A former mayor and parish councillor has been rapped after she used a WhatsApp group chat to convince other council members to quash her next-door neighbours' planning application.
Liberal Democrat Eleanor Bell abused her position as a councillor when she influenced her colleagues to vote against a garage extension, a review found.
This was after her neighbours, Anna and Andrew Budge, submitted the application to Winchester City Council for their property in the Hampshire village of Hursley.
Cllr Bell - who lives opposite the Budge's - objected to the proposal, which she said left her and other residents on her road 'extremely disturbed'.
After the parish council advised that the application be refused, her neighbours submitted a Freedom of Information to the authority in which they were able to obtain WhatsApp evidence which demonstrated the 'active participation' of Cllr Bell in the decision.
They reported the matter to Winchester City Council [WCC] who have now criticised the parish council for 'poor governance' over the matter, and Cllr Bell has been told to apologise to the couple.
The review, published by Winchester City Council, stated that a complaint was made against Cllr Bell in June last year.
It was alleged that she had breached the Council's Code of Conduct after she actively participated in discussions with other Parish Council members and the Clerk on a matter in which she had an interest.
This came after the former mayor's neighbours submitted a planning application in January last year.
The application, submitted by Mr Budge, was for an extension to the garage with a loft development to form an office on the property, which sits adjacent to Cllr Bell.
Cllr Bell and her husband Alex submitted an objection on the WCC planning portal.
They said that they, and other neighbours, are 'extremely disturbed' by the proposal which will impact the 'character and appearance' of their road, where houses cost £750,000 on average.
The matter was considered at Hursley Parish Council, where Cllr Bell is a member, and she told the council that as a neighbour she had a 'conflict of interest' and so she did not attend the meeting.
But, it was heard that there was a discussion via a WhatsApp group afterwards in which Cllr Bell was involved - and she drafted a statement on the application on behalf of the council.
After the meeting, Hursley parish council submitted an objection to the proposal.
They said it would 'directly impact the amenity of six other properties' and advised the city council to refuse it.
It was said that much of the objection included details from a planning consultant's letter produced on Cllr Bell's personal behalf.
WCC since granted permission for the extension in July.
It was after Mr and Mrs Budge submitted a Freedom of Information request to the parish council, enabling them to find evidence of the WhatsApp discussion.
Cllr Bell - who was elected as a Lib Dem mayor of Winchester in 2019 - was accused of 'improperly' influencing the decision of the Parish Council by providing 'misleading information'.
It was she who had drafted an objection letter on behalf of the council.
The review stated that Cllr Bell acknowledged that in hindsight, she should have avoided participating in WhatsApp discussions and the drafting of a statement on behalf of the Parish Council.
The Parish Clerk told the investigator that Cllr Bell was the council's 'lead on planning' due to her expertise.
Monitoring Officer Gareth John carried out an investigation into the matter.
He said: 'I do not consider that Cllr Bell dealt with the matters relating to [Mr and Mrs Budge's] planning application after the meeting fairly, appropriately and impartially as she pursued her own private interests rather than the public interest.
'I consider that Cllr Bell allowed other pressures, including her private interests but also the expectation from the Chairman to be involved and hence this meant that she did not pursue the interests of the Council's area and the good governance of the Council in a proper manner.'
Mr John said the 'whole approach to decision making after the meeting using WhatsApp was poor governance and lacked openness and transparency'.
He added: 'WhatsApp is a place to chat but not to resolve items of business.
'The purported decision outside the meeting framework was a serious governance issue. Decisions must be made lawfully.
'The decision to object was not made at a lawful meeting of the Council, but outside the legal framework and without the necessary transparency the law requires.'
He said that Cllr bell should 'not have involved herself' after the meeting and criticised the chairman for not being 'clear and robust' on preventing this.
Mr John added: 'She used, or attempted to use, her public office for personal gain by seeking support to further her own private interests of opposing the planning application through her position as a councillor.'
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