do not forget this tragic crime was NOT of a political nature and may well have occured in any party, especially with a low grade individual like a Councillor – especially one who had lost his or her seat!
This web site first published details of this murder when it occured & Searle was charged with the crime in January CLICK HERE
KILLER DAD
First pictures of son’s girlfriend Ex-Marine bedded before strangling Scots wife to death
Stephen Searle, 64, attacked wife Anne at their home in Stowmarket, Suffolk after she discovered explicit pictures on his phone
By Rob Pattinson
17th July 2018,2:53 pm
Updated: 17th July 2018,11:41 pm
A FORMER Royal Marine who had an affair with his son’s partner faces life in jail for strangling his suspicious Scots wife.
Stephen Searle, 64, had a fling with Anastasia Pomiateeva, 39, after pestering her for sex.
Anne discovered explicit texts and photos on her husband’s phone
Outside court yesterday, Searle’s youngest son Stephen, 29, said: “As you are all well aware, today there has been justice for my mum.
“This year not only have I lost my mum but my dad as well. The part that hurts me the most is the person who took my mum away was also my best friend, my dad.”
He earlier said in an impact statement: “The relationship between me and my brothers has been torn apart.
“It has left a void in my heart which is something I will never get over.
‘I’ve just killed my wife’: Chilling 999 call from killer commando Stephen Searle after strangling his wife
SUFFOLK Police today released a chilling audio clip of the moment Searle called police to tell them he had murdered his wife, Anne:
Call handler: “Hello, can you hear me?
Searle: “Yeah, I can hear you, can you hear me?”
CH: “Yep.”
S: “I’ve er… just killed my wife”
CH:”You’ve just killed your wife.”
S: “Yeah.”
CH: “Okay.”
S: “Bit different for you tonight I expect…Happy New Year.”
CH: “…and how have you killed her?”
S: “Erm… suffocation really, I guess. Bit of a bizarre situation but you know… nevermind.
CH: “Okay, is it just the two of you in the house?”
S: “Er… well just the one of us now.”
CH: “Right, okay.”
S: “Well two… if you like.”
CH: “Okay, is there any other sort of issues that the officers need to be aware of when they come into the house? Is there anything dangerous?”
S: “Erm, not really. I’m not violent, I’m not nothing.”
CH: “Stephen, can I just get you to go and answer the door? I believe we should have some officers there. Are you able to just go and speak to them?”
S: “Okay, they’re here now, are they?”
CH: “They should be there.”
S: “Alright, I’m on me way.”
CH: “Okay.”
S: “I’m on me way as we speak…ah, hello buddies! How are you, alright?”
Supplied as a technical service. No is implied or inferred.
Searle, 64, lost his seat in Suffolk County Council last year
“Losing my mum has destroyed me. It has left me completely broken.
“If my dad had just admitted what he had done and been honest, it would not have had to go to court.”
Mr Justice Green remanded Searle in custody until today.
Outside the court Det Chief Supt Eamonn Bridger, of Suffolk Police, said: “Anne Searle’s death was a tragic crime and our sympathies remain with her family and friends.”
I try to make every effort to NOT infringe copyrights in any commercial way & make all corrections of fact brought to my attention by an identifiable individual
BOURNEMOUTH’S sole Ukip councillor has joined the Conservative Party, increasing their majority to 50.
Cllr Laurence Fear, elected to represent the purple-ribboned Eurosceptic party in Kinson South in 2015, said he believed that with Brexit accomplished he could do more for residents as a member of the ruling group.
“Over the last year of increased and necessary cooperation with the grassroots of the Conservative Party I have built many productive and fruitful relationships,” said Cllr Fear, who was elected aged 21.
“During this time I have found that since the triggering of Article 50, that my beliefs are closer to that of the Conservative Party and that I can be more effective as a Conservative Party member in furthering the needs of the residents in my ward.
“I would like to thank my residents for their continued support and I wish to assure them that the principles I was elected on shall not change.”
He praised his former party for their “indispensable contribution” to Brexit, adding: “It has been an honour”.
A member of UKIP for seven years, Cllr Fear also predicted that it would be “quite hard” for the party in Dorset in future.
Perhaps surprisingly, the vice-chairman of UKIP Bournemouth West Martin Houlden seemed to agree.
“We have been very proud and lucky to have had such a hard working councillor as Laurence, and I know he will continue to do his absolute best for his residents,” he said.
Asked about Cllr Fear’s comments he said: “I think there is probably an element of truth to that, but I wouldn’t write us off totally just yet, especially in the north of England.”
He said UKIP was “one of the most successful parties in history”, and on whether it will field candidates in Bournemouth at the next election he said: “We will cross that bridge when we come to it.
“There are always a lot of people interested in becoming a councillor. We have to make sure they are genuinely committed to us.”
Bournemouth West MP Conor Burns welcomed the news. He said: “I have seen the energy Laurence brings to representing the people of Kinson South and am therefore delighted he will be putting that energy at the disposal of the Conservative Party.”
David Sidwick, chairman of Bournemouth West Conservative Association, said: “We are a broad church as a party and anyone that espouses our new vision for Britain, outside the EU but within Europe as a global nation is welcome.
“The triggering of Article 50 has in many ways removed the raison d’etre for UKIP and those of its members that feel they are at heart Conservatives are more than welcome to join us.”
Council and Conservative group leader John Beesley today said he was “delighted” Cllr Fear had crossed over.
“Now that the Prime Minister triggered Article 50, Laurence has decided to leave UKIP and join the Conservative Party,” he said.
“I know that he will find a warm welcome with the Conservatives and that his principles will be reflected through our policies both locally here in Bournemouth and nationally in government.
“This council will continue to do all it can in serving the residents of Kinson South, with Laurence as the third member of the Conservative team in the ward he was elected to serve.
“Members of the Conservative group on Bournemouth council will have the opportunity to endorse Laurence as a member of the group at their next meeting on Monday, April 24.”
ALL MY BLOGS & WEB SITES are clearly sourced to me
I do NOT use an obfuscated eMail address to hide behind
I do NOT use or bother reading FaceBook
I DO have a Voice Mail Message System
I ONLY GUARANTEE to answer identifiable eMails
I ONLY GUARANTEE to phone back identifiable UK Land Line Messages
I do NOT accept phone calls from witheld numbers
I Regret due to BT in this area I have a rubbish Broadband connection
I AM opposed to British membership of The EU
I AM opposed to Welsh, Scottish or English Independence within an interdependent UK
I am NOT a WARMIST
I do NOT believe the IPCC Climate Propaganda re Anthropogenic Global Warming
I AM strongly opposed to the subsidy or use of failed technologies eg. WIND TURBINES
I AM IN FAVOUR of rapid research & development of NEW NUCLEAR technologies
I see no evidence to trust POLITICIANS at any level or of any persuasion
I do NOT believe in GODS singular or plural, Bronze Age or Modern
I value the NHS as a HEALTH SERVICE NOT a Lifestyle support
I believe in a DEATH PENALTY for serial or GBH rape.
I believe in a DEATH PENALTY for serial, terrorist, mass or for pleasure murder.
I believe in a DEATH PENALTY for serial gross child abuse including sexual.
I do NOT trust or believe in armed police
I do NOT believe in prolonging human life beyond reasonable expectation of sentient participatory intellectual existence
I believe in EUTHENASIA under clearly defined & legal terms
I try to make every effort to NOT infringe copyrights in any commercial way & make all corrections of fact brought to my attention by an identifiable individual
Ukip Kent County Councillor Bob Neave Quits The Party so that is 3 Kent County Councillors Ukip has lost & Tories seem to be winning the by-elections!
Isn’t It Time For Another Ukip Leadership Election With The Truth About Nuttall Now KLnown?
~~~~~~~~~~#########~~~~~~~~~~
.
Hi,
UKIP county councillor Bob Neaves leaves party
22 January 2017
by Paul Francis
The UKIP county councillor Bob Neaves, who represents Folkestone South, has resigned from the party to sit as an independent.
Cllr Neaves was elected in 2013 when the party returned 17 councillors and became the formal opposition at County Hall.
He declined to give his reasons for standing aside saying he would be issuing a press statement later.However, he did confirm that he intended to stand at the forthcoming county council election in May.
UKIP has already had one member leave to be an independent. Jeff Elenor did so in protest over the Manston airport saga.
UKIP David Baker also stood down and in a by-election, Conservative Carole Waters won the Romney Marsh division with a majority of over 1,000.
Since the May 2013 elections, the UKIP group at County Hall has shrunk from 17 to 14.
There have been three by-elections for KCC since the last full election in May 2013 all of which have been won by Conservatives.
The May election could prove challenging for UKIP after their shock success four years ago. Group leader Roger Latchford is retiring and others are not expected to stand for a second term
To view the original article CLICK HERE
Regards, Greg_L-W.
~~~~~~~~~~#########~~~~~~~~~~
Posted by: Greg Lance-Watkins
tel: 44 (0)1594 – 528 337
Calls from ‘Number Withheld’ phones Are Blocked
All unanswered messages are recorded.
Leave your name & a UK land line number & I will return your call.
ALL MY BLOGS & WEB SITES are clearly sourced to me
I do NOT use an obfuscated eMail address to hide behind
I do NOT use or bother reading FaceBook
I DO have a Voice Mail Message System
I ONLY GUARANTEE to answer identifiable eMails
I ONLY GUARANTEE to phone back identifiable UK Land Line Messages
I do NOT accept phone calls from witheld numbers
I Regret due to BT in this area I have a rubbish Broadband connection
I AM opposed to British membership of The EU
I AM opposed to Welsh, Scottish or English Independence within an interdependent UK
I am NOT a WARMIST
I do NOT believe the IPCC Climate Propaganda re Anthropogenic Global Warming
I AM strongly opposed to the subsidy or use of failed technologies eg. WIND TURBINES
I AM IN FAVOUR of rapid research & development of NEW NUCLEAR technologies
I see no evidence to trust POLITICIANS at any level or of any persuasion
I do NOT believe in GODS singular or plural, Bronze Age or Modern
I value the NHS as a HEALTH SERVICE NOT a Lifestyle support
I believe in a DEATH PENALTY for serial or GBH rape.
I believe in a DEATH PENALTY for serial, terrorist, mass or for pleasure murder.
I believe in a DEATH PENALTY for serial gross child abuse including sexual.
I do NOT trust or believe in armed police
I do NOT believe in prolonging human life beyond reasonable expectation of sentient participatory intellectual existence
I believe in EUTHENASIA under clearly defined & legal terms
I try to make every effort to NOT infringe copyrights in any commercial way & make all corrections of fact brought to my attention by an identifiable individual
Further to the article at CLICK HERE you could hardly invent the utter incompetence of Ukip in terms of their selection processes which we know and have proved over the years to be a disgrace to British politics with no right to befoul our democracy, in view of their serial corruption.
Now we have further to add to their shame in that Kevan Konnor Collins was selected and elected as a councillor in one of their highest profile target seats Thanet, where Nigel Farage and his cult had assured everyone possible they expected Nigel Farage to be elected as an MP.
Fortunately for Thanet, Farage failed yet again to be elected.
Welcome to our new page and our fresh walter mitty of 2016 Bugger luggs Kevan Konnor Collins, a councillor in Thanet who apparently served in the Paras as an RSM and claims to have received the CGC, the MC and the DSC, as well as an MBE.
Se we did out thing and Konnor Kevan Collins has no CGC, MC or even the DSM – He could not be found on the list of RSMs in the Paras at RHQ and having google extensively the London Gazette could not find evidence of him receiving the CGC.
Here are all the CGC recipients just in case our man had changed name or identity. All but 8 names have been identified.
We contacted four other ex Parachute regiment officers and through all four battalions 1, 2, 3 and 4 and yet none have ever heard of this guy. Which is very strange as claimed to have been awarded “councillor Kevan Konnor Collins MBE, CGC, MC, DSC
Even claiming on a legal claim form
My goodness!! Is very own councillor Kevan Konnor Collins MBE, CGC, MC, DSC the most decorated living veteran in the whole country?
We checked the historical data base at the Parachute training school and of P Coy………..guess what, Yep WHAT A CUMPER! Bets his ears are burning now and what fire it must be!
After a few months of keeping his head down he got a friend to post an apology on his behalf. He stipulated we would need to remove our post exposing him and all reference to his walting. Obviously we refused due to the fact he had since Jan to do it. Since then we heard his loyal supporters wereclaiming it’s fake and not from him, despite Collins friend providing the correct answer to a validation question that only Collins would have known.
Here is the apology
“Dear Walter Mitty hunters Club. As of yesterday I instructed a trusted friend to post this on my behalf due to ill health. You recently published a page alleging that I fabricated service in the Parachute Regiment and that I had inappropriately displayed medals which were not awarded to me. This became a story in the national press to which I am very ashamed and I would like you to post a sincere apology.
I can confirm I have never been a member of the Parachute Regiment. A Regimental Sergeant Major or that I was never awarded any of the medals that I had claimed as my own on several occasions, both in private and social functions in my civic duty’s . I cannot explain why I did it other then I am a fool that let things get carried away.
I am very unwell and I would like the matter to be drawn to a close so I can recover in peace. I have withdrawn from public duties and wish to be left alone.”
A UKIP Councillor’s actions have been condemned after he described Muslims in a racist manner on social media.
Councillor Philip Winter, 57, wrote to a friend on Facebook on Wednesday night saying: “The feeling most Service-minded folk have these days is one of betrayal of government regarding r*ghead problems.
“[They] are just waiting for the “balloon” to go up when they all start rioting and cutting our throats in our neighbourhoods.”
Cllr Winter recently joined Almondsbury Parish Council in South Gloucestershire and is one of their four UKIP members; he was also previously a Wings Officer for the city and county of Bristol RAF Association.
His racist comments have been described as severely unacceptable and offensive by those who saw it.
When asked to explain himself, Cllr Winter apparently suggested that many people shared his opinions which he believed had been taken out of context.
He also reportedly made it clear that he was not speaking on behalf of the council and that he did not intend for his ‘personal message’ to go public.
South Gloucestershire Council are apparently dealing with complaints regarding Cllr Winter.
A UKIP councillor has defended his comments after he described Muslims as ‘ragheads’ and said people were worried an influx of refugees would ‘start rioting and cut our throats in our neighbourhoods’.
Philip Winter, a UKIP councillor in Almondsbury, near Bristol, said he ‘really could not see’ how the words he used could be seen as offensive, and critics had ‘blown it out of proportion’.
The councillor made the comments in a post on the Facebook profile wall of leading Conservative councillor Jane Martin, who is a Tory cabinet member of Ashford borough council in Kent.
The UKIP councillor explained to his new Facebook friend that he was really a Tory at heart, before explaining his switch to UKIP came because of the ‘threat’ from Muslim immigrants.
A UKIP councillor was condemned yesterday after describing Muslims as ‘throat-cutting ragheads’ on Facebook.
Philip Winter, 57, said: “The feeling most Service-minded folk have these days is one of betrayal of government regarding raghead problems.
“They are just waiting for the “balloon” to go up when they all start rioting and cutting our throats in our neighbourhoods.”
Cllr Winter, who recently joined Almondsbury parish council in South Gloucestershire, made the comments in a post to a friend on Wednesday night.
He is one of four UKIP members on the council and was previously a Wings Officer for the city and county of Bristol RAF Association.
His comments were described as “unacceptable and highly offensive”.
One online respondent said: “How can such ill-judged behaviour give confidence in his judgment as an elected representative?”
Asked to explain his remarks, Mr Winter, who lives in Filton, claimed many people shared his opinions and they had been taken out of context.
He said: “What I said is nothing new, I think it’s a general concern from people and I didn’t send this speaking on behalf of the council.
“It was simply a personal message explaining my background to one person. I did not intend for this to be public.
“I was telling someone on a personal level about how I used to be a Tory. I don’t really see how this can be found offensive. It must be the terminology which is being blown out of proportion and is an expression.”
UKIP is to lose its committee seats on Stoke-on-Trent City Council after one of its councillors left the party.
The eurosceptic party won its first two seats on the authority in May and went on to join a coalition with the City Independents and Conservatives.
But Ukip is now set to lose its ‘political group’ status following Richard Broughan’s decision to resign from the party.
This will mean Ukip will lose its seats on two scrutiny committees, which have been occupied by Mr Broughan. The seats will now be assigned to the City Independents instead.
ROW: Councillor for Abbey Hulton and Townsend Richard Broughton, inset the tweet.
A CITY councillor has been criticised for an ‘offensive’ social media post about migrants who died while trying to reach western Europe.
Abbey Hulton and Townsend councillor Richard Broughan, pictured, deactivated his Twitter account after making a ‘joke’ about migrants who died travelling from Hungary in a lorry last month.
But Mr Broughan has denied the message, which asked ‘#IsItOk to ask migrants to ‘chill out’ following the Austrian refrigerated lorry incident?’ was racially motivated.
The Ukip councillor insists he was joining in with a debate on TV programme The Last Leg – and the reaction to it is nothing to do with his withdrawal from Twitter.
Sheffield Ukip Councillor On Assault Charge. Jack Clarkson was formerly a Police Inspector and Ukip’s Police Commissioner candidate & Local Uki Party Leader!
~~~~~~~~~~#########~~~~~~~~~~
.
Sheffield UKIP councillor on assault charge
Lauren Clarke07:00Monday 12 October 2015
A former police inspector who stood to be South Yorkshire’s crime commissioner is to stand trial on a charge of assault.Jack Clarkson, who became one of Sheffield’s first UKIP councillors and then the local party’s leader in May 2014, ‘suspended himself’ from office as a Sheffield Council Stocksbridge and Upper Don councillor in August. Jack ClarksonAt the time the suspension was confirmed by the city council but it did not comment on the reasons and a spokesman for Sheffield UKIP said he had taken a ‘step back for the moment’ as he was ‘going through some personal problems’.
South Yorkshire Police have now confirmed to The Star that the former candidate for the South Yorkshire Police and Crime Commissioner post is to appear at Sheffield Magistrates’ Court over the alleged offence later this year.
Mr Clarkson previously worked for South Yorkshire Police in Sheffield, Rotherham, Ecclesfield, Deepcar, Hillsborough and Doncaster for more than 30 years. He retired as an inspector at Deepcar in 2006.
He is currently the Mayor of Stocksbridge and a councillor for East Ward, Deepcar, on the town’s council.
In October 2014, he stood against eventual winner Labour’s Rev Dr Alan Billings for the role of crime commissioner in a by-election triggered by the resignation of Shaun Wright after the Rotherham grooming scandal broke.
Mr Clarkson came second in the £1.6 million by-election, with just under 32 per cent of the vote, and was supported by UKIP leader Nigel Farage during his campaign.
In election pledges he promised to restore public confidence in the crisis-hit force.
Mr Clarkson said on Twitter during his campaign: “I want to re-establish public trust and confidence. We need strong leadership and a new culture where crime is investigated.”
He also said: “I want to build a South Yorkshire Police force that is proud to put on the uniform and serve the public, the same way I did for 30 years.”
Mr Clarkson, who was also a member of various Sheffield Council committees before his suspension, could not be reached for comment.
KNIVES appear to be out for the long-standing Tunbridge Wells Ukip boss with plans to oust him as chairman of the party’s local branch.
Victor Webb, who secured the first Ukip seat on Tunbridge Wells Borough Council in 2011, is under threat from members of his own party.
An extraordinary general meeting has been called for Wednesday where members will be urged to vote him out as chairman of Ukip Tunbridge Wells constituency branch.
Mr Webb told the Courier: “They will vote to replace me.
“I think people have been told ‘the committee can’t get on with him’ or ‘the committee can’t work with him’ and that it would be better if I stood down.
“I don’t know how it will go. I think if all the membership were fully invited, in the circumstances, they would not like it and not vote for it (but) I don’t know if all members have been invited.
“I don’t even know yet where the meeting is being held.”
Mr Webb was a high-profile local campaigner for Ukip for 14 years before he was elected on to the borough council.
He has the highest attendance record out of all the council’s 48 members, having attended 48 meetings in the last municipal year.
He was a familiar feature at the Millennium Clock – which he dubbed ‘Tunbridge Wells’ own Speaker’s Corner – with a loud hailer and his bulldog dressed in a Union Flag.
Mr Webb said he believed fellow Ukip member and borough councillor Piers Wauchope – who won the second seat in Mr Webb’s ward of Rusthall two years ago – was behind the plan to turf him out.
Mr Wauchope attended five borough council meetings in the past year.
Asked how he would feel if he was ousted, Mr Webb said: “I would feel let down and feel it was manoeuvring by Piers who seems to be on his own agenda. I have spent 14 years slogging away for Ukip, I believe in its principles and I am hoping Piers will be removed and when he is there will be a happy ship again. One member of Ukip has written to me and said ‘this stinks’.”
Asked if he would consider standing as an independent because of the political plotting, he said: “I have considered going independent.”
The minutes of Ukip’s committee meeting on May 28 state: “A proposal was carried that an extraordinary general meeting of the Tunbridge Wells branch be called to consider a motion to be proposed by councillor Piers Wauchope and seconded by Chris Hoare that the councillor Victor Webb be replaced as chairman of the Tunbridge Wells Ukip branch.”
When asked directly if he was lobbying to oust his local party chairman, Mr Wauchope refused to reply, stating: “Victor is the hardest-working councillor in Tunbridge Wells and a great asset not only for Rusthall but for everyone in the borough.”
Update: Ukip councillor Donna Edmunds has expresssed “regret” over her remarks. Ukip has described Cllr Edmunds’ remarks as “somewhat misguided” and stressed that it does not back them.
Ukip has sparked another political furore after a local councillor said that business owners should be able to refuse to serve women and gay people.
Donna Edmunds, a councillor in Lewes, East Sussex and parliamentary candidate, wrote in a forum post: “I believe that all business owners, Christian, Muslim, gay, straight, should be allowed to withhold their services from whomever that choose whenever they choose.
“It’s their business. Why should they be forced to serve or sell to anyone?,” the Argus reported.
The Ukip councillor’s remarks drew condemnation from other political parties. Giles Goodall, Lib Dem Euro candidate for the South East, told HuffPostUK: “Yet again Ukip have shown that they are the nasty party when it comes to rights for women and LGBT people.”
In a statement, she said: “I regret what I wrote and can see how an essentially libertarian stance could be broadly misinterpreted. I in no way endorse any form of discrimination. I believe in cutting red tape for business and I also strongly believe in an individual’s personal and religious freedoms, but I stand against any form of prejudice.
“I hope this remark has not caused any embarrassment for the party.”
A Ukip spokesperson said: “Ms Edmunds comments appear somewhat misguided and we do not endorse the position intimated, but we believe she has apologised for the remarks.”
The corruption of some of EUkip’s leadership, their anti UKIP claque & the NEC is what gives the remaining 10% a bad name!
Another Report of a Bent UKIP Councillor! It is not that UKIP is unique in having bent Councillors but it is the staggering percentage of the tiny number they have that is News Worthy!
.
~~~~~~~~~~#########~~~~~~~~~~
.
Hi,
it is not that UKIP is unique in having bent Councillors but it is the staggering percentage of the tiny number they have that is News Worthy!Yet further proof of UKIP leadership failure and its shambolic unprofessional selection process – you only have to look at the remarkably low caliber opf its MEPs, staff, NEC, Councillors and even the shower they have lined up as prospective MEPs hand selected by the leadership for the EU elections in May!
Here is one of the longest serving, who was ditched by a meeting of his full UKIP Regional Committee as unsuitable and as a result of the facts led by his wife of inappropriate behaviour with their daughter whilst bathing with her! Yet was immediately reinstated and given a full time job by Nigel Farage!
UKIP SW must be so proud of Nigel Farage’s choice
Some may remember the hillarious comment made by Elizabeth Becket a UKIP NEC member at the time, who was on the regional committee when she tried to do Farage’s bidding with the statement:
‘But in a nice warm bath don’t all men get erections’! and bear in mind she used to be a nurse many moons ago!
Farage’s yes man who chaired the meeting was Malcolm Wood who valiantly tried to hide the corruption!
Council leader slams former mayor’s ‘hypocrisy’ over attempted land deals
Cheshire East Council to probe the conduct of Ukip councillor Brian Silvester
Councillor Brian Silvester.
A Cheshire East councillor who has been campaigning against development in the green gap has been trying to promote his own open countryside land for housing, the Chronicle can exclusively reveal.
Ukip councillor Brian Silvester has been trying to strike a deal with Richborough Estates, a strategic land promotion company, for a 20-acre site he owns with his brother in Shavington.
The Chronicle has obtained copies of emails the Willaston and Rope councillor sent – from his Cheshire East Council email account – to the company.
The emails show that Cllr Silvester, who has been campaigning against developments in and around Crewe because, ‘maintaining the green gap is a massive issue for residents’, has been trying to cash in on his own countryside land by getting Richborough Estates to promote it as suitable for housing.
When approached by the Chronicle about the matter, the Willaston and Rope councillor said it was a ‘storm in a teacup’ because he jointly owned the land with his brother and some of the site, at Shavington House Farm, Crewe Road, was brownfield. Richborough refused to promote Cllr Silvester’s land, which could accommodate about 150 houses, for development.
In an email sent to the Ukip councillor in September of last year, company director Paul Campbell said: “We consider your site to be a step too far in eroding the gap between Shavington and Crewe.”
The email continued: “As a business we will only pursue sites that we feel are logical and technically sound and, frankly, we believe your site would cause significant landscape impact.”
He suggested if the councillor was unable to find anyone else willing to put in an application for him ‘maybe you could put an advert in the Crewe Chronicle if you’re struggling’.
The first email the Chronicle has seen in relation to this is dated November 29, 2012, and was sent from Cllr Silvester’s Cheshire East email account.
It is addressed to Richborough director Paul Campbell and reads: “Paul, Wain Homes have won their appeal to build 80 dwellings off Rope Lane in the Green Gap. Are you still interested in our land on the Shavington side of the bypass in light of this rather surprising decision? With best wishes, Brian.”
On December 3, when the company director replied he might be interested, Cllr Silvester emailed – again from his Cheshire East account – “I think there is a good window of opportunity for our site now but we need to move quickly before it closes. In light of that we have interest from a number of developers, so speed is of the essence.”
On December 7, 2012, Cllr Silvester emailed again: “Paul, Would you be interested in putting in an application now?”
On January 18, 2013, he emailed yet again: “Paul, What level of option fee and contribution towards our legal costs would you be willing to offer? What period of option would you require? Would you apply now for all the 20 acres or for a smaller area?”
Richborough Estates declined in September of last year to go ahead with any deal because of the sensitivity of the site and after learning Cllr Silvester had written a letter to Willaston residents asking them to object to its (Richborough’s) application off Moorfields.
Mr Campbell emailed Cllr Silvester to say: “Given your objection letter to all the residents of Willaston asking them to object to our application off Moorfields, I am afraid that I am going to have to decline promoting your land at Shavington. This is partly because you have gone out to try and seek people to object to our application on the grounds of green gap when your site is also green gap, which is a rather inconsistent and self-defeating position to the one taken on your own land, but also because we consider your site to be a step too far in eroding the gap between Shavington and Crewe.”
Councillor said he wouldn’t stop his brother cashing in
Ukip councillor Brian Silvester has told the Chronicle the Shavington site in question is jointly owned and it would not be right to stop his brother from trying to cash in on the land.
Cllr Silvester also claimed the site is partly brownfield ‘and development is encouraged on brownfield sites’.
When the Chronicle pointed out the rest was green gap, the councillor again repeated he owned it in partnership with his brother.
“The land is not in my sole ownership,” he said. “I can’t stop my brother doing what he wants to do.”
When asked by the Chronicle if he was a 50/50 partner with his brother, Cllr Silvester said he was.
When it was then suggested that it would be difficult for his brother to go ahead with a scheme without his consent if they were equal partners, the Willaston and Rope councillor said: “It would not be right of me to stop my brother doing what he wants to do. That would be wrong. If he wants to proceed that’s up to him.”
Cllr Silvester insisted he was justified in campaigning against countryside development when he was trying to do the same on his own land.
He re-iterated part of his site brownfield.
“I’m supporting my residents to defend themselves against the unwanted development in the green gap and on my land, that is the land owned jointly with my brother, there has been no application so I don’t see what the problem is,” he said.
He added: “I think it’s a bit of a storm in a teacup because there’s no planning application [on his land] and even if there was I’m only a part owner and part of it is brownfield.”
The Chronicle asked Cllr Silvester why, if his brother was the main person behind the idea, it had been him [Cllr Silvester] who had made all the contact with the company.
He said: “I don’t think my brother liked using email at that time.”
He insisted he had done nothing wrong in using a council email address to try to conduct private business involving planning.
“That was only for convenience,” he said, adding the council allowed its members to use their council email for personal use.
Developer confirms contact with councillor
Riichborough Estates director Paul Campbell has confirmed to the Chronicle the emails between himself and Cllr Brian Silvester are genuine. The Chronicle contacted Mr Campbell to check the authenticity of the documents before speaking to the Ukip councillor.
Mr Campbell confirmed they were genuine exchanges between himself and Cllr Silvester and then explained how his company had first approached the Cheshire East councillor about the land three years ago.
“We would have sent out a whole raft of letters at the same time to landowners on the edge of Crewe and the villages,” said Mr Campbell.
“We get details from the Land Registry about who owns it.”
He said some people respond, others do not.
“Brian got in touch in 2011 to say he was keen,” said Mr Campbell.
The company director said everything went quiet for a while ‘then he started chasing me again when the Wain Homes decision came out’.
Mr Campbell said by then he had decided on another site and when he learned Cllr Silvester was also campaigning actively against his company over a Willaston scheme he was astounded.
“We always found it puzzling – the stance he was taking against our application when his actions spoke so differently on his own interests,” he said.
Councillor fought applications saying green gap was ‘massive issue’
CHESHIRE East councillor Brian Silvester has expressed his opposition to several planning applications because they were in the green gap, despite trying to secure a deal on his own Shavington land.
In May of last year he told the Chronicle he was concerned about Gladman’s application for 95 homes on land at Audlem Road in Audlem and an application for a site off Newcastle Road in Willaston which was put forward by Emery Planning Partnership.
With regard to the Newcastle Road site, Cllr Silvester said he objected because ‘maintaining the green gap is a massive issue for residents’.
This week Cllr Silvester insisted he had done nothing wrong.
“The emails are well over a year ago and quite dated.
“I have been working very hard in the area inviting people to object to their (Richborough’s) application.
“I have done it for the appeal and they’re trying to stop me doing what I should be doing for my constituents.”
Cllr Silvester also emailed the Chronicle on Friday to say: “Further to our phone chat, [between himself and reporter Belinda Ryan] we [Cllr Silvester and his brother] own 12 acres to the north of the A500.
“The developers of Gresty Oaks approached us to include our land as part of their housing development and we declined because that land is entirely in the green gap and has no brown field land at all.”
A few minutes later he emailed the Chronicle again to add: “Richborough are having a go at me because they do not like the very vigorous way I am opposing their application/appeal for 170 houses off Moorfields, Willaston, on behalf of my constituents, who are vehemently opposed to the application. Instead of making the case for their application they choose to attack me personally, when all I am doing is to defend the interests of my residents as I have always done and will continue to do so.”
Cllr Silvester, the former deputy leader of Cheshire East, who is also an ex-leader of Crewe and Nantwich Borough Council and a former Crewe and Nantwich mayor, quit the Conservative party in November 2012.
At the time his political future was being discussed by the party, following his criminal conviction the month before.
He and his brother Colin were fined £45,000 and ordered to pay £22,000 costs after pleading guilty at Chester Crown Court to a catalogue of fire safety breaches at the building they rented out as bedsits on Crewe Road in Shavington.
At the time the court heard from prosecutor Bernard Thorogood that when fire officers had carried out an inspection of the property ‘the risk of serious injury was so significant that immediate action needed to be taken and a prohibition notice was issued. The circumstances were such that a fire would have spread rapidly throughout the premises’.
Cllr Silvester – who once stood as a parliamentary candidate for the Tories – refused to stand down from Cheshire East despite numerous calls for his resignation because of his criminal conviction.
He represented the people of Willaston and Rope for several months as an Independent before joining Ukip in June of last year.
Council to probe councillor’s conduct
Cheshire East Council has asked the Chronicle to hand over the correspondence we have showing Cllr Brian Silvester used his council email to try to conduct personal business with a land developer.
The Chronicle contacted Cheshire East for a statement after seeing the emails. Cheshire East Council has since asked us for a ‘copy of the dossier as the leader will want to pass that to the monitoring officer’.
This means the council will now consider whether or not the Ukip councillor has broken the council’s code of conduct. Cllr Silvester has not acted illegally in any way.
Cheshire East leader Michael Jones was incensed when he was approached by the Chronicle. “To me, this would appear to be very hypocritical of Cllr Silvester and I’m really disappointed for the people of Willaston,” said Cllr Jones.
“I will now refer this to the monitoring officer because of him using Cheshire East equipment.”
Greg Lance - Watkins (Greg_L-W)
~~~~~~~~~~#########~~~~~~~~~~
.
Ukip-vs-EUkip 