Salthouse mystery - councillors resign but will not say why

Two councillors and the clerk all resigned from Salthouse Parish Council (SPC), a small village near Weybourne, within 12 days of the local elections on May 4. 

Now the North Norfolk District Council (NNDC) is stepping in to temporarily fill the parish ranks. 

Salthouse (Image: Submitted)

Why the councillors left is unclear, with Dr Sarah Dawson - former chairwoman and one of the two to leave the council - refusing to explain their departure. 

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Dr Sarah Dawson said: “Honestly, there is nothing to say. 

“It was personal differences, it is done. 

“There were reasons why we all went but nothing that is newsworthy, there was no impropriety and no complaints made against anyone.” 

Dr Dawson said the other member to leave was the vice chairman, Colin Horwood. 

John Stibbons, the former SPC clerk, said he had always intended to leave the council, having retired in 2022 but was brought back temporarily late last year while a replacement could be found. 

Mr Stibbons said he was not aware of the reasons for the other departures.

“I don’t think there was a specific big problem," he said.

“I asked them not to resign until the May meeting because we needed to approve the audit, which was done. At the end of the meeting, they both resigned.” 

NNDC will ask its own councillor, Victoria Holliday, or Eric Vardy from Norfolk County Council, to temporarily fill in at SPC.

SPC needs three members to run a meeting but currently only has two.

A report to Wednesday's NNDC meeting said there were people interested in filling the vacancies but they can only be brought onto the council when there are enough councillors for meetings to go ahead.

This will be through a process called co-option, where existing councillors select new members without an election.