A Norfolk parish council is in disarray after an extraordinary row over who should have control of its website led to mass resignations, a rancorous leaflet campaign and even a police investigation.
The Spooner Row Community Council has seen six members quit in recent months, and although some replacements have been drafted in to keep it running, it still has three vacancies.
Experts from South Norfolk Council, the Norfolk Association of Local Councils and the Norfolk Parish Training Services have all been called in to try to help smooth things over, but there is still no resolution in sight.
Locals say the dispute has led to rising tensions in the village, near Wymondham, and has blocked £90,000 worth of community projects which cannot go ahead until the feud ends.
The roots of the wrangle are in the differing visions of how that money should be best spent.
But the row really kicked off after several councillors raised concerns that another one, Robert Foster, was able to read all their emails.
Mr Foster had helped set up the council's website, spoonerrow.cc, and arrange emails for fellow members.
He was asked by other councillors to transfer the admin passwords for the site to them. But he refused, and the dispute has escalated ever since.
BREAKAWAY COUNCIL
The council was only set up in 2019, after a group of villagers decided to break free from the shadow of the nearby town of Wymondham to have more say over the future of the village and its even smaller neighbours, Suton and Wattlefield.
It has a pot of £90,000 to spend on local community projects, but opinion on how to spend the money has been divided.
Among projects supported by Mr Foster, who works as a company secretary for a law firm, are the installation of gym equipment and a fitness trail on the village playing fields. Others had questioned the cost, however.
He, meanwhile, had raised concerns over the amount of money spent on a new kitchen for the village hall and the funding of parties to mark the jubilee and coronation.
Initially, the new authority used the village's online noticeboard to post updates.
But as debate on the site - especially over how the money should be spent - became increasingly acrimonious, Mr Foster, who was one of those instrumental in setting up the council, helped arrange a new website and set up email communications for members.
It meant he had access to his colleagues' emails.
When South Norfolk Council - which oversees the parish - became aware of this, it raised it with the rest of the council as an issue that needed addressing.
He said he had access as part of his role as the council's communications officer.
Other Spooner Row councillors excluded Mr Foster from discussions on the subject and then, in January, requested he transfer control of the website to them.
He refused, saying he feared the site would be used to attack him.
His decision means that ever since, the council has been forced to use the village’s online message board to post meeting minutes and agendas, as is its legal duty.
ONLINE QUARRELS
The council’s quarrels are now being played out in real-time on the message board, with anonymous users from both sides of the debate using it to attack each other.
Mr Foster believes this vindicates his decision not to relinquish control of the council website and says he is being unfairly attacked on the message board.
“I was not going to give up control of the website without proper assurances that certain individuals would not turn it into a cesspit like the Spooner Row message board had become,” he said.
“I have seen a whisper campaign against me and the attacks on the forum are ongoing.”
He believes his decision to withhold the passwords was justified in order to prevent opposing factions gaining “absolute control”.
As matters escalated, one of Mr Foster's critics even called police, accusing him of "malicious communications" following an argument over email in which he asked one of his critics if he "had the balls" to confront him face to face.
Mr Foster said the force carried out a three-week investigation and visited him, but told him there was no evidence of any offence.
Police have confirmed there are no criminal proceedings ongoing and Mr Foster described it as "a storm in a teacup".
ELECTION RANCOUR
As the bitter row over control of the website continued, relations between councillors grew increasingly sour in the run-up to the council election in May.
Mr Foster campaigned under the slogan "the truth will come out", with leaflets posted through the village.
READ MORE: Fears 'local democracy in jeopardy' amid claims of frequent councillor abuse
On his leaflet, he accused a group of locals connected to the Village Hall Association of trying to load the council with its allies, so they could control how the £90,000 was spent.
Mr Foster was re-elected along with John Morton, Mal Andrews, Martyn Johnson, Karl Chapman, Sue Hewitson and Nicola Skey.
Julian Halls, a long-serving district councillor, was also voted in but resigned following the election results. Another councillor, Stephen Ward, had already quit.
Hopes of a harmonious new chapter for Spooner Row were quickly dashed as the first meeting of the new administration fell back into its earlier disputes.
One by one, councillors quit over the coming months until only Robert Foster, Sue Hewitson and John Morton remained. Another has since been co-opted in, to allow the council to continue functioning.
The latest to leave, Nicola Skey, said: “I gave it my best shot but it has been difficult.
“There is an awful lot of money to spend that could benefit the community but at the moment it is just sitting there. The council is stuck still arguing over things that happened years ago. There is no progression.”
Resigning members have cited Mr Foster's “derisive attitude” and confrontational behaviour.
But he insists he is trying to help the community.
“I’m not a politician or member of a party. My actions have solely been out of efforts to provide better services for the community in which I live,” he said.
He accuses others of mounting a smear campaign against him.
READ MORE: Police called in amid mass walkout at stormy parish council
VILLAGE PLEA
According to local businessman Richard Foreman, the quarrel is causing widespread frustration in the village, with people desperate for the situation to be sorted.
“The council no longer represents the electorate, which seems to go against what democracy is about,” he said.
“There is a substantial pot of funds which could benefit the community but at the moment it isn’t being spent. It needs to be resolved.”
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