Dear Residents of Kingsley

It is with deep regret, that the July meeting of Kingsley Parish Council scheduled for 17th July 2025, has had to be CANCELLED.

 

The Parish Councillors have taken this decision due to the actions of one resident, who has submitted extensive and in-depth Freedom of Information Requests, which have so far absorbed all the Council's resources this month. The Council has therefore been unable to action any of the items arising from last month's meeting or prepare an agenda for the next meeting.

 

This resident has taken the majority of the Councillors' and Clerk's time each month, for the past six to nine months with many emails demanding answers to issues that are not pertinent to the running of the Parish Council. This means time is being taken up responding to these emails and challenges. As a result, the residents of Kingsley, are paying a precept which is disproportionately being used to respond to one resident, rather than resolving outstanding Council business.

 

The resident in question was once a Councillor and is aware of the demands they are imposing on council resources. Kingsley is extremely lucky to have experienced and hard-working officers and contractors, and our Clerk / PO was not appointed to a full-time position for Kingsley, as our budgets and workload could not justify such a position. The position was advertised on a part-time basis, for a fixed number of hours that the Council on your behalf, considered we could afford and would satisfy the workload for a village Council. As is common in the sector, the Clerk / PO, works for other parish councils and undertakes work for Kingsley usually on Sundays, and two evenings per week. Currently, this one resident is accounting for all the hours allocated to the Clerk/PO, thus preventing the Parish Council functioning on a day-to-day basis.

 

We are also aware of comments circulating on social media and other platforms regarding the Council's processes, decision-making, and staff management. We simply ask residents to be cautious about drawing conclusions from unverified sources, and to please contact us directly if you have a query about how the Council operates.

 

 

We thank residents for their patience and understanding. All Parish Councillors are unpaid volunteers who give their time to serve the community. While we may not always agree on every issue, we are united in our commitment to act in the best interests of the village.

 

If you are interested in joining the Council and helping to shape local decision-making, we would love to hear from you.

 

We are working collectively as a Council in support of our Clerk / PO, to resolve the issues we are currently facing as a result of this single resident and to preserve the resources required for other projects such as road safety, management of assets, the co-op ramp, maintenance of the village and other administrative duties. The Parish Council will update you as soon as we have resolved the matter.

 

Please be assured, we have the interest of the village and all its residents foremost in all the decisions we make.

 

We thank you for your understanding at this time.

 

Your Kingsley Parish Councillors
https://www.kingsleyparishcouncil.org.uk/