The Shepwayvox Team can exclusively reveal that Cllr David Wimble (Ind) (pictured) Cabinet Member for the District Economy, responsible for Economic development, regeneration, tourism, heritage (conservation), business rate relief and planning policy is currently in arrears with his Council Tax payments according to Folkestone & Hythe District Council. This is not the first time he has had problems with his council tax. We have reported he had issues in April 2016.
In a response to an FoI sent by our public face, Folkestone & Hythe District Council have confirmed that Cllr Wimble is in arrears. A pre summons letters has been sent to Cllr Wimble to pay up. It is understood that he has agreed to a repayment plan with the council.
We note, Cllr David Monk Leader of the Council gave Cllr Wimble a seat on the Cabinet to prop up his minority conservative administration. Did he know his Cabinet member had issues with his council tax?
These are not the only financial issues Cllr Wimble has. As a director in Marsh Media Limited who publish the Looker magazine, which is a closet Tory mouthpiece for the Marsh. According to companies House the latest set of accounts lodged on the 27 July 2018, clearly show Cllr Wimble’s company is in significant financial difficulty as its debts have jumped from £6,590 pounds to £53,367, in a single financial year. Cllr Wimble in an email to our public face says, the debt are loans from him propping up the company. However, he has never provided any evidence or proof of such loans when asked.
Cllr Wimble is in our honest opinion a fantasist. He is a Cllr who is irresponsible and lacking integrityof any description. It would be wise and prudent for Cllr Monk to remove him from his Cabinet position in humble opinion. There is an inherent public interest and value in scrutinising elected officials such as Cllr Wimble, particularly when this would further inform the public on how that individual has conducted themselves in office. Council tax default strikes at the heart of the performance of a councillor’s functions(see para 40).
We can also inform you a Cllr who was not re-elected to office in May 2019, was also in Council Tax arrears. Who the Councillor was is NOT known, nor can be known as the High Court has determined that in order for interference into an individual’s rights to privacy to be necessary, there must be a pressing social need for disclosure. As the former Cllr is no longer in office, disclosure of this specific data is not necessary, as the public interest in disclosure considerably lessens following an elected official’s departure from office.
