Cllr David Wimble Is Committing Another Criminal Offence

Cllr David Wimble, Cabinet Member for the District Economy for Folkestone & Hythe District Council, is a man who’s never far away from controversy. He has in the past not paid his Council Tax, been forced to issue a public apology and fraudently claimed mileage for attending Council meetings while having no tax, no mot or insurance.

We begin with a question.

Can anyone explain why Cllr David Wimble new company, Radio Waves, is registered at former Sandgate Parish Cllr Leo Griggs home address?

Leo is a developer and the owner of Alliance Building Company Contracts Ltd and Livingston Homes Ltd

 

Leo Griggs is the developer who bought the former Royal Victoria Hospital (Folkestone) site. He also built the six flats for the council at Roman Way, Cheriton. He is also a member of the local Conservative Party. We add he’s done nothing wrong.

Leo Griggs (pictured far left)

Since his election Cllr Wimble’s Register of Interests has been incorrect. He has also failed to update them even though his circumstances have changed.

At Part A of his Register of Interests form it states:

• Any employment,office, trade or profession or vocation carried on for profit.

Now Cllr Monk, Cllr Prater and Cllr Peter Gane for example make it clear who they work for. However, Cllr Wimble states he is a “publisher and broadcaster“, but fails to name any of the companies he’s a director of or has significant personal control of, including Radio Waves; which was formed on the 16th July 2020.

At part b of the Register of Interests – Sponsorship – he has failed to declare who paid for his election expenses. We wrote about this in Sept 2019 making it clear, nineteen out of thirty Folkestone & Hythe District Council Councillors were committing a criminal offence. The vast majority of Cllrs updated this part of the form as it was a legal requirement to inform the public who paid for election expenses. However Cllr Wimble has not.

At part d of the Register of Interests form it states:

• Any beneficial interest in land which is in within the authority area.

However, on the document he has written N/A (Not Applicable).

Cllr Wimble’s home address is: 10 Mulberry Court, Grand Parade, Littlestone, Kent, TN28 8LZ. The land registry Title Deed says he has owned the property since 12.02.2003 and paid £100,000 for it.

Now we are aware Cllr Wimble has recently taken a lease on number 58, the High Street, Hythe, owned by Mr Richard Clarey and leased to Cllr Wimble and his partner, who have opened up a sweet shop, yet he has not declared on his register of interests.

According to the Ministry of Housing Communities and Local Government guidance for Cllrs on their personal interests, it states:

• It is a criminal offence if, without a reasonable excuse, you fail to tell the monitoring officer about your disclosable pecuniary interests, either for inclusion on the register if you are a newly elected, co-opted or appointed member, or to update the register if you are re- elected or re-appointed, or when you become aware of a disclosable pecuniary interest which is not recorded in the register but which relates to any matter.

So it’s clear Cllr Wimble is committing a criminal offence, as per the MHCLG guidance for Cllrs

This then begs the question why the monitoring officer – Amandeep Khroud – who’s the legal officer for the Council, and charged with making sure Cllrs registers of interests are compliant with the law, is not, and has not taken any action?

To us, and perhaps others, she is failing to do her job and receiving £89,016 for not doing it. She received a £10,500 pay rise in 2019/20 and failed to take any action against Cllr Wimble for committing fraud.

If you as a member of the public wish to make a formal complaint about Cllr David Wimble’s continuing failure to update his Register of Interests, you can do so by following this link ⇒ https://folkestone-hythe.gov.uk/forms/councillor/complaints

Finally, we understand that Cllr Wimble and Cllr Ray Field have been attending Conservative group meetings. We stress they have no powers to vote at these private meetings. His and Field’s attendance has created a growing level of discontent within local conservative ranks. So as we began with a question, well end with one.

Are Cllr David Wimble and Cllr Ray Field closet Tories, or have they joined the party? We’ll leave to to ponder that.

The Shepwayvox Team

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