Shepway Green Party Cllrs under active investigation for breaking the law

Updated 20/01/21 @09:55

Historic England have began an investigation into elected Shepway Green Party Cllrs Jim Martin, Lesley Whybrow, and Georgina Treloar, who sit on Folkestone & Hythe District Council, for committing an offence under s2 of the Ancient Monuments and Archaeological Areas Act 1979, which can lead to fines in excess of £50,000.

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It is a FACT that when you plant trees within the boundary of a scheduled monument  – such as the Royal Military Canal – as Cllr Martin and his elected colleagues did, one needs consent to disturb the ground. Historic England makes it very clear “ground disturbance” within a scheduled area, including planting a tree/s needs consent from them.

It is a FACT, Cllr Martin and his elected colleagues did not  have the necessary consent from Historic England to disturb the ground to plant the trees within the boundary of the scheduled monument known as the Royal Military Canal. As such under s2 of the Ancient Monuments and Archaeological Areas Act 1979, the Shepway Green Party committed an offence. The Council did NOT when clearing the North Bank of the Canal in late Feb, early March.

We understand complaints of an offence by the above mentioned Shepway Green Party Cllrs regarding the Canal have also been lodged with Kent Police. We suspect the above Cllrs may well be interviewed under caution just like Cllr’s Goddard & Tillson  and Wimble have been previously.

These are the same Cllrs who said they care about our environment then fail to consult on the Carbon Action Plan as they had to by law. And these are the same Cllrs who have delivered a misinformation campaign around the North Bank of the Canal.

The Cabinet Member for the Environment Cllr Lesley Whybrow (Green) (above middle) who chairs the Climate & Ecocological Working Group which is held behind closed doors, so is NOT open or transparent, has also ensured we’ll have less trees planted across our district than at any other time previously. How will she ensure our Council hit their net zero carbon by 2030, if they are planting just 30-40 trees a year?

Cllr Treloar (above right) also recently declared the Council was destroying biodiversity along the canal, when in fact over the last 15 years biodiversity has increased.

The Shepway Green Party have not delivered on Princes Parade. They have u-turned on Otterpool; where up to 10,000 homes might be built by the Council who own the land; and voted with Cllr Monk’s Conservative led Council, to keep your Council Tax the highest in Kent, band for band, for the eighteenth year in a row.

It’s clear the said Cllrs have breached the Folkestone & Hythe District Council’s code of conduct, as each of them have brought their office into disrepute by breaking the law. Furthermore it’s clear they have breached the Seven Principles of Public life, as they’ve failed to behave in accordance with all legal obligations; and failed to support high standards of conduct when serving in their public post (that probably goes for many Cllrs on our Council).

As such the monitoring officer, Amandeep Khroud is the responsible officer for dealing with complaints against Cllrs. And that’s who any complaints should be sent.

amandeep.khroud@folkestone-hythe.gov.uk

As they say, the road to hell is paved with good intentions, but when those good intentions mean breaking the law, it would appear the Shepway Green Party are prepared to do just that. The ends do not justify the means. In other words, a positive outcome isn’t, well, a good thing if the methods used meant breaking the law.

The Shepway Vox Team

Dissent is NOT a Crime