County and district councillors abandon Fernwood Parish Council meetings after heated meeting over a coat of arms project

A parish councillor was called a liar for suggesting a proposal for a village coat of arms wasn’t just vanity.

Fernwood residents attended a meeting of their parish council where top of the agenda was public questioning of the parish council’s decision to have a coat of arms designed at a cost of more than £14,500.

The meeting soon became heated and, as a result, both the villages county and district councillors sent notes afterwards to Fernwood Parish Council saying they would not be attending forthcoming meetings.

During the meeting, a member of the public called parish councillor Henry Micah a liar as he tried to defend the idea and counter suggestions it was a vanity project, something Mr Micah took exception to and began shouting back.

The coat of arms is being paid for through the village’s Community Infrastructure Levy; which is money it receives from developers from the ever-growing village, which amounts to hundreds of thousands of pounds, and must be spent or returned.

It is not being paid for with council tax.

It is said that a coat of arms would give the village an identity, but many residents object saying the money could be better spent on improvements to Fernwood and have branded the council elitest.

Another councillor admitted at the meeting that if the parish council wasn’t banking £1m coming in from Community Infrastructure Levy, the coat of arms would not have been conceived or considered.

After the confession, the member of the public talked back, asking if the project was merely a vanity project, if they would regret the decision and think it wasn’t a good investment.

Councillors were angered and denied the suggestion of the member of the public who said to them: “You’re just liars, I’m sorry.”

Henry Micah started raising his voice to the member of the public “You don’t even know me, and you are calling me a liar.

“You come with the audacity to tell me that I am a liar.

“You should shut up, who do you think you are?”

Other members of the council told Mr Micah to calm him.

“We want people when they come into the village or parish, to look at the coat of arms and recognise in there certain aspects of what was here before,” said one councillor, referring to a rich history that has included Balderton Hospital and RAF Balderton.

“It’s not a vanity project, it’s about history and the community and bringing it together.”

The parish council says it is one of the most transparent councils in the area and spends its money wisely on projects that will benefit its villagers. It recently bought woodland in the centre of the village, repaired streetlamps that haven’t worked in two years, installed bins, worked to ensure the trees are made safe and wildlife preserved, has a youth club and is looking at CCTV while awaiting the transfer of open spaces from developers.

Parish council clerk, Marion Fox Goddard said ‘I have served Fernwood Parish Council for six years and have never experienced a resident being so rude to the council.

"The councillor in question has served Fernwood Parish Council for over five years and has always been very polite and professional with everybody that comes to the parish council meetings.

"On this occasion I think he was just taken aback by how rude the resident was to the council.

"I have spoken with the council about this and we have discussed how this would be addressed differently in future.

"However, I would remind anyone coming to Fernwood Parish Council meetings that our councillors are ultimately volunteers who give hours of their time to try to do their best for the community.

"Everyone deserves to be treated with dignity and I hope everyone involved will learn from this incident and that we will have no further instances of this in future.

"We have received a note from one of the district councillors that attends our meetings and the county councillor to say they no longer wish to attend; we regret that they have decided no longer to attend Fernwood Parish Council meetings based on this incident, but I feel confident in assuring them this was a one-off incident and it will not reoccur."

However, district councillor of the area, Neill Mison, who has previously expressed his discontent with the expenditure on the coat of arms, holds a different view.

He said; "Having attended the Fernwood Parish Council on the 21st Novemeber, I was dismayed at the conduct of parish councillors on the night towards members of the public.

"I have decided that as a result of this type of behaviour I will not be attending Fernwood Parish Council meetings and will submit written district councillor reports for the foreseeable future."