A LOCAL authority is to re-run its annual flagship meeting after it emerged a gaffe had meant it could face legal challenges over councillors decisions.
Darlington Borough Council will hold its first public meeting for 14 months for a second time on June 9 following a complaint that the meeting papers had been sent out just six hours before the meeting, rather than the statutory seven days.
The error meant no councillors, including the mayor, were legally appointed or voted in at the ceremonial occasion on May 20 due to “procedural non-compliance”.
A spokesman for the authority said if it was found councillors had not been properly appointed, any decisions they made, over matters such as housing developments or council tax, could be legally challenged.
Liberal Democrat councillor Nigel Boddy, who made the complaint, said the meeting papers were sent late because Conservative and Labour group leaders had not sent crucial documents to officers in a timely fashion.
He said: “If we start letting standards slip chaos will ensue. Without having had the papers, I would question how many people in that room knew what they were sticking their hand up for. We have got to abide by the statutory periods of notice otherwise you end up with the absurd situation of people being given six hours notice of changes.”
The authority’s leader Councillor Heather Scott and the leader of the Labour group Councillor Stephen Harker said with the by-elections and having to hold the meeting in the Dolphin Centre due to social distancing restrictions had meant officers organising the mayor-making ceremony had been extremely busy.
Cllr Scott said: “The ridiculous thing is that Cllr Boddy’s party leader was being voted in as deputy mayor, so you could say that neither the mayor or the deputy mayor has got an official position yet.
“It’s ludicrous, but we will have to put it right because we have got companies waiting for their planning applications to be heard. It’s been done like this before, but there’s never been any problems.”
Cllr Harker said while having to re-run the annual council meeting was unprecedented, it “seemed a nonsense to have to do it”.
Green Party group leader on the authority Councillor Matthew Snedker said the failed meeting was the latest in a series of recent gaffes that put Darlington Borough Council in danger of becoming a laughing stock.
He said: “With Treasury North coming, the eyes of Britain are on Darlington and people are saying it’s on the up, but with that high profile comes scrutiny, and it is starting to feel a little embarrassing that we can’t run our own council.”
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