Yesterday I wrote to Cllr Roger Croad asking him to resign from his waste portfolio on Devon County Council over a conflict of interest over Ivybridge residents’ campaign against Viridor’s incinerator proposals. Those of you who attended the recent public meeting on this matter might have been surprised to learn that as well as being Ivybridge’s Devon County Councillor he also holds the waste portfolio on Devon County Council and is responsible for incineration in Devon. He is also Chair of South West Waste Partnerships, the Council body that is running the competition for an incinerator location in South Devon.
If we are to stop the incinerator we need Ivybridge’s Devon County Councillor to be fully behind the campaign opposing the incinerator. Leading Ivybridge’s campaign against the incinerator is incompatible with being the independent head of the body considering Lee Mill as an incinerator location. He cannot do both properly.
The local people I’ve spoken to want reassurance that having failed to tell them about plans for an incinerator on their doorstep our local councillor is going to do all he can to stop the incinerator. You cannot fight against the incinerator on one hand and lead the search for an incinerator on the other. That’s a horrendous and obvious conflict of interest. I’ve asked Cllr Croad to choose whether he is Ivybridge’s Councillor first and foremost or the Council’s waste portfolio holder. He cannot do both. I hope he chooses wisely.
It seems bizarre to me that Cllr Croad hasn’t already recognised this conflict of interest and taken action to resolve it. Yet again, local Tories are having to be hounded into supporting local residents opposing the incinerator.
Let me know what you think about this by emailing me. You can also contact Roger Croad to ask him to clarify his position – is he Ivybridge’s Councillor first and foremost or is he the person who must remain independent as he oversees the County’s waster issues?
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[...] Earlier this week I called for Cllr Roger Croad to clarify his conflict of interest over his role opposing the incinerator and the demonstration crowd agreed with me when I made that point to them in the speeches. Cllr Croad has emailed a local resident saying he doesn’t feel his position is compromised. I disagree and so did most of the 300 people there today. Isn’t it about time that he listened and acted to resolve his conflict. [...]
[...] the fight. Cllr Roger Croad sat silent throughout the meeting – even when I asked him to resolve his conflict of interest. I believe if you are to represent Ivybridge properly you cannot be in charge of the search for an [...]
[...] we need to concentrate all our efforts on opposing this incinerator application by Viridor first. Cllr Roger Croad has already embarassed the Tories so much that they lost one of their safest wards at a recent [...]