Another day at the office - another knife in the back
Yesterday my ward colleague Cllr Rob Merson (SNP) sprang an emergency motion to remove me as Vice Chair of the Formartine Area Committee. To my astonishment, Rob was unable to clearly articulate what the emergency was - but the Chair Cllr John Loveday (LibDem) agreed to take the motion. And the motion was passed.
Cllr Merson cited comments I have made about my colleagues' indecisiveness re the siting of a new Ellon Academy and my failure to attend some site visits as the reasons for my removal a Vice Chair. I don't think these have anything to do with me as Vice Chair. And indeed I have received no complaints or even adverse comments regarding my role as Vice Chair.
So what motivated Cllr Merson and the other Formartine Councillors to act in this way?
I know Cllr Merson doesn't like me mentioning him on my blog (see comments to this post on my blog). And of course we have political differences.
But I think this is simply a continuation of the divide on the Formartine Area Committee post-Trump. Faced with a planning application at Menie, my colleagues are prone to saying things like "We must press ahead as quickly as possible with this development". No. We have a duty to scrutinise all proposals and ensure that the conditions of the permission granted by the SNP government are complied with.
Not being Vice Chair will not stop me doing that job. And it will not stop me speaking out to protect the Menie residents whose homes remain under threat because my colleagues refuse to rule out compulsory purchase and keep giving the Trump Organisation every reason to believe that they can ask and it will be given.