Police "threat" row between councillors over plans for former Penwortham library

It happened at a meeting of South Ribble Borough Council’s planning committee, where members considered an application to turn the landmark Liverpool Road building into an arts centre.

That conversion actually took place more than a year ago when the property was reopened as “The Venue”, but it is understood that the operator of the facility - Penwortham Town Council - only later learned that permission would be required for the change of use.

South Ribble’s planning officers recommended that the bid for retrospective approval should be granted, but the substance of the issue was soon overwhelmed by clashes between councillors over declarations of interest - and whether the library itself should be resurrected to form part of the arts centre plans.

The original library closed in 2016, one of more than 20 shut by the previous Labour administration at Lancashire County Council, which offered to transfer the facilities to community groups for any purpose they saw fit.

Penwortham Town Council took up that offer and took over the library two years later - with its plans finally coming to fruition in September 2019 when The Venue opened its doors, providing a space for clubs, talks and exhibitions.

However, South Ribble’s planning meeting descended into acrimony when Conservative committee member Barrie Yates said that a fellow member, who is also on the town council, should have declared a financial interest in the matter.

“[He should have] left the meeting, he shouldn't be speaking. He’s gone against the rules of [South Ribble] Council - but let’s say no more about it and just remove that person,” Cllr Yates suggested.

It was unclear as to which of his colleagues Cllr Yates was referring - even after clarification was sought from a council officer - given that three South Ribble planning committee members also sit on Penwortham Town Council. Cllr Yates described the individual whom he initially alighted upon only as “the councillor [who] spoke before and said he was on Penwortham Council, but didn’t declare a pecuniary interest”.

At the point of that intervention, all three town council members had already spoken - Liberal Democrat Harold Hancock, who declared a personal, non-prejudicial, interest at the outset of the meeting; Labour’s Will Adams, who acknowledged the same interest immediately before he addressed the committee when the item was being considered; and his Labour colleague James Flannery.

Legal services manager Dave Whelan told the meeting that the trio “arguably,,,have a personal interest”, but that he did not consider any of them to have pecuniary interest - and that there was nothing to stop them “from taking part and voting on the application”.

Cllr Yates said he disagreed with that advice - and added that the matter should be reported to the police after the meeting.

Later in the discussion, Cllr Flannery addressed the issue directly, telling Cllr Yates: “If you want, I'll give you my address and you can go and do it...and I don’t want to hear that kind of threat again.”

Cllr Yates declared: “It’s not a threat - I’m doing it now” - before briefly being seen to produce a mobile phone during the hybrid meeting, which saw some members present at the council’s headquarters and others, including Cllr Yates, dialling in remotely. He did not appear to go on to make a call during the meeting.

Committee chair Caleb Tomlinson said that Cllr Yates’s actions were “unbecoming” of him, while Cllr Adams branded the situation “ an embarrassment” to South Ribble Council.