Brockworth Parish Councillors 'gagged'

​A ‘gagging order’ has been made against councillors in Brockworth talking freely to the press.

Members of the parish council have been ordered to avoid speaking directly to journalists under the rules of a controversial ‘publicity policy’.

 The news comes after disgruntled members approached The Citizen to speak out against several controversial decisions passed by the council last year.

The move was revealed last week during a parish council meeting.

 Chairman Jim Hunt said: “You can’t have everyone talking to the press. Only the clerk or the chairman should talk to the press, because they are more likely to know the real facts involved.”

Julie Shirley, who took up the post of parish clerk last year after former clerk Graham Lewis resigned, said members were still allowed to talk to the press as residents.

She said: “If you get a call, for example, as an Abbotswood Road resident, that’s no problem.”

Mr Hunt added: “If you get a call about council business, it would be best if you clear what you are going to say with the clerk.”

But Mike Collins, who also sits on Tewkesbury Borough and Gloucestershire County Council, said he had questions about the policy.

He said: “As far as commenting on behalf of the council, I am in full agreement with Julie and Jim, it should be them.

“But every member of the council should have the right to talk to the press about parish council issues, as an individual member.

“Also, I sit on the council with my borough and county Council hats on, and I feel I should be able to make comments.

“Maybe gagging is too strong a word for it, but I’m sure some people will see it that way.”

Last year, Brockworth Parish Council made front page news after writing to mum Vicki James two weeks after her daughter’s death and asking her to remove toys from her grave.

The council also hit the headlines after a controversial decision to oppose plans to create a memorial wall to teenager Gemma Denning, who died earlier last year at her home.