Former council leader from Heacham to face hearing after code of conduct complaint

A former leader accused of meddling in a planning meeting from his sick bed is to face a standards hearing next week.

Terry Parish stepped down from his role as chairman of West Norfolk Council’s planning committee earlier this year after the claims surfaced.

It is alleged the independent councillor for Heacham could not attend a meeting in November after being hurt in a car crash, so he watched online and emailed instructions to his deputy detailing how she should vote on applications.

The messages were later obtained by members of the council’s rival Conservative group, who said they showed Mr Parish had tried to “pre-determine” the meeting.

Emails showed Mr Parish, who served as council leader from May 2023 to April 2024, had sent instructions to his deputy Sue Lintern.

They related to a controversial application to create a woodland leisure park at Pentney.

On the Friday before the meeting, Mr Parish said: “Pentney, no. Look at [parish council] objections. Norfolk Wildlife Trust is cagey, reads like no. Arboricultural officer seems to have been leaned on. 91 objections. Power to the people.”

During the meeting, as he watched online, he sent her an email when councillors were asked to defer a decision, saying: “No deferral. REFUSE IT.”

It was followed a few minutes later by another missive stating: “REFUSE IT.”

The application was ultimately refused.

Following the revelations, Mr Parish admitted he had made a mistake, saying it was done “in the heat of the moment” and compared it to “shouting from the crowd at a football match”.

He self-referred himself to the standards committee, which has culminated in the hearing set for Wednesday, May 7.

A formal code of conduct complaint was also received by the council after the incident.

It is currently not clear whether the hearing will be held in private or publicly, with the standards committee set to decide this during the meeting next week.