The leader of Burntwood Town Council has spoken of her “frustration” over the saga of a tree funding mystery.
Cllr Sue Woodward made her comments after Cllr Thomas Loughbrough-Rudd confirmed his intention to resign in the wake of an investigation into his conduct.
Despite being awarded £924 for a tree planting scheme last year, he failed to plant or even purchase any trees – and it emerged this week that only half of the sum had been paid back so far.
But Cllr Woodward, who lost out to Cllr Loughbrough-Rudd by 35 votes in the Burntwood North seat in the county council elections, said the past 12 months had left local Tories with many questions to answer.
“I have been watching the whol saga with growing incredulity and frustration.
“The way that the county council has handled the issues around the false Climate Change grant application and, in fact, all of the issues relating to this young man has been deplorable.
“It is my view that senior Conservatives have failed in their due diligence in putting him forward as a candidate last May and their duty of care to a vulnerable person, but that is a matter for them and their consciences.”
Cllr Sue Woodward, Burntwood Town Council
Records from Staffordshire County Council show that Cllr Loughbrough-Rudd has attended just two of the five meetings he had been due to be a part of since October.
Cllr Woodward said local residents deserved better.
“What has upset me most is that Burntwood North has been without representation at the county council for many months now.
“He is no longer responding to emails or calls from local residents or councillors, not that he was very conscientious in that aspect of the role from the outset.
“My strong advice to him is that, having resigned from his two – yes, two – parish council seats, he should confirm he has resigned from his county council seat to allow someone who genuinely cares about Burntwood to replace him.”
Cllr Sue Woodward, Burntwood Town Council
Despite confirming his intention to resign yesterday (23rd February) and emailing the chairman to inform him of this, at the time of writing Cllr Loughbrough-Rudd remains listed as an independent member of Staffordshire County Council.
