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# Councillor criticises social media posts calling for planning committee members to be "hunted down"
- URL: https://lichfieldlive.co.uk/councillor-criticises-social-media-posts-call-for-planning-committee-members-to-be-hunted-down/
- Published: 2026-10-14T15:42:38.000Z
- Updated: 2026-10-14T15:51:30.000Z
- Description: Cllr Paul Taylor questions decision by local groups to allow posts to be made.
- Author: Jonathan Sutton, Local Democracy Reporter
- Tags: Politics, News, Burntwood

A BURNTWOOD councillor has raised concerns over social media comments calling on members of the planning committee to be "hunted down and sacked".

Cllr Paul Taylor, who represents Boney Hay and Central at Lichfield District Council, said he was disgusted by the posts.

At a recent council meeting, the Labour councillor said he was "disappointed" that organisations in the area allowed such comments to be made.

[ ](#) 

Cllr Taylor said:

> "On behalf of the members of the planning committee, can I just register a level of disappointment and disgust at organisations within the district – who have potentially rightful objections to some of the decisions that are made – allowing comment on their Facebook posts that call for members of the committee, who were named in the post, to be 'hunted down and sacked'."

Cllr Taylor said he had previously raised the issue at a Burntwood Town Council meeting too.

He added that sometimes councillors had to make decisions that were unpopular with members of the public who might not understand the full extent of the rules and restrictions they had to follow.

He added:

> "I can’t say they shouldn’t be allowed. It’s a free country, but they should absolutely be refuted, disputed and pushed back on."

Conservative representative Cllr Joseph Powell expressed support:

> "This is not the behaviour that can be acceptable to this chamber, nor to those of us who are members of the planning committee."

Cllr Thomas Marshall, chair of council and a planning committee member, said councillors have limited freedom when making decisions due to national planning policy.

He said:

> "I think it has to be said that there is possibly less autonomy in terms of local government and certainly when it comes to the planning committee as well.  
>  
> "There is less autonomy than perhaps a lot of members of the general public realise.  
>  
> "We are rather bound by the national planning policy framework. We have to abide by that because if we decide to go off-piste as it were and make decisions which are not in line with planning rules then we are liable to make the planning department less credible.  
>  
> "Also, we’re likely to be judged by a higher authority and they could actually take away any autonomy that we still have. So we have to be very careful and we do have to walk a rather narrow path."

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