Councillor Rod Menlove, Environment Portfolio Holder and ward councillor for Wilmslow East, has announced his resignation today as a result of the Lyme Green debacle.
Cllr Menlove said in a statement to the Cabinet today: "It is with the greatest of regret that I stand here today and announce that I am resigning from my position as portfolio holder with responsibility for environment.
"I have taken this decision after a great deal of soul searching and reflection on issues that have arisen following the proposal to site a waste transfer station at Lyme Green.
"This, I am sure everyone will agree, has been a wholly regrettable incident and one that has caused the reputation of the Council to be called into question.
"I am not an operational officer. I am a Cabinet member with a portfolio that, as people are well aware, is significantly larger than some of the other areas. I work on the basis that officers discuss issues with me, we agree a course of action and I then trust the officer to follow due procedure and process in carrying out the action.
"All decisions I make are for the good of the taxpayer, and are done so using the information that I get from officers. I expect to be given all information and issues, no matter how unpalatable, so that together we can agree a course of action.
"However, as I have consistently stated, at no time was I informed of the gathering issues regarding the potential waste transfer station in the north of the Borough.
"I cannot though, in all conscience, ignore the fact that this situation arose on my watch. Hindsight is a wonderful thing and had I been party to such information in relation to Lyme Green in a timely fashion, undoubtedly such conversations would have taken place which may have resulted in a different outcome.
"As it is, it did happen whilst I was responsible for that area and I find that the only honourable course of action for me to take is to step down.
"I am proud of what I have achieved during the three years that I have held this portfolio: Recycling rates have increased significantly – we one of the best performing authorities in the North West; in the last year we filled over 40,000 potholes; there has been a considerable increase in the investment in highways and my personal commitment to energy saving has seen a reduction in our carbon footprint. Come April, this will be even more important because of the tax penalties we could face.
"I have found my time as a Cheshire East Cabinet Member immensely rewarding and I have enjoyed carrying out my duties. It is, therefore, a regrettable culmination of circumstances that necessitates my resignation."
Cheshire East Council Leader Councillor Michael Jones thanked Councillor Menlove for his hard work over the past three years.
Councillor Jones said "He has left his portfolio in a strong state and this legacy means that we can now go on and deliver even further improvements.
"We have cleared 46,000 potholes in a year and we are looking to deliver the same this year.
"I wholeheartedly thank him for his time his unstinting efforts and the energy he has brought to the role. Rod should be recognised as a true champion of change. He has demonstrated this in his efforts around carbon reduction and fiscal savings, and will always be recognised as the lead for the highest-ever investment in roads on Cheshire East.
"It is with great regret that I accept his resignation but I look forward to using his vast knowledge and experience in the future."
Former Cheshire East Council Leader Councillor Wesley Fitzgerald, who first appointed Cllr Menlove to the Cabinet in January 2010, said: "Having just learned that Councillor Rod Menlove has resigned from the Cabinet, I am not surprised that he has done the honourable thing in the matter of the waste transfer site debacle.
"Rod is a good man who has done excellent work as portfolio holder for environment since the beginning of 2010, and it is a matter of great regret that a person of such quality has had to step down.
"I have no doubt that he will continue to be an extremely effective ward member for Cheshire East Council and his reputation, in that respect, goes before him."
Cllr Menlove's resignation follows the resignation of two senior officers whose actions were investigated in relation to the Council's proposal to build a recycling station at Lyme Green Depot in Macclesfield.
John Nicholson, Strategic Director Places and Organisational Capacity, and Caroline Elwood, Borough Solicitor, resigned in December just days after the confidential report by a Designated Independent Person (DIP), into the causes of the failure of the Lyme Green development project, had been completed and passed to the Council's Staffing Sub Committee for consideration.
A review published in the summer last year revealed that the Council had spent over £800,000 of taxpayers money on the Lyme Green scheme and failed to achieve planning permission before the main contractor commenced work on the site. In addition, officers did not comply with EU Procurement Regulations or ensure there was effective reporting to members of the council.
Cllr Rod Menlove will continue in his role as ward councillor for Wilmslow East.
Cheshire East Council has announced that the independent report must remain confidential to avoid prejudicing any actions that might now be taken by the Council.
However, they will be publishing a report shortly which "will tackle the serious management failings identified by the independent investigator, by making bold and sweeping changes to the Council's management structures and ways of working".
Comments
Here's what readers have had to say so far. Why not add your thoughts below.
How can the taxpayers of Cheshire East know what to believe when the independent report was carried out by a single investigator, selected by the Council. I'm not suggesting that the DIP has behaved improperly at all, but surely a team of three might have achieved a more balanced view? And given the nature of this mess, can these people really achieve credibility when they act as judge and jury in their own investigation?
Bah humbug!
I admire Councillor Menlove's honesty in admitting blame and resigning.
Whether he was pushed or persuaded to resign, we may never really know, but at least he has resigned and taken some of the blame whilst the fiasco occured on his watch.
This is more than can be said for some other Public Servants who are not able to hold down their portfolos but yet still take their overpaid salaries each month and manage to take huge pay-offs for NOT doing their jobs properly when they're fired !
If any Councillor is to blame - they are the architects of CEC who instilled a 'get it done' attitude from the officers at the cost of accountability.
Why is the report being kept confidential ? Well no doubt there are further disciplinary or legal steps the Council is considering and the public disclosure of the report at this stage would jepoardise those steps. I expect a little time has to pass before the report will be made public.
I do not know Rod Menlove but I am willing to believe that he has been a victim of something or other. What I cannot believe is that this monstrous mess has been created by those who are out of control, allowed by those who should be, but appear not to be, in control, to the detriment to the taxpayers of Cheshire East. This is public money and those in charge of it should be properly investigated and punished. Anyone else would be the subject of a police investigation - why isn't the Council?
Rod's has admitted it was 'on his watch' as a portfolio manager, not a councillor, which seems his only crime. So where does Mike Jones come into this? Wenzel has been on sick leave well before this, Fitzgerald long gone too. Nicholson, Ellwood rightly took the can for their misdeeds - so where is the conspiracy?
However the "Lyme Green debacle" gives many people with axes to grind the oppotunity to surface and have their 10 seconds of fame, would they had an ounce of Rods integrity.
I for one am proud to have Rod continue as my councillor. I know how hard he works for a pittance of the remuneration compared to the paid officers who covered this up.
Keep up the good work Rod
We DEMAND to see the report that was commissioned, and now hidden, by the Council for one person to create ? (funnily enough, he was also appointed by the Council) ??
Where is the conspiracy in that ?
Are you in favour of seeing the report, or not ?