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Peter Sandy
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Rushmoor’s independent resigns

May 18, 2007

THE only independent member of Rushmoor Borough Council has handed in his resignation following a number of threats to do the same in the past.

Peter Sandy, who was elected to represent Heron Wood in 2004, said he did not want to comment on why he decided to quit the council.

The former Liberal Democrat councillor switched to Independent Liberal Democrat before becoming Independent and would have been due to stand again in next May’s local council elections.

Rushmoor Borough Council chief executive Andrew Lloyd confirmed on Wednesday that the authority had received a letter of resignation from Mr Sandy but declined to comment further.

However party leaders and Mr Sandy’s fellow ward councillors showed less reserve, saying that the former councillor would not be missed.

Cllr Mike Roberts, Labour representative for Heron Wood, said: “He’s upset a lot of people, including a lot of my constituents, increasingly so, and he just treated them in the end with absolute contempt.

“I’m glad in one sense that he’s gone because we can’t have a situation where an elected member is disrespecting residents of a disadvantaged area.

“Where we go now we don’t know because obviously there will have to be a by-election and I think it’s an affront to people that he’s done it now. If he’d done it before it would have been quite easy to fill two seats at the same time.”

Mr Sandy is facing a looming Adjudication Panel hearing, which will decide whether the former councillor is guilty of misconduct. Mr Sandy denies all the allegations against him.

Fellow Heron Wood ward member Cllr Don Cappleman, who was re-elected in May agreed, said: “He’ll be missed in certain ways in that his replacement may actually stay for the meetings.

“I personally found him to be very destructive and I don’t really think that will be missed at all.”

Leader of the council, Cllr Peter Moyle, said Heron Ward residents had been let down by Mr Sandy.

He claimed: “I don’t think anybody is going to have been surprised by this. He kept threatening to resign and he will not be missed now that he has.

“Nobody knows who he represents because one minute he got elected on a Lib Dem ticket, he then went to independent Lib Dem then indepedndent and during the last election he was supporting the Lib Dem candidate who got thoroughly beaten in North Town.

“I don’t think he’s represented the people of Heron Wood very well. He’s been a one-issue man and all he’s ever wanted to do is make allegations against other councillors, council officers and Pavilion.”

Cllr Craig Card, the Lib Dem group leader, said he had not had much contact with Mr Sandy after his defection from the party.

“Peter has not been seen much around the council offices,” he added. “He hasn’t been very involved in things for the last year or so and he’s not going to be missed around there.

“My understanding is that he does his casework and helps his residents but he doesn’t really get involved in the council beyond that.

“He’s an independent councillor. He goes his own way and since then we’ve had very little contact.

“I say hello if we see each other in the street and that’s about it.”

Cllr Keith Dibble, Labour leader, was not surprised by the news.

He said: “Increasingly since his election he has refused to accept the democratic process and he’s taken the view, sadly, that anybody who disagrees is either a fool or a cheat.

“I think he’s missed a golden opportunity because in his own life there are circumstances that he could have used to great effect but sadly he actually upset councillors that were trying to work with him.

“He seemed at odds with the democratic process and refused to sit on panels and committees, seldom attending meetings.

“Fortunately, Heron Wood has had two great councillors in Don Cappleman and Mike Roberts who have more than covered for the failings of Cllr Sandy.”

Conservative Cllr David Clifford and Mr Sandy were the only councillors who actively voiced their opposition to the six-month alternate weekly bin collection (AWC) trial currently in operation in parts of Rushmoor.

Cllr Clifford: “I always found Peter to be a pleasant man who I got on with.

“I’m not worried that I’m the lone voice against AWC now as I have a mouth that is big enough to say what my residents think.

“Just because Peter has decided to stand down doesn’t affect my position over the trial.

“I’ve never been afraid to speak out and me being alone now won’t affect that.

“It will give my party the opportunity to represent the people of Heron Wood when the by-election is called.”