Babergh and Mid Suffolk District Councils
Endeavour House, 8 Russell Road, Ipswich IP1 2BX
Telephone: (0300) 1234 000
www.babergh.gov.uk www.midsuffolk.gov.uk

Code of Conduct Complaint Decision Notice

Complaint Reference: 2022-OCT-0004

Complainant: Mr Jonathan Peachey

Councillor: Councillor Rob Wombwell of East Bergholt Parish Council

Decision: No Breach

Date of Decision Notice: 06 April 2023

Details of the Complaint (as received):

1. On 14 July 2022 Rob Wombwell at the EBPC meeting accused me of trying to ‘intimidate’
the EBPC – this was draft minuted, published on EBPC Village website (a public website)
and eventually retracted 4 weeks later by the Clerk after I and others raised objection to it
after damaging and defamatory comments had been in the public domain for over a
month. Disgusting.

2. On 13 October 2022 Rob Wombwell in public session (minuted by other EBPC members
who raised it to my attention) was defamatory- this is the report I received from other
councillors in the room: “-Councillor Rob W made a declaration of the following “the group
is simply made up of Tony Brigden, Peter Dent, and Roger Harden” Rob Wombwell then
followed this statement with “Two of which are clearly on the payroll of Jonathan Peachey
and are acting as his PR agents” This is false, misleading and defamatory to all
concerned. -Councillor Roberts added to this statement by saying “the group is the work of
Jonathan [Peachey] and Tony [Brigden] to pack the council with their friends so they can
get what they want”. Again, this is false, misleading, and defamatory. We should note that
neither the Chair Joan Miller or Clerk, Graham White, reminded them to stick to the Code
of Conduct. My personal view is that they support a culture of defamation and bullying/
harassment. I will send further evidence separately.

3. Rob Wombwell in a recorded WebEx meeting in Feb 2021 also stated incorrectly that ‘you
cannot pop in to get a pint at The Lion’ and ‘we have lost a pub’ despite a 2mn
refurbishment of The Lion. This is more misleading statements and ignored the fact that
we were at the time in a Covid lockdown having only reopened in September 2020. Mr
Wombwell seems to have other conflicting interests – his wife I believe is the EBSOC
Chair. EBSOC as we have seen from their comments on my most recent planning

Babergh and Mid Suffolk District Councils
Endeavour House, 8 Russell Road, Ipswich IP1 2BX
Telephone: (0300) 1234 000
www.babergh.gov.uk www.midsuffolk.gov.uk

application have other intentions on land adjacent to the Red Lion and Rob Wombwell
seems intent on pursuing a campaign of harassment and defamation against me and my
business.

Response of the Councillor:

Councillor Wombwell considers the complaint to be inaccurate and unjustified and that he did
not make the remarks attributed to him about the complainant.

Councillor Wombwell referenced the minutes of the meeting which took place on the 14 July
and that the statement he made has been correctly summarised. He did not reference anyone
by name. Councillor Wombwell provided some context to the parish council meeting and that
one item on the agenda related to a controversial planning application (DC/22/03043).
Meetings are frequently unattended by the public but on this occasion there were about 5
people in the public gallery.

The complainant spoke during the open public session of the meeting regarding an email he
had submitted to the parish council.

When it came to the item to discuss the planning application, there was an interruption from
the public gallery by a member of the public (not Mr Peachey). The Chair reminded the public
that they were not entitled to speak in this part of the meeting and the person who spoke was
asked to be quiet. Unfortunately they refused, stood up and demanded that the council
address an item of correspondence they had earlier submitted, on “council transparency”.
There followed something of a discussion between the individual and the Chair, with the Chair
eventually saying that she would close the meeting if he refused to keep quiet.

Councillor Wombwell stated that all members of the parish council were visibly shocked at this
exchange and one Councillor, who was about to present his detailed report on the application,
stood and said that he was not prepared to deliver his report under such circumstances which
led to the same member of public shouting out again and the Chair being required to
intervene.

After the report was presented, the Chair time-limited Councillor feedback to 3mins each.
Councill Wombwell was the first to speak, but before discussing the planning application, felt
obliged to say how much he deplored the public behaviour that they had just witnessed along
the lines that he was shocked by the rowdiness of the public interruptions, and the timing,
which occurring just before a major planning application was being discussed. He felt this
could be perceived as an attempt to intimidate the Councillors’ decision making. Councillor
Wombwell did not name anyone but noted it was obvious who the perpetrator of the
interruption was.

With regards the meeting in October 2022, Councillor Wombwell stated that the complainant
had been incorrectly informed and he made no such public statement as evidenced by the
published minutes for Nov 2022. Councillor Wombwell believes that the complainant is acting
on hearsay and that the statement he is accused of making, relates to something he would
have no knowledge of.

Babergh and Mid Suffolk District Councils
Endeavour House, 8 Russell Road, Ipswich IP1 2BX
Telephone: (0300) 1234 000
www.babergh.gov.uk www.midsuffolk.gov.uk

Regarding the comments made at a meeting in February 2021, Councillor Wombwell referred
the Deputy Monitoring Officer to a recording of the meeting and that he does not think what
he said was in any way misleading, he made it clear that it was his point of view that he was
expressing, and he made his comments in a courteous and gentle manner.

Relevant Parts of the Suffolk Local Code of Conduct:

Councillor Rob Wombwell is alleged to have breached the Suffolk Code of Conduct under
paragraphs: –

1.1 I treat other councillors and members of the public with respect.

Details of Investigation Undertaken:

The Monitoring Officer has considered the complaint and the responding statement from
Councillor Wombwell. In addition, the Deputy Monitoring Officer has considered Guidance on
the Code of Conduct for Members issued by the Local Government Association.

Consultation with the Independent Person:

The Independent Person has considered this complaint and their view is that Councillor
Wombwell has not breached the Code of Conduct.

Conclusion of the Deputy Monitoring Officer

The Monitoring Officer’s role in the context of Parish/Town councils relates and is restricted to
the Conduct of members. The Deputy Monitoring Officer has therefore only considered
matters relating to the alleged conduct of Councillor Wombwell.

Although I am satisfied that Councillor Rob Wombwell was acting in his official capacity at the
time of the alleged behaviour, I have not upheld the complaint.

Elected members will engage in robust debate at times and are expected to express,
challenge, criticise and disagree with views, ideas, opinions, and policies. Doing these things
in a respectful way helps to build and maintain healthy working relationships with fellow
Councillors, officers, and members of the public. It encourages others to treat them with
respect and helps to avoid conflict and stress. Respectful and healthy working relationships
and a culture of mutual respect can encourage positive debate and meaningful
communication which in turn can increase the exchange of ideas, understanding and
knowledge.

Failure to treat others with respect will occur when unreasonable or demeaning behaviour is
directed by one person against or about another. The circumstances in which the behaviour
occurs are relevant in assessing whether the behaviour is disrespectful. The circumstances
include the place where the behaviour occurs, who observes the behaviour, the character and
relationship of the people involved and the behaviour of anyone who prompts the alleged
disrespect.

Babergh and Mid Suffolk District Councils
Endeavour House, 8 Russell Road, Ipswich IP1 2BX
Telephone: (0300) 1234 000
www.babergh.gov.uk www.midsuffolk.gov.uk

Examples of disrespect in a local government context might include rude or angry outbursts
in meetings, use of inappropriate language in meetings or written communications such as
swearing, ignoring someone who is attempting to contribute to a discussion, attempts to
shame or humiliate others in public, nit-picking and fault-finding, the use of inappropriate
sarcasm in communications and the sharing of malicious gossip or rumours.

Freedom of expression is protected more strongly in some contexts than others. In particular,
a wide degree of tolerance is accorded to political speech, and this enhanced protection
applies to all levels of politics, including local government. Article 10 protects the right to
make incorrect but honestly made statements in a political context, but it does not protect
statements which the publisher knows to be false. Political expression is a broad concept and
is not limited to expressions of or criticism of political views but extends to all matters of
public administration including comments about the performance of public duties by others.
However, gratuitous personal comments do not fall within the definition of political
expression.

Councillors are allowed to respond to criticism, and where that criticism is robust, then they
can be robust in response. However, Councillors should always seek to try to be civil and
demonstrate leadership in their communication. Even where councillors have been wrongly
accused, responding in an angry, defensive way can often escalate the situation.

At the meeting of the Parish Council on the 14 July 2022, Mr Peachey spoke out during the
open public session on the Agenda. However, another member of the public chose to speak
out during a later item on the Agenda. The chair correctly advised the individual and other
members of the public present, that they were unable to participate during this item however
this does not appear to have been accepted and an exchange of words took place. It is noted
in the minutes that Councillor Wombwell comments about an attempt being made to
intimidate the Council and I accept that this may not have been the intention of the individual
concerned but it could easily be seen that any attempt to make reference to an item on the
agenda (outside of the open public session) may be perceived in this way.

I am unable to make a determination on the alleged statements made by Councillor
Wombwell at a meeting of the parish council on the 13 October 2022 having noted that
Councillor Wombwell denies making the statement.

I have listened to the meeting of the Parish Council which took place in February 2021 and I
do not consider that Councillor Wombwell has breached the Code of Conduct during this
meeting.

There is no right of appeal against these decisions and accordingly, the complaint file is now
closed.

If you are not satisfied with this assessment, you can contact the Ombudsman via the link
below:

https://www.lgo.org.uk/make-a-complaint/fact-sheets/other-topics/complaints-about-
standards-and-member-conduct

Babergh and Mid Suffolk District Councils
Endeavour House, 8 Russell Road, Ipswich IP1 2BX
Telephone: (0300) 1234 000
www.babergh.gov.uk www.midsuffolk.gov.uk

Although they do not offer a right of appeal against the Council’s decision on such complaints,
they can consider if there has been any fault in the way the Monitoring Officer considered the
complaint.

Teresa Halliday
Deputy Monitoring Officer – Babergh and Mid Suffolk Councils