THE turmoil at Lydney Town council following the resignation of the mayor and another councillor continued this week.

Outgoing mayor Brian Pearman said last week there were people on the council who wanted to “ruin it”.

But Labour town councillor Zac Arnold, who was elected to the council in May, has now hit back at the former mayor’s claims about the crisis.

Cllr Arnold claims the council just want to keep “the status quo’ rather than look to change the way it works.

And he said in a statement: “Unfortunately last week, the Mayor of Lydney made the decision to resign from Lydney Town Council.

“In the local press, the former mayor made comments that, in my opinon, must be addressed.

“In May, I was elected to Lydney Town Council with a mandate to create the real change necessary to undo the damage caused by the appalling actions of the previous administration and administrations before that, which included Brian Pearman.

“I am motivated by the task and there is no element of truth behind his conspiratorial assertions that new members, who are not willing to continue down the same path to nowhere, are, somehow, trying to ‘ruin it’.

“We are not trying to ruin Lydney or the council. We are trying desperately to save it before it is too late.

“Brian says in his comments that he has tried to resolve the current issues within the administration.

“I would refute this falsehood in the strongest terms.

“He has merely attempted to keep the status quo against elected members and an electorate that have had enough. For too long, this council has served the few, not the many.”

Cllr Arnold walked out of a recent extraordinary meeting of Lydney Town Council which questioned the way the Bathurst Park’s ‘Party In The Park’ was run by Mr Harry Ives, who resigned as a town councillor before the EGM.

Cllr Arnold added in his statement: “At the recent extraordinary full council meeting, I raised a point of order expressing my concern as to the lack of impartiality during a report on an incident which was given by one of those involved in said incident.

“Similarly, I raised a seperate concern regarding a previous event and was told by Brian that I was lying, despite the former administration and its officers admitting the fact at the time.

“The day before Brian resigned, I submitted a formal complaint regarding this.”

The council’s chief executive Mrs Jayne Smailes is currently on sick leave with stress.

Following the resignation of Mr Pearman as the mayor, Cllr Tess Tremelett has taken over as acting mayor.

• Our report last week on Lydney Town Council inadvertently stated that it had come close to obtaining Quality Gold status in recent years. In fact, the council achieved Quality Gold status in 2015 and we are happy to set the record straight.