Four councillors have resigned from Burghfield Parish Council, but there is a shroud of mystery over why this happened.

Meanwhile the parish council has confirmed that travellers have moved on from a park in Burghfield after police asked them to leave.

The four parish councillors that have resigned are:

  • Graham Harris
  • Andrea Hales
  • Julia Kellaway
  • Daniel Kellaway

According to the parish council clerk, two councillors did not give a reason for resigning, while the other two – mother and son Julia and Daniel Kellaway “gave a reason of not liking the process of which the council is bound by law to follow”.

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But Daniel Kellaway said his and his mother’s resignations “relate to matters of conduct” and that neither resigned for the reason given by the clerk.

The former parish councillor would not explain further at this time what the reasons were, however.

The council has already advertised the four vacancies.

Parish council denies resignations are related to travellers

A resident claimed the parish councillors had resigned “en masse” because of “the current conduct of the chairman and his core group of councillor friends”.

The resident, who wished to remain anonymous, said this was related to a travelling community pitching up at a recreation ground managed by Burghfield Parish Council.

They claimed the chairman of Burghfield Parish Council, Tim Ansell, had stated the parish council had spent enough money on this area and that it is a low priority.

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But Cally Morris, the council’s clerk, said: “I fear you may have been misinformed by a concerned resident.

“All resignations were received prior to the travellers arriving. Each of the four parish councillors resigned individually, on different days and at different times.

“The travellers did arrive in Burghfield yesterday and set up camp on the car park area next to the vets, which is privately owned.

“The parish council, alongside some very diligent members of the public, reported the incident to the police and stopped the travellers from gaining access to the green area leased from West Berks Council.

“The police issued a Section 61 and at midday, the travellers moved off the site, settling in Mortimer.”

According to the parish council, the fencing that was destroyed has now been fixed and a concrete block is being delivered today to prevent any access onto the green.