Wrexham councillors warned they could face jail if they fail to adopt LDP for third time

Councillors in Wrexham have been warned they could potentially be sent to prison if they fail to adopt the area’s Local Development Plan (LDP).

The development blueprint, which sets out where thousands of homes could be built in the county borough over the next few years, is due to be voted on for an incredible third time next week.

Legal advice has been circulated ahead of the full council meeting, informing elected members they could face ‘a period of imprisonment, a fine, confiscation of assets or other punishment permitted by law’ if they fail to adopt it.

According to Wrexham Council’s legal officer, this could occur if they were found to have acted in contempt of court.

At the lower end of the scale, action could see a complaint made against councillors to the Public Services Ombudsman for Wales for an ‘alleged breach’ of the council’s code of conduct.

Councillors have twice previously voted against adopting the controversial LDP, a huge overarching document that sets planning frameworks for the future development of Wrexham in terms of housing, commercial land and more.

As well as the double rejection in the Guildhall, there have been two judicial review attempts.

An unspecified group of developers won their bid, which has resulted in the issue being brought back to the full council for a third vote.

It comes after a judge quashed the last vote and ordered the matter back into the chamber.

A second failed judicial review was attempted by three senior councillors and subsequently pulled.

The council’s legal officer said ‘proceedings were issued without lawful authority’, with costs being incurred to the taxpayer not just in Wrexham but via Welsh Government.

The trio involved said the action was an attempt to “…uphold the democratic decision, not to adopt Wrexham’s flawed LDP“.

The local Labour party, who have backed the adoption of the LDP, previously said not voting in favour would be an ‘abdication of responsibility’ by the council’s political leadership.

The warning over possible legal action against individuals came after Plaid Cymru councillors requested further advice ahead of next week’s meeting.

The exchange between Queensway councillor Carrie Harper and the council’s legal officer was copied to all councillors, and has since been shared with Wrexham.com by several members.

In her correspondence, Cllr Harper noted the position prior to the last (second) LDP vote, which we reported at the time.

She said: “We were told very clearly in writing ahead of the meeting and in the meeting itself that we were free to vote as we choose and that our vote would be fully respected.

“A clear distinction was made between members individual right to vote freely and legal advice regarding the statutory position of the council as a whole pending the outcome of that vote”.

Cllr Harper asked three questions as follows:

1 – Do members still have a right to vote ‘as we choose’ on this matter, or do we no longer have that right?

2 – What are the specific implications (if any) for individual cllrs who choose to vote against adopting the plan?

3 – If there is any ambiguity whatsoever on this issue, can we please obtain specific legal advice on this matter ahead of any full council meeting?

The legal officer gave a lengthy reply which can be seen below:

The position remains as always at council meetings that councillors are free to vote how they choose. However, as you are aware there are consequences. By declining to adopt the LDP, there has been a breach of statutory duty to adopt the LDP as found by the court.

You were all made aware of the implications and risks of voting not to adopt the LDP in the council reports in April and June. This included my estimate that legal costs of up to £100,000 could be incurred due to a failure to adopt the LDP. This has happened and we have been ordered to pay £100,000 legal costs to the claimants. In addition we have incurred legal costs ourselves together with substantial officer time spent dealing with this case.

If councillors choose to vote against adopting the plan again then the statutory duty will be breached again. The case will return to court, incurring further legal costs.

The judge can find the council in contempt of court if it disobeys a court order. As individual councillor votes will be available (presuming there is a recorded vote) then the court could make an order against those individuals. If the court finds a defendant in contempt of court, the court may impose a period of imprisonment, a fine, confiscation of assets or other punishment permitted by law.

A complaint to the ombudsman for alleged breach of the code of conduct could be made, for example, under the code councillors must not use or authorise others to use the resources of the authority imprudently or unlawfully.

I will be drafting a report to council for the 20 December to include the current position. I will not be incurring further costs obtaining specific legal advice on this matter.

The extraordinary meeting of the full council will be held at the Guildhall on Wednesday 20th at 2.30PM.

Although the ‘summons’ has already been issued, the meeting papers and report  have not yet been made public.

Our ever growing Wrexham LDP archive can be found here…