A parish council that went viral after a Zoom meeting descended into chaos could soon be abolished, it emerged today.
A clip of a Handforth Parish Council meeting in which numerous insults were thrown around and members were kicked out went viral earlier this month.
Jackie Weaver, the acting clerk, shot to fame after chairman Brian Tolver said she had ‘no authority at all’ and ordered her to ‘stop talking’.
But Handforth Parish Council could soon disappear if an ongoing boundary review sees Handforth merge with nearby Wilmslow council.
A source close to the council told MailOnline they ‘fully supported’ the merge because the authority was ‘unworkable in its current form’.
Jackie Weaver (pictured), Handforth Parish Council’s acting clerk, shot to fame after chairman Brian Tolver said she had ‘no authority at all’ and ordered her to ‘stop talking’
But Handforth Parish Council could soon disappear if an ongoing boundary review sees Handforth merge with nearby Wilmslow council (file image)
‘We’ve got too many people who are interested in power rather than what’s good for the community,’ they said.
The review began before the meeting went viral, according to the BBC’s political reporter for Cheshire, Phil McCann, who posted on Twitter last night.
He said: ‘Handforth Parish Council could be abolished. A boundary review (which began before their meeting went viral) has suggested it should be merged with Wilmslow.
‘Still needs approval though. Yes, I know parish council boundary changes wouldn’t normally be BREAKING NEWS!!’
Handforth Parish Council’s clerk Ashley Comiskey Dawson told MailOnline he doubted residents would be impressed with a merge.
Handforth Parish Council’s clerk Ashley Comiskey Dawson told MailOnline he doubted residents would be impressed with a merge (file image)
He added: ‘Firstly I doubt that the residents in Handforth would be very impressed about surrendering their unique identity to fall under the bracket of Wilmslow Town Council.
‘The housing developments occurring in Handforth will take its population to potentially above 10,000 and would therefore qualify to have a town council in its own right.
‘It would appear from first sight that Cheshire East Council want to strip Handforth of its individuality as well as take away any community infrastructure levy monies already hard fought for by Handforth Parish Council.’
It’s not yet known when the final decision will be made but a source told MailOnline Wilmslow are ‘up in arms’ with one member allegedly saying ‘we won’t have Handforth’.
The source close to Handforth Parish Council said: ‘I got wind of it a while ago. It’s not officially been put forward by the borough council but I fully support it.
‘Handforth Parish Council is unworkable in its current state. We’ve got too many people who are interested in power rather than what’s good for the community.’
They said the merge would see the number of members rise from 15 to 20 and will go ahead if Cheshire East Council decides regardless of Wilmslow’s opposition.
‘Wilmslow say they don’t want anything to do with Handsforth. Wilmslow won’t have it. They do not understand how this works. The council is responsible for making sure the governments are in order for all the councils under their jurisdiction.
‘They decide how the councils are going to work. The individual councils can’t decide. They don’t have the power to say no.’
Viral council meeting star Jackie Weaver (pictured with her husband Stuart) has insisted she did have the power to boot out a ‘disruptive’ council chairman who ordered her to ‘stop talking’ in a now-viral Zoom hearing, MailOnline can reveal
MailOnline has contacted East Cheshire Council and Wilmslow Parish Council for comment.
It comes just weeks after a video of a Handforth Parish Council meeting went viral online.
A seven-minute edited highlights package of its planning committee’s December meeting captured a multitude of chaos – including one person shouting ‘f*** off’, someone flushing a toilet and another answering the front door.
But the real show-stealer was acting-clerk Jackie who kicked out council chairman Brian Tolver after he told her she has ‘no authority at all’ and ordered her to to ‘stop talking’.
Weaver, Cheshire Association of Local Councils, clashes with chairman Brian Tolver who claims he was chucked out of an earlier meeting by her
Factions of the council backing Mr Tolver claim she had no right to kick the chairman out. But Jackie – who chairs the Cheshire Association of Local Councillors – has insisted she did because the meeting was not called by the chairman nor the council’s official clerk.
Her action has gained her wide-spread support, with Jackie’s husband Stuart Weaver, 69 – a retired design engineer – telling MailOnline that he’s ‘proud’ of his wife for standing up to them.
Jackie – who has worked with Handforth Parish Council on and off for nine years – says the hostility from Mr Tolver’s faction of councillors was hardly a surprise.
Councillors Cynthia Samson, John Smith and Susan Moore – who can all be seen in the zoom – asked Jackie to act as clerk in the meeting because the council’s formal clerk had been suspended by Mr Tolver.
Another extraordinary moment came fter Jackie Weaver ejects Mr Tolver and asks to appoint a new chairman, when his ally Councillor Aled Brewerton (left) ‘No they can’t because the vice chair is here! I take charge! Read the standing orders. Read them and understand them!’.
Jackie said she ‘thought something might kick off’ so took on the role herself – rather than pass it onto someone more junior.
In a normal parish council meeting, Jackie wouldn’t have the authority to remove someone, but because it was called by two councillors – who risked having the hearing ‘hijacked’ – she says she did.
Jackie earlier admitted that ‘there is an element of bullying and bad behaviour around in local councils’ – with councillor Peter Moore, 70, one of those on the Zoom call, describing Handforth Parish Council as a ‘den of bullying’.
Jackie told MailOnline: ‘I had the authority to kick them of the call. They shout all the statements about it being illegal but I’ve been doing this for 25 years.
‘If it had been a normal parish meeting I wouldn’t have had the authority to do that.’
The row started several months ago between two warring camps within the parish council with four on one side and three on the other.
One councillor, Jean Thompson, was dismissed as she did not attend meetings for six months.
It left the council split, with three councillors on each side: chairman Mr Tolver, Aled Brewerton and Barry Burkhill versus Mr Smith, Ms Samson and Ms Moore.
Mr Tolver was thrown out of the pre-Christmas hearing – the second meeting in a row – after he accused rival councillors of calling it illegally and yelling: ‘You have no authority here, Jackie Weaver! NO AUTHORITY AT ALL!’ and repeatedly telling her to ‘stop talking’.
Jackie, acting as the clerk, then kicked him off Zoom for being ‘disruptive’. She was not in charge of the previous meeting when Mr Tolver was kicked out.
Mr Tolver’s ally Councillor Mr Brewerton is shown angrily shouting at Ms Weaver when she tries to elect a new chairman: ‘No they can’t because the vice chair is here! I take charge! Read the standing orders. Read them and understand them!’.
Jackie told MailOnline: ‘They were annoyed because I wouldn’t tolerate their behaviour. My life is usually very dull and this doesn’t normally happen.
‘I would normally ask someone else to go to the meeting but I thought something might kick off, so I thought I go and do it myself.’
‘I couldn’t believe the reaction of Brewerton. He was very angry.’
In her role as Chief Officer of Cheshire Association of Local Councils, Jackie helped set up Handforth Parish Council nine years ago.
She said she’s ‘surprised by all the coverage’ as the council meeting – shared to YouTube as a record in December – garnered no interest in the time.
WARRING FACTIONS AT THE HEART OF HANDFORTH PARISH COUNCIL
THE PEACEMAKER
Jackie Weaver
Jackie Weaver was assisting councillors during the Handforth Parish Council meeting which captured national attention
Jackie Weaver was assisting councillors during the now famous Handforth Parish Council meeting which captured national attention.
She is the Chief Officer of the Cheshire Association of local councils.
Jackie is married to Stuart, a retired design engineer, and they have three grown up children – but no grandchildren.
The group is a member based organisation that exists to promote the rights and interests of Town and Parish Council across Cheshire East, Cheshire West and Chester, Warrington, Trafford and Halton Boroughs.
It provides support, including legal support, to local councils in the area, as well as running training programme for clerks and councillors.
The meeting has now been viewed by 3million people.
She told BBC Radio Four’s Woman’s Hour: ‘I suppose the surprise comes in large part because actually 99.99% – that’s an actual fact I’m sure – of council meetings are just not like that. They are often less exciting than we might hope they were.’
Ms Weaver said she had had ‘nothing but really lovely, positive support’ since the clip had gone viral.
She said that it was important to try to eradicate ‘bad behaviour’ from local councils.
She added: ‘A lot of us are working very hard – and that includes central government – to try to do something about that, because we’re passionate about the fact that local government is the mechanism by which people can really engage with their communities.’
FACTION ONE
Brian Tolver
Brian Victor Tolver is the chairman of Handforth Parish Council
Brian Victor Tolver is the chairman of Handforth Parish Council.
He was re-elected as a Handforth Ratepayers’ Association (Independent) candidate for the South Ward on Handforth Parish Council in 2019, gaining 271 votes.
He has been a parish councillor for over five years and is a founder member of Hands Off Handforth Green Belt (HoHGB) – a campaign group run aiming to ‘protect our village from unnecessary development on our precious open space’.
Outside of the council he runs a software business called Brooke House Ltd.
Aled Brewerton
Aled Brewerton is an independent councillor who represents the Handforth West Ward
Aled Brewerton is an independent councillor who represents the Handforth West Ward.
He was elected to his seat in 2019, winning with 353 votes.
He is currently the vice chairman of the council and chair of the council’s finance committee.
Outside of the council, he is a self-employed solicitor and ‘professional investigator’ who runs A2Z Investigations Ltd.
Barry Burkhill
Barry Edward Burkhill is an independent councillor for the Handforth ‘Ratepayers’ Association’ on Handforth Parish Council
Barry Edward Burkhill is an independent councillor for the Handforth ‘Ratepayers’ Association’ on Handforth Parish Council.
He represents Handforth South Ward and was re-elected to the seat with 316 votes in 2019.
He is also elected to represent the Handforth Ward at East Chesire Borough Council. He was re-elected for a third time in 2019. having first been elected in 2011.
On top of this, he is the current Mayor of Cheshire East. He has represented Handforth for 38 years and for 28 years was a member of Macclesfield Borough Council, of which he was elected mayor in 2007.
Outside of the council, he is retired.
FACTION TWO
Susan Moore
Susan Moore was elected to Handforth Parish Council in 2019
Susan Moore was elected to Handforth Parish Council in 2019. She is an independent councillor, representing Handforth West Ward, which she won with 451 votes.
Outside of the council, she is involved in Moore Secure Ltd – a company which installs CCTV, fire alarms and other home security measures.
John Smith
John Michael Smith is an independent councillor for Handforth Parish Council
John Michael Smith is an independent councillor for Handforth Parish Council.
He represents Handforth East Ward, a seat to which he was re-elected uncontested in 2019.
He is a self-employed driving instructor outside of the council.
His wife, Julie, is a pharmacy assistant and a councillor.
She ran as an independent candidate for the Handforth Borough ward on Cheshire East Council in 2019 – a seat which she won.
The pair are said to have five adult children and two grandsons.
Cynthia Sampson
Cynthia Margaret Samson is an independent councillor for Handforth Parish Council
Cynthia Margaret Samson is an independent councillor for Handforth Parish Council.
She represents the Handforth East Ward, a seat to which he was re-elected uncontested in 2019.
She is a retired accountant who is married to Christopher Sampson, a driver for the Chesire-based epilepsy support charity, the David Lewis Centre.