Councillor claims she was sacked from deputy leader role over Facebook dispute
A leading councillor has claimed she was sacked as deputy leader of her authority in a dispute over a post she put on Facebook about a change in allocation for a proposed traveller site on land at the former Burlish Golf Course.
Wyre Forest councillor Fran Oborski said that "tensions had been growing for months within the Progressive Alliance" which formed the administration for the local authority in 2019.
Councillor Graham Ballinger, leader of Wyre Forest District Council, announced changes to the cabinet on Wednesday. He said he had decided to terminate the appointment of Councillor Oborski as deputy leader and cabinet member for economic regeneration, planning and capital investments, and appointed Councillor Helen Dyke to the position.
Councillor Ballinger said he thanked Councillor Oborski for her service as a member of the cabinet. He also said he would "review the structure and membership of the cabinet and make a further announcement in due course".
Councillor Oborski said: ”In a way I am glad that Councillor Ballinger has acted as he has. He has really only brought forward by a very few weeks a split that was bound to happen.
"It had already become abundantly clear that as Liberal Democrats, my colleagues councillors Alan Totty and Shazu Miah and I could not possibly vote for the budget being proposed by Councillor Ballinger.
She described Councillor Ballinger as out of touch and said a proposal to remove the £1,000 each member had to help important local groups as "petty and spiteful".
Councillor Oborski said: "It may be that in the next few years the Wyre Forest Community Lottery will indeed expand so as to make the Leadership Fund redundant but that time has not yet come."
She also said that she believed housing developments contained in the Local Plan to the East of Offmore and at Blakedown were completely unnecessary.
Councillor Oborski said: "The Liberal Democrat Group will now form a small but effective opposition to what is increasingly a Health Concern administration."
In response to Councillor Oborski's comments, Councillor Ballinger said: "I do not recognise anything in the comments that attune to the Progressive Alliance
"Going forward I reinforce that when we make corporate decisions in the interest of the community those decisions must be honoured."
