Jacob Williams https://jacobwilliams.com

A reader-comment posted by Gwylan on my recent article questions Cllr. Myles Pepper’s suitability for promotion to the county council’s cabinet as spokesperson for planning, replacing Cllr. Rob Summons.

It came as a surprise to some as Myles had been the only IPPG member to support a vote of no confidence in Cllr. Jamie Adams as council leader last year, however his acceptance of the £29k gig last week suggests their differences weren’t irreconcilable.

Serving as the planning committee’s chairman since 2012, I can say from experience that Cllr. Pepper hasn’t coped brilliantly with some of the pressures of chairing its monthly meetings which are invariably attended by dozens of members of the public with passionate views.

Although a generally mild-mannered chap, many’s the time he’d stand up, ringing his bell and with a raised tone threaten to have members of the public removed from the gallery if they continued to interrupt committee proceedings – for instance if they applauded or booed.

And if they had dared shout out ‘nonsense!’ or ‘rubbish!’ to a planning officer’s suggestion that a wind turbine proposed for their small community would cause no harm, they’d feel Pepper’s full wrath – and he could be quite severe with it.

Old Grumpy recently recounted Myles’ attempt to move along a Milford Haven town councillor who was standing on the pavement by councillors and planning officers during the planning committee’s October site visit to the Hubberston primary school site.

He told Eric Harries – a former leader of PCC – that he wasn’t allowed to observe the site meeting and to go away. Cllr. Harries held his own and wasn’t bullied at the suggestion he could be moved on by Myles from a public place.

Cllr. Pepper loved to be in charge, enforcing ‘protocol.’ I recall asking on the same site visit whether a footpath alongside the sports pitch we were walking on is to be retained – only to be given a lecture on why site visits aren’t allowed to discuss the merits of applications.

Cllr. Brian Hall was given a similar dressing down when he asked if Gelliswick Road was to be widened. How such questions amount to ‘discussing the merits’ is difficult to understand, but Cllr. Pepper could be very inflexible.

He also had no qualms about officers taking control when he became flustered – perhaps Jamie sees it as one of his best qualities for the cabinet.

As for his promotion, of all the cabinet’s portfolios ‘Planning and Sustainability’ is the biggest nonentity.

When the role was created by the leader in 2014, tea room rumours suggested it was a canny way of getting Cllr. Rob Summons – widely known as Cllr. Adams’ eyes and ears – onto the payroll.

The former copper and nightclub bouncer cemented his reputation with observations that he spent much of his time in the cabinet room scouring online council coverage.

His occasional conversations with me over some of my reader’s comments in what can only be described as wordperfect recollections sometimes weeks and months after they had been made was, it has to be said, impressive.

Whilst the sleuthing no doubt kept Cllr. Summons busy in the cabinet room until elevenses, the council’s planning policy – set by full council every ten years or so – is famously rigid.

Since its adoption in 2013 it has become evident to several councillors that its ban on infill and rounding-off outside development boundaries is ill-suited to a rural county like Pembrokeshire, dotted with hamlets and small communities, and restricts sensible economic activity.

To Cllr. Summons’ credit he recognised the concern when I directly took this issue up with him about a year ago, but said it couldn’t be touched as it would amount to a ‘major’ policy change.

Added to the mix that, apart from the few that go to the planning committee, planning applications are delegated to officers to determine against local and national policy, it becomes even harder to understand exactly what the role entails.

No wonder the leader opposed an attempt by Cllr. Bob Kilmister to require cabinet job descriptions!

And anybody who seriously believes the cabinet member for ‘Planning and Sustainability’ plays a key day-to-day role in formulating Pembrokeshire’s development plan for the 2020s and beyond would be stretching belief to the extreme.

Gwylan’s comment wonders whether Cllr. Pepper is suitable for his new role, reminding us of his 2013 brush with the ombudsman where he was found to have “used his position to create an advantage for himself.”

It came about after the council consulted on a Fishguard lady’s request to abolish a traffic order which prohibited access to non-residents of The Slade – where Cllr. Pepper lives.

She felt it was an injustice to prohibit others in the community from parking on The Slade when other roads nearby had their own parking problems and were unable to benefit from a similar arrangement.

Whilst not responding to the council’s consultation himself, Cllr. Pepper canvassed Slade residents’ views by distributing a questionnaire. The results of Myles’ exercise not surprisingly showed his neighbours opposed the bid – which he collected and presented to the council’s traffic manager.

However Cllr. Pepper failed to notify the traffic manager until later on that he, too, lived on The Slade and was subsequently reported to the ombudsman by the same lady for failing to declare his prejudicial interest in the matter, in which he should have played no part.

The case was quite interesting because at first Cllr. Pepper claimed that the traffic officer should have known where he lived as he had declared his ownership of two properties on The Slade within his signed declaration of interest following the 2012 election.

It cut no ice when the matter was brought before the county council’s standards committee. The ombudsman’s case officer said: “Councillor Pepper was affected by the outcome of the decision. I consider that the public would find it very difficult to understand how he could possibly be objective about the matter,” and that he “had an unfair opportunity to ensure that the Order was retained.”

He was found guilty, censured, and ordered to undertake additional training on the code of conduct. After further deliberation the committee members agreed that the taxpayer should foot Cllr. Pepper’s legal costs as they believed his breach was unintentional.

Some wondered whether his position as planning committee chairman was tenable. He carried on regardless.

And when Cllr. Rob Lewis was fingered by the ombudsman for his key role in the Partygate saga almost exactly a year later – resulting in his suspension from office, no less – he also returned to his cabinet post and deputy leadership role unscathed.

So Cllr. Pepper’s promotion last week doesn’t set a precedent but provides a fair opportunity to remind ourselves of the leader’s carte blanche to appoint who he likes to his cabinet without limits.

Ah! I hear you say: if only full council could overrule the leader’s cabinet selections. If only backbenchers could scrutinise and give their approval – or otherwise – to the leader’s cherry-picked top table.

Well a loosely constructed cross-party ‘working group’ of councillors is currently looking through the adoption of a new council constitution. I’m not a member but I have sat in on their most meaty encounters.

One of the proposals members considered as they pored over various checks and balances would give full council a veto over the leader’s cabinet choices.

It was articulately presented by Cllrs. Mike Stoddart and Paul Miller as a restriction of the absolute power of the council’s leader, who has no mandate from the Pembrokeshire public to wield such large influence and all using taxpayers’ cash.

Cllr. Stoddart said the proposal would bring PCC more in line with the principle of the executive branch of American politics – where, despite his mandate from being elected by the whole nation, the president’s cabinet appointments still require senate approval.

It’s all in the name of the founding fathers’ fundamental principle – enshrined in the country’s constitution which he said was in his opinion “the finest in the world” – to restrict absolute power being vested in the hands of one individual.

This was contrasted with the situation we have here in Pembrokeshire where the council’s leader is only voted for by the public in his small community, is then chosen by councillors to head the council’s executive, and can appoint and dismiss whoever he wants to the key positions alongside him at will.

It was a presentation enough to convince Mussolini, I’m sure.

So I wasn’t the only one staggered to hear Cllr. Bob Kilmister oppose it.

And to say he was lukewarm to the idea would be an understatement.

I made some notes, Bob said: “I’m quite happy that the leader appoints his cabinet,” nearly losing grip of my pen when he backed up his stance with: “I don’t agree we should undermine the leader once he is in post. If he’s the leader then he’s already got full council’s approval so we can trust him to make appointments.”

Cllr. Stoddart responded: “I can’t believe I heard a liberal saying that!” before reiterating that PCC’s leader has no mandate as he isn’t even directly elected.

It was less of a surprise that the Conservatives’ leader, Cllr. David Howlett, along with the IPPG contingent, failed to lend their support.

But Cllr. Kilmister’s opposition seems entirely at odds with his position as leader of the Pembrokeshire Alliance, whose manifesto is full of principles setting it out as a bastion of transparency and accountability.

Cllr. Kilmister’s been ramping up his social media activity ahead of next year’s Welsh Assembly elections where he’s standing, not as a Pembrokeshire Alliance candidate, but as a Liberal Democrat in Preseli Pembrokeshire – a seat where I understand retaining his deposit is the goal.

Bob recently put out a tweet explaining why he’s a proud liberal – not in his own words but those of a heavyweight political figure from history he says he agrees with.

You might expect he went to Lloyd George for the token quote, however Bob opted to give John F. Kennedy the accolade:

I’m sure JFK – who was assassinated fifty-two years ago this very day – would have been very proud of such a legacy.

But I dare say the 35th leader of the free world wouldn’t have been nearly as impressed with the Dinas Cross council member’s opposition to restricting total and unaccountable power – not to mention the use of his quote about ‘rigid reactions!’

Bob’s opposition to this bid to curb unmandated power in one person’s hand wasn’t his finest hour, but I’m hopeful that he can be convinced it’s a good idea.

This working group met behind closed doors but the new constitution’s rediscussion at a later date in the very public setting of the corporate governance committee, and then final approval at full council in front of the webcast, may concentrate his mind.

Until then he might dwell on President Kennedy’s inaugural address which included the line: “…remember that, in the past, those who foolishly sought power by riding the back of the tiger ended up inside.”

❏There’s been much discussion of late around the county council’s botched plans for secondary education reform in Haverfordwest. I intend to write about the matter ahead of Thursday’s extraordinary council meeting.