Two Ashby Councillors have made an urgent plea to Ashby de la Zouch Town Council in a bid to resume committee meetings online.

No public meetings have taken place at the Town Council since March - when lockdown was introduced by the Government as a result of the Coronavirus pandemic.

Now Willesley ward councillors Dr David Bigby and Dr Barbara Kneale, have written an open letter to the Council calling for the 'urgent resumption of democratic processes at the council'.

They both want meetings resume online - which is how other local authorities have operated in recent weeks since the Government gave the go-ahead for 'virtual' sessions to take place.

The open letter below was sent to Cllr Coxon and Mr Jack Fargher on Tuesday and copied to all Ashby Town Councillors.

Open Letter to Councillor J Coxon, Leader Ashby Town Council and Mr J Fargher, Town Clerk.

Dear Cllr Coxon and Mr Fargher,

As the opposition members of Ashby Town Council, we call for the urgent resumption of democratic processes at the council.

Ashby Town Council meetings have now been suspended for over twelve weeks, ostensibly due to the dangers of holding public meetings in a confined space during the current pandemic.

However, on 4th April, over 10 weeks ago, the Government introduced legislation which facilitates local authorities, including Town and Parish Councils, holding full council and committee meetings on-line.

Almost all local authorities in our area have taken advantage of this legislation to resume their democratic business and are now holding regular on-line meetings open to the public using a variety of the available platforms.

This includes the County Council, all local District Councils, and at least 20 of the 25 Parish and Town Councils in the District.

So far, we have heard of no plans for our own Ashby Town Council, the largest Town Council in this area, to make any moves to hold on-line meetings.

As it is likely that the Council will be unable to resume face-to-face meetings in the near future, particularly in view of the age and health of many of our council members, we call upon the Leader and Clerk of the Council to implement a full programme of on-line Council and Committee meetings with immediate effect and for these to continue until face-to-face meetings can be safely resumed.

Yours sincerely

Ashby Town Councillors, Willesley Ward