Holbeach Parish Council is facing a crisis with meetings having to be cancelled due to several members not turning up as part of a protest.
The authority has not had enough members to legally make decisions at recent meetings.
Earlier this year it was denied a request to South Holland District Council to reduce the numbers its meant to have from 18 to 16.
It currently only has ten following the resignation of former chairman Coun Stephen Johnson.
It needs a third of members to legally pass motions, but several are staying away.
Another meeting is scheduled for tonight (Thursday) but the chairman Coun Sophie Hutchinson, who was voted into the role last month, said she didn’t think enough would attend for it to go ahead.
Coun Tim Wiltshire said he and five others, Mark Murfet, Peter Howden, Clive Turner and Rachel Flood, would continue to stay away but, as far as he knew, would stand for re-election in May when a vote will take place if more than 18 people apply to be parish councillors.
He told The Voice that the stay-away councillors were campaigning against “a toxic and bullying culture” experienced by staff.
“I feel for the people of Holbeach for the completely inept manner in which the council is being run, but most of all I feel for the staff (who are also people of Holbeach), who are having to try to do their daily work in such a toxic work environment,” he said. “The good people of Holbeach deserve better than this.”
The council has been hit with in-fighting for years.
The Voice spoke to past and present employees who wished to remain anonymous but said they felt victimised by recent disciplinaries being brought against them.
There was particular concern that they had less control over their work and frustration at a lack of training being provided.
One said: “By not allowing the employed staff to get on with their work the park is now consistently underwhelming.”
They continued that they were waiting to hear back over grievances they’d submitted.
Coun Hutchinson said there were no current grievances being investigated, but declined to say how many there had been recently.
In an email to councillors she asked officers to come to meetings to discuss their issues and said a particular issue, that the amount of money the clerk could spend without permission from councillors had halved from £1,000 to £500 because previous clerks “had too many powers”.
“If you have issues and want to see changes, you must be willing to speak up in public, on camera, and work with the rest of the council on resolutions,” she said. “We should not always agree, but we are a democracy, so unless you turn up and vote you won’t have your say,” she said. “I offered these councillors the option to address them with me or place them on the agenda for the next Full Council meeting, but I did not receive a response.
“We are here to do a job, albeit unpaid, and to serve the public, but due to the acts of a small number of councillors, we are unable to offer all of the services we have promised the public, and we are now unable to meet our legal duties under employment law.
“I will never pander to individuals. You can’t claim to care for Holbeach or its employees when your actions, and your actions alone, are causing the council to fail to deliver services to the public and to breach employment law, putting public money at risk.
“The decision is simple: either share your problems around the table in a respectful and professional manner and fulfil your role of providing public services, or perhaps you should step aside and let those who want to ‘do the job’ to take your place in the forthcoming election.”
