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Disqualified councillor hoping to reclaim Swanley Town Council position

7:00am Friday 3rd February 2012 in News By Alan Woods

Nikki Hill will stand for the position of White Oak ward councillor on February 23. Nikki Hill will stand for the position of White Oak ward councillor on February 23.

A COUNCILLOR disqualified for not attending meetings is hoping to reclaim her position at a by-election later this month.

Tory Nikki Hill has put her name forward to fill her own vacancy in the White Oak ward at the election, held by Swanley Town Council on February 23.

She is up against one candidate, ex-labour councillor Robert Woodbridge, who she beat to the position at the election in May last year.

News Shopper reported last November how Nikki Hill, of Russett Way, controversially lost her councillor status after not attending a council meeting for six months.

Now, the single mother-of-two is looking to reclaim the position she won in May last year.

She said: “I loved being able to do nice things for the people in Swanley - it was an obvious choice to re-apply and the rest of the party wouldn’t have asked anyone else to stand but me.

“I don’t agree and a lot of residents didn’t agree on the grounds I was kicked out on.”

Looking to the future rather than the past, Ms Hill says she will be more careful this time if she is re-elected.

Ms Hills added: “I would make sure that my apologies for not attending meetings were accepted correctly and minuted correctly.

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“I would also be a lot more careful about who I trust.”

Ms Hill was removed from her post when she broke the rule in the local government act 1972 by not attending a meeting for six months and 12 days.

Comments(28)

goldenbroomboy says...
7:15am Fri 3 Feb 12

"Nice things" like going to a jolly in a pub in Tonbridge borough on behalf of Swanley Town Council. Did Nikki buy her own drinks, or were they on expenses?

At least voters can be sure that Nikki will not waste time & money on attending pointless council meetings.

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bizzymum says...
12:26pm Fri 3 Feb 12

Ms. Hill says she will be more careful if re-elected by making sure her apologies for not attending meetings are properly minuted. So you're still not planning to attend any? Love it!

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rw4732 says...
4:52pm Fri 3 Feb 12

The electors of Swanley need a councillor who will attend meetings, so that they can take the decsions on doing the right thing for the people of the Town and to do that you have to go to Council meetings! handing in your apoligies and not attending meetings will not be of any use to the residents who want to be represented at Council meetings! The Former Labour Councillor who is also fighting to win in this by election has never been disqualified from the Council and held a town Council seat for 12 years,

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carefree2 says...
10:48pm Fri 3 Feb 12

Ms Hill has shown that she does not care about the people she represented by not bothering to attend meetings, although she did go to a few "jollies". People of Swanley must think carefully about whether they want a passenger, which she has proved she is or a committed councillor. Mr Woodbridge, who is standing against her, have a proven track record of commitment and is in it for the people and not for the perks.

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Factman says...
7:21pm Sat 4 Feb 12

rw4732 wrote:
The electors of Swanley need a councillor who will attend meetings, so that they can take the decsions on doing the right thing for the people of the Town and to do that you have to go to Council meetings! handing in your apoligies and not attending meetings will not be of any use to the residents who want to be represented at Council meetings! The Former Labour Councillor who is also fighting to win in this by election has never been disqualified from the Council and held a town Council seat for 12 years,
Robert Woodbridge or rw4732 failed to be elected in White Oak in May. However, he and his wife, Teri, secured uncontested seats on Farningham Parish Council - no voting took place.

They attended one meeting, sent apologies to the next two and simply did not attend the September Council Meeting after which they resigned, having attempted to politicise a council which has no partisan seats.

It is both absurd and hypocritical for him to point at Nikki Hill's attendance record.

Mr. Woodbridge is a bit of a publicity hound and if you have the patience and put Woodbridge into the search box here you will see a long tale of his council history back to 2002, including the biggest pumpkin and the biggest carrot and resigning from a committee because his Labour collegues would not vote for cheaper petrol!

Today I got the latest Labour Sentionel through my letterbox and once again it is the same retreaded mash of quarter-truths and outright lies as usual. It shows that Labour councillors are totally unable to understand finance and the council budgets. They refer to the Council reducing its payment for the Senior Passport to Leisure trips. In fact the council contribution of £8000 is unchanged but the users of the service cease to pay a £2 registration fee and also get the same trips for less money thanks to the efforts of the Council's Chief Financial Officer.

As for the idiotic claim of 'goldenbroomboy' above,The Bull referred to is obviousy the one on London Road, Swanley, not in Tonbridge or in any other town or village that has a pub called The Bull.

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goldenbroomboy says...
9:59am Sun 5 Feb 12

Factman wrote:
rw4732 wrote: The electors of Swanley need a councillor who will attend meetings, so that they can take the decsions on doing the right thing for the people of the Town and to do that you have to go to Council meetings! handing in your apoligies and not attending meetings will not be of any use to the residents who want to be represented at Council meetings! The Former Labour Councillor who is also fighting to win in this by election has never been disqualified from the Council and held a town Council seat for 12 years,
Robert Woodbridge or rw4732 failed to be elected in White Oak in May. However, he and his wife, Teri, secured uncontested seats on Farningham Parish Council - no voting took place. They attended one meeting, sent apologies to the next two and simply did not attend the September Council Meeting after which they resigned, having attempted to politicise a council which has no partisan seats. It is both absurd and hypocritical for him to point at Nikki Hill's attendance record. Mr. Woodbridge is a bit of a publicity hound and if you have the patience and put Woodbridge into the search box here you will see a long tale of his council history back to 2002, including the biggest pumpkin and the biggest carrot and resigning from a committee because his Labour collegues would not vote for cheaper petrol! Today I got the latest Labour Sentionel through my letterbox and once again it is the same retreaded mash of quarter-truths and outright lies as usual. It shows that Labour councillors are totally unable to understand finance and the council budgets. They refer to the Council reducing its payment for the Senior Passport to Leisure trips. In fact the council contribution of £8000 is unchanged but the users of the service cease to pay a £2 registration fee and also get the same trips for less money thanks to the efforts of the Council's Chief Financial Officer. As for the idiotic claim of 'goldenbroomboy' above,The Bull referred to is obviousy the one on London Road, Swanley, not in Tonbridge or in any other town or village that has a pub called The Bull.
Erm, the NS report referred to The Bull Hotel in Wrotham. When I lived in Wrotham it came under Tonbridge & Malling Borough Council.

Orpington misses out on so much exitement, not having a Town Council. Anybody up for petitioning Bromley to establish a Civil Parish Council?

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Paulinejones says...
11:47am Sun 5 Feb 12

It is clear Nikki has more important priorities in life that prevent her from attending. This reflects her true commitment to the role and why she should not put herself forward for the position. Regardless of political views we need people in these positions who genuinely care about their ward and want to do actively do their best for their community.

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rw4732 says...
12:56pm Sun 5 Feb 12

Fact man clearly seems not to have checked his facts, had he did what I did and checked the Farningham Parish Council minutes on thier web site, then he would have seen that former Cllr R Woodbridge attended Farningham Parish Council meetings, Feb 2011, March 2011,April 2011, may missed, June attended, august and september missed, resigned early october at the most this means he missed 3 meetings not six and was not disqualified unlike N.Hill, it would appear that Factman got his comments about former Cllr R woodbridge from the comments made by the tory district councillor and then Chairman of the Farningham District council who was clearly not happy because a Sentinel newsletter had recently been distributed in Farningham over a planning matter that the district councillor disagreed with the then stated veiw of the Parish Council people can read the comments made by the district councillor section 60 October minutes. yes he did resign from a council committee over tax on fuel, as the residents of this ward are clearly paying too much tax and this view at the time was supported by the tories,
It is good that the chief finacial officer of the Town Council has got a better deal for the pensioners of Swanley then I do not see why conservatives are saying they have negotiated better prices for travel in thier latest "in touch" when factman claims it was the financial officer! Mr Woodbridge has always done his best for the people of this ward and has cared about his community for example he served on two school governing bodies and while a councillor he served on several council committees like planning and environment and was instrumental in bringing new allotments to the Kettelwell allotment site with new secure fencing and brought bio diesel to the councils vehicle fleet saving money and while going green oh and the solar panels that save money by generating all the councils electric for free, Ms N Hill while a councillor only sat on the appeals committee that last had a meeting in the 1980s. I agree with other post on here that we need someone who will turn up at meetings and do thier best for white oak ward.

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rw4732 says...
1:04pm Sun 5 Feb 12

forgot to add that biggest Pumpkin was used in a competion to raise money for the Mayors charity and the money raised went to help fund the Heart centre at Darent valley hosiptal, I remember reading about it in the local papers, not a bad use for a Pumpkin using it to help those with heart problems

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BR8NOTNICE says...
11:43pm Mon 6 Feb 12

I would question Ms Hills level of commitment to her former constituents as she has made no mention of remedy for Swanleys worst rat run which is on her own doorstep She found time to protest against a mobile phone mast on the other side of town while raising no objection to new mast much closer to her own home.

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Factman says...
10:05am Tue 7 Feb 12

rw4732 or Robert Woodbridge as he is more commonly known has once again shown his talent for self-publicity by his long essay written above.

To say that the solar PV panels genrate all of the Council's electricity for free is both a lie and absurd. The feedback tariff that the Council receives is less than the interest paid on the loan that Labour insisted on taking. The Council still pays for electricity at all sites as the PV panels do not generate electricity every day of the year. It is worth noting that the latest issue of the Sentinel claims that the Council had £500,000 available for capital projects as at March 2011. That is total nonsense of course but if that were so why did they borrow £100,000 with annual payments for 15 years of almost £10,000?

The way in which the cost to users of the Senior Passport for Leisure are not disputable - they will appear in full in the Minutes of the last meeting which Mr Woodbridge attended a part of.

I will possibly be the only person who writes here who is not a Labour councillor or activist so what I say will be ignored, of course.

Facts hurt.

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Factman says...
12:38pm Tue 7 Feb 12

rw 4732 -

I have no facts wrong. I did not say that you missed 6 council meetings at Farningham. I correctly stated and specified the 3 that you did miss. Since those were all within a period of 4 months I do not see that your claim of faithful attendance to your council duties can be supported.

I note that for some years you alone constituted the Swanley Town Council since you claim that you alone did all of those wonderful things for the town.

I am reminded of the story of the two Englishmen who were sent to France to negotiate an arrangement with a famous man.
On their return they said that he claimed to be the finest duellist in France, the greatest lover in France and grew the biggest pumpkins in France. They also noted that he was the Biggest Liar in France.

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rw4732 says...
3:28pm Tue 7 Feb 12

Ok lets try again, It was Mr Woodbridge who when a councillor between 1999 and 2011 asked all his fellow councillors to set up the environment committee and as the Chairperson on this committee Mr woodbridge was the lead Member who got all the changes done as listed in the post above as Labour Councillors do turn up for council meetings and discuss and act on the policies they put before the electors, they don't go on holiday and get themselves disqualified from the council at a cost of £6,000 for a by-election as was stated in the councils budget. it don't matter how you look at it Mr Woodbridge did attend Council meetings and did on his own or collectivatly with others achieve good things while a councillor, like all the things listed above and then there is the water play area of Swanley park, another good thing for the residents, I would also draw your attention to the post of BR8NOTNICE who ask why former Cllr N Hills did nothing about the rat run in russett way ? answer is simple she went on holiday instead of attending Council meetings! you just have to look at the other post on here like the one from bizzymum says it all. if Factman had checked his facts correctly he would know that while Mr Woodbridge was greatly in favour of Solar Panels to generate free electricity, he did speak and vote against borrowing £100,000 on a loan! but the fact is Mr Factman don't Check his facts that well! the only reason that may not make the loan repayments affordable is because the Tory Government wants to cut the feed in tariff from 43p per kilowatt to 21pence per kilowatt, All In all Mr Woodbridge did do a good job as a Councillor and did not get disqualified and cost the local taxpayers £6,000 of thier money.

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longjohnsilversparrotsleftleg says...
1:24am Wed 8 Feb 12

what have nikki hill,lavender hill,wrotham hill,farningham hill and bluebell hill got in common-they are all used by tories but go nowhere.at least bluebell hill tries to get into the spirit of things lol

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Ordinary Guy says...
12:50pm Thu 9 Feb 12

Cute!

RW4732 (Mr Woodbridge) says that Mr Woodbridge did a good job!
Self praise is no recommendation Mr Woodbridge! Many would also disagree with that he even did a good job.

Factman is correct. Even before the reduction in feed tariffs the Swanley electricty was not effectively free.

Additionally, the previous Labour Council applied for a £10,000 grant from the Big Lottery Fund - but did not get it because they took a £100,000 loan instaed of using their own funds.

There is no question that the Conservative Council have a far better idea of finance - and it shows!

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Factman says...
12:54pm Thu 9 Feb 12

Well if Mr Robert Woodbridge proudly claims that he attended even those meetings from which he was absent we must accept his word. The Minutes of Farningham Parish Council must then be wrong.

We can note that he claims credit for everything that he thinks was useful and done by the Labour Council but decidedly distances himself from all of the bad things they did - like the stupid loan of £100,000. That interest would not have been paid by the savings even at the present feed-in tariff and the grant of £10,000 from the Big Lottery Fund that would have come if the council had paid with its own funds was not made since they borrowed the cash! So that is an additional hidden cost of the whole project.

He may be unaware that "rat runs" are road traffic matters which are not in any way the task of Swanley Council. Such fall under Kent Highways or the police if criminal actions occur.

I would add that the pathetic efforts of humour about Nikki Hill such as appear here - some decidedly sexist - have no part in a modern society.

What is the difference between lonjohnsilversparrot
sleftleg and the parrot? The parrot has a brain.

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rw4732 says...
12:46am Fri 10 Feb 12

Oh so good of Factman to notice who is really responsible for Highways best he tell that to all his Conservative freinds as they put out leaflets in the last set of local elections that it was down to the Labour Town Council so now last he finally admits it that it is tory controlled Kent County Council who has done nothing at all about the rat run in russett way! ordinary guy says Mr woodbridges record is no recommendation but then Mr Woodbridge did not go on holidays, instead of going to Council meetings, his record of all the things he has done for his ward and the Town of Swanley can be seen in the minutes at the Town Council offices, consider the records of the two candidates and then decide do you want a councillor (Mr Woodbridge) who did turn up for meetings or do you want a councillor who did not turn up for meetings and got disqualified and is now costing the local taxpayers £6,000 ? Ms Hills says in the Newsshopper article above “I would make sure that my apologies for not attending meetings were accepted correctly and minuted correctly. does this mean that if she gets re-elected she is not going to be attending meetings and get disqualified again ? and that will cost everyone another £6,000 of taxpayers money!

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Factman says...
11:59am Fri 10 Feb 12

Mr Woodbridge's last is hardly worth a reply but as he is so proud that he did not miss the meetings at Farningham Council because he was on holiday then why did he not go? Perhaps he simply could not be bothered.

As each of his claims and allegations is refuted by facts he scuttles into another corner and starts a new cry.

I shall not bother to reply to him again on this thread unless he can come up with something new and something factual.

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rw4732 says...
6:32pm Fri 10 Feb 12

As the facts have now all been explained to Factman, he now has nothing further to say, He ask why Mr Woodbridge did not go to two meetings he missed, it is simple the Parish Council took a view on Planning applications only to have over ruled by the tory district councillor who was also chairman of the parish council so was well aware of what the view of the parish council was on all planning application! Factman does not want to reply because he wants to gloss over the fact that Ms N Hills has been disqualified from being a councillor and now we have a by election that is going to cost the council taxpayer £6,000 and all because she did not turn up at meetings to represent people because she was too busy going on holiday!

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Factman says...
8:38pm Fri 10 Feb 12

It was 3 missed meetings Mr Woodbridge, not 2.

I find it very strange that you thought it necessary to miss those meetings because you disagreed with the viewpoint on Planning matters held by the Chairman of the parish council. I even find it hard to understand how you knew what his view would be before you even went to the meetings and if you felt that his opinions were against the interest of residents it was your duty to attend and oppose.

Nothing that you say bears the light of logical scrutiny. Best quit whilst you are behind...

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rw4732 says...
3:15pm Sat 11 Feb 12

Again Factman gets his facts wrong so this is what happened the Parish Council had been fighting for some years to have an illegal encampment of travellers moved off greenbelt land in Farningham, this was discussed at a meeting of the Parish Council so the Chairman of the Parish Council was well aware of the views of the Parish Council as he chaired the meeting, then has a district Councillor he then agrees with SDC planning officers to allow the illegal travellers site to have planning consent! I was there at that meeting and agreed to oppose with all the other parish councillors!That is why I left the Parish Council, When it was exposed in a newsletter what was happening, it caused the Chairman to attack the Labour newssletter in the "comments of district councillor" and have these included in the minutes of Farningham Parish Council! but then we should all have known this would happen as we have had tory District Councillors support traveller sites in colledge road Hextable and on White oak ward Swanley, both were in the green belt, Mr Woodbridge as always attended planning meetings to oppose developement in the green belt, unlike some tories, it is always interesting that Factman as not said anything about N Hill getting disqualified from the town Council and costing £6000 for the by election, lets see if factman will comment on the disqualification of N Hill and it costing £6000 for the by election!

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Factman says...
3:34pm Sat 11 Feb 12

The fact that Nikki Hill became disqualified because she missed the June and September meetings - with apologies - is not in dispute. The supposed cost of £6000 is not a fact as the amount, which will be far less, is not known.

In his present leafleting he and his cohorts still refer to "secret meetings" that the Conservative councillors are supposed to have had over St. Mary's Rec. There was one meeting of 30th November to which all town councillors were invited. There is no secret as the Conservative Councillors did not then, or before, or after record anything except total opposition to development on the Rec.

Now let us get back to Mr Woodbridge's boasting. From all that we know and have read and heard he is simply a man who quits and runs when he can't get his own way and who would be capable of starting a fight in an empty room.

We need cool heads on our council, not hotheads.

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rw4732 says...
4:38pm Sat 11 Feb 12

Once again factman as got it wrong again! the Town Council has put £12,000 into this year budget to pay for by election's and the electoral registration officer at Sevnenoaks District Council who says the Town Council will have to pay for the By Election following the disqaulification of N. Hills is likely to exceed the estimate of £6,000. N.Hills was not present at any meeting of the Council for six months at that is why she did get disqualified! of course if her tory Chairman also cancelled a meeting! As to the Sentinel telling the residents of the Town about the secret meetings held with developement securities, they had planned a meeting in June / july has the Town Clerk sent a letter to all town councillors inviting them to a meeting and there was another meeting in July in which no minutes were produced and the public were not invited to attend, in contrast when the recreation ground came before the Labour Council in 2010 /11 the meeting was open to the public and opposed by the Labour Councillors, if the tory Councillors are so opposed to building on the recreation ground why were there no minutes of the meeting and why do they not say in thier election leaflets they will not allow the recreation ground to built on or changed in anyway ? of course they won't say they won't build on the recreation ground as it don't suit thier plans to say so! Labour will always defend the recreation ground for the people of Swanley as it was left to the people by the Hart-Dyke family, of course the Leader and Chairman of the Council always issue a joint press statement saying they will not build on the recreation ground or change it in any way from its present use! don't expect they will though! what we need on our council is Councillors who turn up and represent the residents and not Councillors who get themselves disqualified by not turning up for Council meetings and cost us taxpayers at least £6,000 for a by election!

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Factman says...
4:44pm Sat 11 Feb 12

You are gabbling RW.

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Mr.Tutor says...
4:48pm Sat 11 Feb 12

I have been reading all the comments here with interest, and noticed that 'RW4732' has answered everything put to him by 'Factman'. It is a pity that Factman, does not answer the comments that RW4732 has made concerning the Tory run town council and the disqualification of Councillor N.Hills, costing the Town Council £6,000 for a By election. I certainly won't be voting for councillor who got herself disqualified for not attending council meetings, were she is supposed to be representing the residents.

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Big john thomas says...
5:43pm Sat 11 Feb 12

Ms Hills says that in future she will send in her apologies to the Council, is this indicating that she intends missing meetings if she gets re-elected? The residents and the council will have to have another by election, she says in her article above, a lot of residents did not agree with her being kicked out, so I looked back at the newsshopper web page that covered that story and saw that there were two tory councillors there and a few people with their children, hardly a lot. If you break the rules as stated in the article then you must accept the consequences of your actions. It is just a pity that the taxpayer has to now pick up a bill for the cost of the by election, if councillors that got disqualified had to pay the cost of the by election, I bet more of them would turn up at meetings.

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rw4732 says...
8:10pm Tue 14 Feb 12

I see in the latest "in touch" published by N Hill that she is making claims concerning the scout hut, the leaflet states she was instrumental in pushing forward with replacing the scout hut, which was discussed at the September meeting of the Council and the minutes show she was not at that meeting, in the same leaflet she claims that Mr Woodbridge supported a meat factory in Leydenhatch lane and was later refused by the conservatives, it was Mr Woodbridge who as Chairman of the planning committee on the Council who refused planning permission, while the hextable conservative councillor who sat on Swanley Council as an Independant did not even vote! just goes to show you have to check the facts!

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rw4732 says...
6:55pm Fri 24 Feb 12

Well the people had their say yesterday and they voted Woodbridge Labour 464, Hill Conservative 409, labour majority 55, guess that says it all.

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