AT A hearing in Aberdeen today, the Standards Commission have suspended Cllr Wendy Agnew for two months after finding she breached the Councillors’ Code of Conduct.
Cllr Agnew’s comments at a meeting of the Council’s Kincardine and Mearns Area Committee on 21 November 2023, when a planning application was being considered, were deemed to be disrespectful to the applicant.
Helen Donaldson, Standards Commission Member and Chair of the Hearing Panel, said: “The Panel found that, at the meeting, Cllr Agnew treated the applicant less favourably because she was a gypsy traveller, based on Cllr Agnew’s apparent knowledge of unauthorised use of a different site and an assumption that travellers, as a group, were more likely to breach planning conditions.”
The Panel was concerned that while it was apparent Cllr Agnew may not have intended to be
disrespectful or divisive, she had not demonstrated any understanding of the need to avoid making
assumptions or any insight into how her comments could be reasonably perceived, until the Hearing
itself.
Ms Donaldson stated: “the provisions that state councillors must be respectful, must foster good
relations between different people and must avoid any perception that they are not acting fairly and
without bias when making decisions on quasi-judicial matters, such as planning applications, are key
requirements of the Councillors’ Code. The Panel noted that a failure to comply with the Code’s
provisions in this regard can have a detrimental impact on the right of an applicant to be treated
fairly, and can erode public confidence in the role of a councillor. Such a failure also had the potential
to bring the committee, the Council and its decisions into disrepute and open it up to the risk of a
successful legal challenge.”
A full written decision of the Hearing will be issued and published on the Standards Commission’s
website within 14 days.