General ban on publishing addresses of advisers amid security fears

Chief Cllr Andrew Western has revealed he faced personal threats and intimidation while in authority during a heated debate over the issue at a full council meeting.

He told members, “I have experienced a number of incidents both in the community and in my home, with people making very detailed videos of what they would like to do to me, making it clear that they know my address. .

“As a result, I had to have my property and my mother’s property marked and then I discovered the list of criminal activities previously undertaken by this person who may know where I or any of us live at any time.

“It’s not about pinning your shoulders back and saying ‘I’m tough enough, I don’t care about that’.

“It’s about telling us collectively that we want to be safe in our roles. We know that an attack on one of us is an attack on all of us.

The proposal to remove advisers’ personal addresses from the register had been put forward by the authority’s standards committee which advocated a “blanket ban” on the publication of advisers’ addresses.

Curator Cllr Daniel Bunting said while some councilors may be concerned about publishing where they live, “others may not be.”

“Wouldn’t it be reasonable,” he argued, “for a councilor to step down, if he so wishes? For example, I wouldn’t want to hide my address. It’s been on the website since I was first elected and I’m more than happy it’s staying there.

Fellow Cllr John Holden agreed. “I’m much more afraid of God in my old age than of someone knocking on my door and insulting me,” he said.

“I was threatened or placed in threatening positions for most of my life and they never did anything.

“I would welcome the opportunity to publish my address on any material regarding any decision I support or policy I propose so that my residents can see how it might affect me.”

However, Labor councilor Karina Carter said she had personally had “harrowing experiences”. “And I know I’m not alone,” she said.

“I have long maintained that I would not want my address to fall into the public domain. I went through a long period where my husband was working and I was alone with my children, people knew where I lived and it was very scary.

She said she had a co-worker who wouldn’t run for council because she was in foster care and didn’t want her address published.

Green Cllr Geraldine Coggins said the ban should be generalized so the public would not think an adviser withholding their address would be “suspicious”.

Labour’s Cllr Sophie Taylor said she “totally disagrees” with Cllrs Bunting and Holden.

“I think we should have privacy,” she said. “I don’t see that not publishing our addresses is an obstacle to being an effective adviser.

“In all my other professional roles as a public servant through and through, my address is not available to other people.”