COUNCILLOR BRIAN WEST

  MASONIC COUNCILLORS SHOULD DECLARE THEIR INTERESTS

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Cllr Brian West - former Cabinet member, Wealden District Council

Contact Information

Home Phone:  01323 870381

Fax:  01323 871500

Email:  cllr.brian.west@wealden.gov.uk

Postal Address: 

Acorn Cottage
Milton Street
Polegate
East Sussex
BN26 5RN

Cllr Brian West was a cabinet member of the Wealden District Council when they attempted to bankrupt Mr Kruschandl in 2003/04, when Nigel Coltman was the then Leader of the Council. Cllr West had been on the area plans south planning committee in previous years, voting for enforcement action against the occupier of the Old Steam House. He was a Mason in the 1980s and former Master of the Tyrian Lodge operating out of the Masonic Temple, South Street in Eastbourne. His name is included in the Year Book for 1985-86 along with a number of prominent builders in the area, as you can see from the extracts of the publication for the Sussex Masonic Temple, headquartered in Queens Road, Brighton, BN1 3XA. Cllr West was a prominent builder in and around the Seaford area and so was Mr Kruschandl's father. But Kruschandl's father was not a Mason as Ian Kay had once alleged. Ian Kay was though related to Bernard Best, a Mason in the same lodge as Mr West, where Mr Best was Mr Kay's father in law.

These are simply facts. There is as yet no evidence to suggest that Cllr West used his influence as a Mason, or former Mason, or former cabinet member to any course of action or conduct that would be a violation of the applicable Codes of Conduct, or an otherwise unlawful or illegal act under the applicable transparency provisions, etc.

The one exception that we know of, being Brian West's failure to make a declaration concerning his (at the time) future son-in-law (who we cannot name for legal reasons). We know this because we have a solicitor certified copy of the Register of Interests and there is only one entry for Mr West concerning a Gas Holder site (at Horam) throughout the period when his daughter was engaged and at the time living with her fiancée.

During the engagement period this councillor was assisting his future son-in-law with a planning related issue. In similar circumstances Jack Gore was forced to stand down and apologise for his misconduct when he helped Raymond Edmondson gain consent for industrial buildings at New Place Farm in Pump Lane, Framfield. At this point Cllr Ann Newton was elected.

During his time as a councillor and in the period 2003-2004 Wealden District Council made their decision to seek to collect around £26,000 in legal costs awarded to Wealden DC by Dame Butler-Sloss against a then political activist; Nelson Kruschandl. The council served Mr Kruschandl with a Statutory Demand, the first stage to a bankruptcy petition.

This must have been a high level decision by members of the council, including cabinet members, and other interested councillors including Nigel Coltman and Andrew Long. This decision also included taking advice from officers of the council, to include Vic Scarpa, Trevor Scott and Daniel Goodwin. Other officers involved in the alleged illegal enforcement included David Phillips and Doug Moss, both guilty of tampering with photographic evidence - otherwise known as attempting to pervert the course of justice. David Whibley also had photograph tampering issues, making one wonder at the number of times Wealden used photographs illegally to obtain convictions or other orders?

If the allegation is correct and costs were obtained by fraudulent means and where this council forced the removal of toilets from The Old Steam House, despite the court having no powers to take away a state granted right to sanitation, under Health & Safety Regulations  - this case demonstrates just how corrupt a system can be - or rather how the system can be abused by those in trusted positions, if not kept on a tight leash.

It is alleged that this council would have to have deceived the Judges as to the historic merit of the building to obtain the toilet removal order, as they had done before with an Inspector Raymond Dannreuther in 1987, a representative of the Secretary of State. So perpetuating a lie, contrary to the clear duty to maintain accurate records, or fall foul of the Fraud Act 2006.

It is alleged that because of the copious correspondence between the victim (Kruschandl) and this council and its members, that it was common knowledge and that because of this, all of those involved knew about the genuine history attaching to The Old Steam House in Herstmonceux - and so would have been advised as to the tenets of the Data Protection Act 1998 and the Local Land Charges Act and Rules, as relate to enforcement notices (orders) and other land charges.

If that proves not to be the case, then legal officers of the council and executives will have deceived their own members in order to obtain authority to continue to target their intended victim. In other words to keep going with their efforts to sweep the truth under the carpet.

Not one of the councillors or officers involved lifted a finger to set the record straight, except to remove Christine Nuttall.  Indeed, it appears as though it went the other way - having been caught with their hand in the cookie jar by Mr Kruschandl, Wealden upped the game to try and wipe him out via character assassination of the worst kind, themselves or together with other agencies eliciting the assistance of the local media, who might also be viewed as an accessory after publication of a Section 39 restricted case while a trial was in progress.

Such publication appears most obviously designed to sway any jury, with the trial Judge, seemingly, in-on-it (possibly as a Mason), where he failed to secure the courtroom from reporters, confiscate notebooks, and did not refer the matter to the CPS, for the press/reporter to be prosecuted.

In failing to secure his courtroom, the trial Judge perpetuated a violation of Article 6, a person's right to a fair trial. A fresh trial should have been ordered if correct procedure was to be observed. In another case where the Jury had Googled the defendant, he was offered a fresh trial, but this was a different Judge. Where a Judge is not properly in control of his court, Article 5 may bite in that the court may not be held to be competent, hence is ill equipped to convict anyone. The blatant denial of his function begs the question: was the trial Judge a Mason or otherwise connected with Sussex Police or Wealden District Council? He is of course at liberty to tell us what the true position is and clear the air - and we will of course publish what the Judge has to say on that.

The other question that arises concerns the number of possible Masons in the Sussex Police force at that time and today, to include Masons who may have been tucked away inside the CPS - where higher than usual numbers of legal staff are known to be masons.

HISTORIC OPEN LETTER TO BRIAN WEST

Dear Councillor West,

As a member of a council responsible for a great many historic towns and villages, and also caretaker of the public purse, could I ask you to be especially vigilant against maladministration within the Wealden District Council.

It is my experience that your council has allowed some departments to run riot with taxpayers money.  Some officers have used council resources for their own goals and as a playground for acts of impropriety.  Sometimes to cover up mistakes, and other times to pursue agendas for profit or personal ambitions and desires.

It has taken me more than 20 years to finally reach an understanding with your council about the Generating Station at Herstmonceux.  I hope you agree that we cannot afford to let situations like that develop again to drain the council and lead to widespread bad feeling and mistrust. 

You were elected to serve the community, not the officers.  You were elected to run the council to the best of your ability, after consideration of the issues that matter.  It is your duty to conserve the historic built and natural environments.  It is also your duty to seek to secure adequate services, education, policing and health care.

These are particularly difficult times, where public funding is under scrutiny against local issues and terrorism and global warming are serious international issues that should be targeted for spending, rather than waste money pursuing lost causes.

Even as I write, identified international dangers are looming and if allowed to escalate unchecked, may put our country and indeed the world as we know it at risk.  We can all play our part by doing what we do to the best of our ability.

If we run a tight ship with a clear desk, when something important finds its way on our laps, we will be better able to deal with it.  We must conserve our energies for fights that matter.

I would be very interested to learn what sustainable policies your council, and your political party are putting in place, and if you agree whatever has been proposed is effective. I should also like to know if you support the current policies or oppose them?

As a resident of Wealden, I am relying on you to do the right thing for your district.  As an inhabitant of planet earth I am relying on you to keep your eye on broader issues and play your part on the international team that is the human race.

Thank you for taking the time to read this message and I look forward to hearing from you in the near future.

Yours sincerely

Nelson Kruschandl

Cllr West failed to respond to this letter in over three years, confirming his acceptance of the observations and criticism of his council.

LINKS & REFERENCE

https://www.gov.uk/government/policies/local-council-transparency-and-accountability

https://www.gov.uk/government/news/new-guidance-to-help-councillors-with-new-transparency-agenda

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/2010-to-2015-government-policy-local-council-transparency-and-accountability

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Knights_Templar

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Freemasonry

http://www.sussexmasons.org.uk/

COUNCILLORS SERVING IN 2017 INTO 2018

Dick Angel - Jo Bentley - John Blake - Bob Bowdler - Don Broadbent - Norman Buck - Raymond Cade - John Carvey - Valerie Chidson

Lin Clark - Nicholas Collinson - Nigel Coltman - Ronald Cussons - Barby Dashwood-Morris - Dianne Dear - Phil Dixon - Pam Doodes

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Chris Hardy - Steve Harms - Jim Hollins - Peter Holloway - Johanna Howell - Brian Hubbard - Toby Illingworth - Stephen Isted

Brian Jarman - David Larkin - Andy Long - Michael Lunn - Barry Marlowe - Nigel McKeeman - Huw Merriman - Rowena Moore - Kay Moss

Douglas Murray -   Ann Newton - The Lord Newton - Ken Ogden - Amanda O'Rawe - Charles R Peck - Diane Phillips - Mark Pinkney

Eddie Powell - Major Antony Quin RM - Ronald Reed - Dr. Brian Redman - Carol Reynolds - Greg Rose - Peter Roundell

William Rutherford - Daniel Shing - Oi Lin Shing - Raymond Shing - Stephen Shing - Robert Standley - Susan Stedman - Bill Tooley

Jeanette Towey - Stuart Towner - Chriss Triandafyllou - Peter Waldock - Neil Waller - David Watts - Mark Weaver - Graham Wells

Brian West - David White - John Wilton

Vicarage Lane, Hailsham, East Sussex, BN27 2AX T: 01323 443322

http://www.wealden.gov.uk

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