Row breaks out at Stretton Parish Council over shed in church grounds

A planning application for a shed caused a village row to break out.

The metal shed, behind St Nicholas’ Church in Stretton, was intended for storing tables, chairs, decorations, groundskeeping and safety equipment.

The church also serves as a ‘community hub’, and a meeting place for Stretton Parish Council.

The Parochial Church Council submitted a planning application for the shed (2024/0163/FUL) to Rutland County Council in February.

But a concern was raised that the shed threatened the stability of an ancient dry stone wall.

Members of Stretton Parish Council withdrew support for the project, and Rutland County Council refused the planning application on May 24.

Following this, villager, Kevin Hawkes, accused the chairman of Stretton Parish Council, Greg Harker, of misrepresenting the interests of the parish council.

In a complaint to solicitor, Sarah Khwaja, head of legal and democratic services at Rutland County Council, Mr Hawkes said: “Coun Harker claimed to Rutland County Council planning department that Stretton Parish Council supported the application, when in fact it had decided not to comment due to many of the members having a conflict of interest.

In an email responding to Mr Hawkes, sent on June 25, the solicitor agreed the statement about the parish council’s support for the application was untrue.

She added that the purpose of Coun Harker’s email to the planning department was to secure a waiver of the £216 application fee, which was unsuccessful.

Mr Hawkes has called for Coun Harker to resign from Stretton Parish Council with immediate effect.

Coun Harker declined to comment on the matter directly but has said he does not intend to stand for future re-election to the parish council.

Rutland County Council also declined to comment.