Letters: Juliet Brunner and Ipsley Meadow cemetery are this week's hot topics - The Redditch Standard

Letters: Juliet Brunner and Ipsley Meadow cemetery are this week's hot topics

Redditch Editorial 24th Apr, 2021 Updated: 24th Apr, 2021   0

IN RESPONSE to Labour’s candidates regarding their continued assertion that an extension of Edgioake Lane remains a viable option for ongoing burial provision I would point out they have been told many times why this is a non-starter.

The land next to the cemetery is not for sale – ask the owners and they’ll confirm.

The other reason is simple maths.

There are around 70 spaces left at Edgioake Lane, but the burial rate in Redditch is around 120 per year.




Perhaps Diane Abbot has moved to Redditch and is running their campaign, but either way they really should stop peddling false hope around this option and be straight with the people of Redditch about what their solution is: To just give up and send everyone out of Redditch.

We do not believe the people of Redditch will support this.


Our manifesto is clear – we’re committed to a green, open and accessible burial provision within Redditch, and voters will soon choose which approach they prefer.

Councillor M Dormer, Leader, Redditch Borough Council

YOUR recent article regarding Mrs Brunner’s resignation from the Conservative Party made interesting reading (Redditch Standard).

Having served under her leadership, her claiming to have led us in successfully gaining control of the council in 2018 is, I think, a gross injustice to all the other councillors who did most of the work.

She needs to remember that under her leadership we failed to take control of the council for a number of years.

Her failure to be re-elected as leader was, in my view, a forgone conclusion.

When she was chairman of Redditch Conservative Association she used outdated screen shots of social media to report me to Conservative Party HQ when these had been removed shortly after.

The local rules at the time were quite clear – that the matter should have been raised, in the first instance, with the local group leader, and had she followed those rules it would have become clear that the matter had already been resolved.

This was done at the time I was serving as Mayor of Redditch and due for re-selection as candidate for the Headless Cross and Oakenshaw ward, a seat I had successfully held for eight years.

Can it be any wonder she was replaced as chairman of the Redditch Conservative Association?

In relation to her re-selection as candidate for her seat on Worcestershire County Council, again she needs to be reminded of the party rules – those seeking to stand have to attend a selection panel interview. The panel in their judgement simply decided not to re-select her.

Mrs Brunner has now decided to become an independent councillor, claiming to support residents in fighting for Ipsley Meadow and the proposed housing estate at Mappleborough Woods.

Yet neither of these two items have been decided by the planning committee.

Claiming to be a ‘champion for women’ is just another illustration of her clutching at straws to get elected.

The only reason she wants to get elected is her vain efforts to try and become chairman of Worcestershire County Council.

Council Brunner is now trying to claim some credit for the plans for the new railway quarter.

I am not sure how she can do this. As I recall, she was not in attendance at the first meeting when this was discussed with the Leader of Worcestershire County Council.

If my notes are correct, it was I who proposed the idea of the ‘Gamechanger’ for the new railway quarter.

As the old saying goes ‘you reap what you sow’ and perhaps Mrs Brunner’s sowing are now coming up as weeds instead of flowers.

Councillor Roger Bennett, Worcestershire County Council & Redditch Borough Council

LAST week we had an evening call at our house and opened the door to Councillor Matt Dormer who was doing a poll of likely votes for the Conservative candidates.

When he recognised me he knew he had met me about my idea to expand the Abbey Cemetery onto part of the Bordesley Abbey scheduled monument.

He said ‘Hello I thought I knew the name’, and then informed me that my idea would certainly save a lot of money if the council went with it and that he was making sure it was being considered. My wife was impressed.

A friend who also circulated leaflets for another candidate was surprised to hear this as two residents within a three minute walk of the Meadow said they had already had a discussion with, allegedly, Councillor Dormer who advised them the Ipsley Meadow proposal was a ‘done deal’.

As Councillor Dormer had told me at our meeting about my idea he would instruct the cemetery manager to apply for a prior archaeological investigation and report I can only presume he intends the council to pursue two options and choose the best one!

I Willcock, Ipsley

REGARDING Ipsley Meadow. Thank you for publishing the letter in last week’s Redditch Standard (April 16) from three Labour candidates about the cemetery list.

However, the Edgioake Lane option probably isn’t the best.

Councillor Matt Dormer informed me that SE Davis, the business at Sandhills Farm next to the existing Astwood Bank site, doesn’t want to sell the land needed for the cemetery’s extension.

A far more sensible idea is in the area north of the current Abbey Cemetery.

Redditch resident 

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