A NEW group called Positively Independent in Ledbury has called a meeting this week to find candidates who wish to stand, on their ticket, for election to Ledbury Town Council.
There are now four vacancies on a badly divided Ledbury Town Council, following recent resignations, and elections will take place in June.
The four councillors who have resigned recently include former mayors Annette Crowe and Bob Barnes, a relative newcomer to the town council, Jean Simpson, and Cllr Martin Eager.
Cllr Crowe and Barnes resigned at last week's acrimonious town council meeting, and Cllr Martin Eager resigned by letter this week.
Richard Hadley, himself a former town councillor, who resigned three years ago, contacted the Ledbury Reporter with news of this weeks meeting; but he said the idea of the Positively Independent in Ledbury ticket was not his idea, but had come from the community.
He said: "In anticipation of the elections which will take place in June to fill the town council vacancies, we are rekindling an electoral platform for candidates wishing to come together to rebuild the town council as an effective, accountable and responsive body, involving people who are pledged to personal integrity, openness and justice.
"Provisionally, it will be called Positively Independent in Ledbury."
Mr Hadley added: "There will be a meeting in the Royal Hall on Thursday May 3 at 7.30pm. We will discuss the future as well as try to understand what has gone wrong in the past. One of the priorities is to learn from good town councils elsewhere, finding out how they are delivering services and initiatives that matter to local people.
"Positively Independent in Ledbury will be committed to participative decision-making and conducting continuous and meaningful consultation with Ledbury’s diverse communities of interest, planning priorities and gaining feedback. The idea is not mine; it is not a ‘brainchild’.This initiative is a collective community response with people from all backgrounds calling for something better for our town.
"This is a moment for our town to put behind us the petty wrangling, personal vendettas and covert games-playing and look to the future: Ledbury is crying out for positive change."