Thanet Green Party Councillors have expressed their puzzlement at a ‘vicious’ attack on one of their number by local blogger Ian Driver, which they describe as "distorted, inaccurate and based on half-truths." Mr Driver, himself a former Green and Labour Councillor, is known for his hard-hitting citizen journalism, but also for highly personal blog attacks on individual Councillors.
Said Cllr Tricia Austin: “In the past we’ve challenged Ian about his inappropriate personal attacks on Labour colleagues. Evidently he’s now decided it’s our turn.”
In researching his recent blog on Cllr Trevor Roper, Mr Driver found out and publicised how much Cllr Roper sold his house for, used mapping software to locate where he was when joining an online meeting, and obtained his correspondence with TDC’s Democratic Services Department via a Freedom of Information request. Cllr Roper commented: “We face so many serious issues in Thanet: perhaps Ian could have put all this effort into pursuing Southern Water or Gladman Developments, rather than stalking me online and then jumping to unwarranted conclusions?”
After selling their house in Minster last year, Cllr Roper and his wife Karen rented in Ramsgate for a few months and later stayed with relatives in Maidstone. During this time he continued with his Council duties as usual, including attending many parish council meetings in his Thanet Villages ward, for which he has chalked up nearly 100% attendance since his election in 2019. When travel was allowed again, the Ropers went to France to realise their retirement dream of buying a French property – only to find themselves stuck there by increasingly restrictive Covid rules and trouble obtaining vaccinations. Cllr Roper continued to attend online meetings and undertake other duties from a distance, but could not leave France – so since physical meetings restarted in May, he has been unable to attend.
Mr Driver’s blog claims Cllr Roper has behaved "deceitfully" – but colleagues insist he has deceived no-one, and his only error was forgetting to update TDC’s Register of Members’ Interests to show he had sold his Minster property.
Cllr Roper had contemplated resigning as a Councillor when he was first stuck in France, but was persuaded by colleagues to wait to see if things improved so he could return. Unfortunately, concerns about the new variant and ever stricter quarantine rules have prevented this.
Leader of the Green group on TDC, Cllr Mike Garner, commented: “Trevor is an excellent local Councillor whose attendance record compares favourably to most other Councillors", even when his recent inability to attend meetings is included! He’s always been responsive to residents’ concerns and receives great feedback from people in his ward.
He is very unhappy about the current situation, and has told us and TDC officers that if it persists he will feel obliged to "consider his position" as a Councillor, which would be a great loss to all of us. Whatever decision he makes will be with the best interests of residents in his ward in mind, and not as a result of the deeply regrettable online campaign against him.