A VEIL of secrecy has been thrown over the mass resignation of seven members of a South Lakeland parish council.

Despite repeated attempts by the Gazette to get to the bottom of the situation, no-one was prepared to go on the record to explain why the Burneside councillors decided to hand in letters of resignation following last Thursday night's parish meeting.

It is believed to be centred around a vote to abandon the village's neighbourhood plan which was lauded last year as a scheme to rejuvenate a 'slumbering giant' of a village into a 'world class' location.

Following the vote, letters of resignation were handed to chair Jannice Wilkinson from vice-chair John McCurdie, Arty Cropper, David Ginsberg, Chris Granger, Jennifer Harrison and Tony Hill.

Ms Wilkinson is reported to have read out the names, including her own, but did not explain the reasons behind the councillors' decisions.

Council clerk Kevin Price explained that the council was now left with just four councillors - the exact number needed to keep a functioning council.

"There was no acrimony," he said. "No harsh words, trouble, nothing. I was sad because they have all been exceptionally good councillors but they do not have to give a reason at all."

He added that most of the resigning councillors had been connected with the neighbourhood plan in some way, including Mr Hill who was chair of the steering group and Mr McCurdie who was secretary.

Burneside's Neighbourhood Plan aimed to transform the village. It centred around the four key elements: development and infrastructure; traffic and transport; environment and design and facilities and services.

It was hoped the plan would help deliver sustainable, attractive housing, more business and boost tourism.

The Gazette reported in December 2016 that a draft plan was expected to be delivered in late June 2017.

However, Mr Price explained this had been pushed back until December 22 while further resident consultation was undertaken.

On the agenda for last Thursday's (November 2) parish council meeting, the Burneside Neighbourhood Plan Steering Group proposed that the production of the early draft be rescinded and all work to produce the plan halted. It also proposed the plan be withdrawn and the steering group dissolved with 'immediate effect'.

The proposals on the cessation of the neighbourhood plan were accepted with five voting for, two against and one abstention.

The Gazette has spoken to Ms Wilkinson and Mr Hill, both of whom said they did not wish to comment on the reasons they had resigned.

Alan Thompson, an independent monitor for the Parish Council Neighbourhood Plan sub-committee meetings posted the report he gave to last week's council meeting on the Burneside Present and Past Facebook page.

He said that all members of the committee had worked 'tirelessly' to produce proposals for a draft plan.

"Contrary to the belief of a minority of people, I know the committee did listen to concerns about the proposals and did their best to communicate these to the public," the statement read.

"I would like to personally thank all of them for their hard work on behalf of the village."

Mr Price told the Gazette that as there is no chairman or vice-chairman, none of the remaining councillors were allowed to comment publicly or speak on behalf of the council.

However, councillor Derrick Wade, who was present at the meeting said that the resignations 'came as a shock' to him.

“The four of us who are left, I don’t think any one of us know what is going on," he said. "I honestly do not know why they have handed their resignations in."

Cumbria County Councillor Stan Collins said that his understanding was there had been 'a lot of disagreement' over the neighbourhood plan but the resignations had come 'out of the blue'.

Cllr Wade said that he had abstained from voting on the neighbourhood plan and he had been advised not to comment on the resignations by Mr Price.

Cllr Gayle Howarth, who voted against the proposals, and Cllr Nigel Byrom, who was not at the meeting, were contacted but declined to comment.

South Lakeland District Council has been notified of the vacancies and they have been advertised on parish noticeboards.

The council now enters a 'waiting period' of 14 days, during which time an election may be called by ten electors of the parish, failing which the council is free to co-opt new councillors.

The Gazette contacted the Cumbria Association of Local Councils but a spokesperson was unable to offer any detail regarding the reasons for resignation.

The next parish council meeting will be held on December 7 at at St Oswald's Church Room, Burneside.