The Sh*t Hits The Fan?

12th MAY 2026

After last night’s incredibly important Full Council meeting, were its Lib Dems left thinking the sh*t has hit the fan?
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Well if the shit was the Lib Dem’s refusal to let anyone else have any of the main positions of influence or responsibility other than themselves, the fan was the meeting last night where they, as the majority party, closed the door of opportunity in the face of everyone who wasn’t one of them - soiling their sometimes questioned reputation locally?
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Last night’s meeting, 12th May 2026 was the annual event that saw the new Mayor, Deputy Mayor and Chairs of all the committees within the Council voted for.
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The new mayor? Lib Dem.
The new deputy mayor? Lib Dem.
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Chair of the Management Committee. Lib Dem.
Chair of the Amenities Committee. Lib Dem.
Chair of the Community, Markets & Tourism Committee. Lib Dem.
Chair of the Finance & Property Committee. Lib Dem.
Chair of the Planning & Development Committee. Lib Dem.
Chair of the Personnel Sub-Committee. Lib Dem.
Chair of the Personal Appeals Panel. Lib Dem.
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The meeting opened with Lib Dems voting in Cllr Sarah Freer as Mayor, and Cllr Julian Utting as Deputy Mayor, before public participation. Despite it being pointed out that thousands of people in Ross-on-Wye don’t vote Lib Dem, and them not allowing anyone else any committee chair positions, they went on to cement it.
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The voting seemed farcical; there were even some quiet signs of ironic laughter from the public. Newly elected Mayor Sarah Freer became visibly nervous, and other Lib Dem faces were somewhat red; it seemed the facade of a truly fair approach that is Ross-focused, not Lib Dem-focused, was a bit much for the new Mayor.
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It wasn’t her only difficult moment, though. After a member of the public had asked a question and the conversation finished, Cllr Bev Pope got up out of her chair and went over to the member of the public to talk down to her. As Cllr Bev Pope sat back down, she even falsely claimed that the member of the public had called her a liar, which didn’t actually happen.
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Councillors are not allowed to approach members of the public in this way, Mayor Sarah Freer, chairing the meeting knew this, and was requested to haul things up with a point of order, but instead she watched on - why didn’t she decisively act in order to curtail and stop Cllr Bev Pope’s behaviour? We shall never know. Both are from the same party though.
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The very poor atmosphere in the room was clear throughout the meeting.
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Cllr Julian Utting’s influence over the council broadens, now Deputy Mayor and already Chair of the Management Committee, taking control of most meetings where all councillors attend, he is also chair of Finance and Property. If he were to become Mayor next year, perhaps Ross-on-Wye Town Council would be better renamed Cllr Julian Utting’s Town Council?
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The sign of healthy leadership in public bodies is often a good turnover of people in key roles. Why? Because this way fresh ideas, energy and perspectives can be brought in. It seems Ross-on-Wye Town Council is desperately in need of these. One example being the Community, Markets and Tourism Committee - Markets on Thursdays and Saturdays are poorly attended, not promoted properly, and the wonderful traders who do come are let down by this. For a market town with an asset like the Market House this is poor indeed. Visitors often arrive and ask in the town centre “where is the market?” even on market days, new leadership of the Committee could have started to address this, but the Independent stood no chance, and Cllr Ed O’Driscoll continues, holding his grasp onto that role despite results and output that is fair to question - two notable ongoing major successes though being the Christmas Fayre which was built up outside of his Lib Dem party and the Bands In The Park.
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The Council’s involvement with Summer Buzz was seemingly done through gritted teeth, with these councillors putting an end to it, while the Council themselves falsely claimed it was a product of theirs and had to be corrected - another worrying signal of the inability and lack of desire to work with experts for the benefit of the town. This has been a major negative to the successful and vibrant Summer Buzz which could have been built upon, but this year sadly won’t happen - although the wonderful people at Knitsey will be bringing that theme back to life this summer with their fantastic yarn bombing.
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Community projects seem to be a mixed bag, and only because of non-Lib Dems is the prospect of the Ross-on-Wye Carnival returning now a reality. As for tourism, where is the promotion? It seems to end at the odd post containing the now over-stretched and over drum-beaten “birthplace of British Tourism” - those digging deeper will notice the exact same claim on Yat Rock, and researching William Gilpin’s often referenced book would find that Ross-on-Wye was barely mentioned. It seems there is not even any basic marketing competence or effective marketing output from the Town Council.
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Amenities is another key area - anyone who has any photos of Ross-on-Wye from 10 or 15 years ago, before the Lib Dem majority will no doubt notice a town looking more loved and looked after. All too often now, there are weeds and overgrowth in areas that used to be tidy.
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So, what can the next 12 months bring?
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More of the same regards political control it became clear in last night’s meeting!
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More conduct issues?
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In the last 2 years, three councillors have had multiple complaints against them relating to their conduct, one has had 5 complaints, one 4 complaints, one 3 complaints. All are Liberal Democrats. (This information was obtained via a simple Freedom of Information Request).
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In Spring of 2027, there are new elections where once again the people of Ross can choose their town councillors - will they want change? At the moment it seems the skills of non-Lib Dem councillors, from any party (or Independent) are simply sidelined and the individuals not empowered to do what they stood for election for, to put Ross-on-Wye first.
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What now? More of the same to look forward to it seems? At least until 2027?