The name Ellis is on the lips of many Cranleigh villagers who, say our WW followers, are “fuming” at the husband and wife duo’s latest underhand antics. Now we hear that although they were backed in their nasty little sleight of hand by the casting vote of  Parish Council Chairman David Gill   he… has now Resigned.

No wonder he is saying he no longer wants the job of chairman, who  would after realising the mistake he made in contributing to the Ellis’s latest round of duplicitous behaviour!

Brian and Patricia Ellis, aided and abetted by Chairman Gill, successfully pulled off a dastardly coup against their parish council colleagues by overturning a decision, taken in their absence before Christmas. It was agreed to create a Trust which would protect the future of the Beryl Harvey memorial field and ensure it would remain in perpetuity for the purpose the donor intended. At the January meeting  a counter-decision,  taken, in the absence of three councillors, overturned the previous decision. This now flies in the face of public opinion and lengthy debate in December, during which Councillor Mary Foryszewski apologised to the people of Cranleigh for a proposition  made by Councillor Ellis to sell the memorial field and allotments to Waverley for a housing development. A proposal which,  she said,  should never have been made.     

This week Planning Committee Chairman, Councillor Mary Foryszewski, was tight-lipped about the coup, simply expressing her bitter disappointment at the decision. Meanwhile, Councillor Patricia Ellis who was up to her grey locks in the dastardly deed, sat there looking as if butter wouldn’t melt!

However, members of the public were not fooled and were told as they stood in small groups chatting after the meeting that the name Ellis was on everyones’ lips in conjunction with the words ‘concreting over our green fields,’ and ‘turning Cranleigh into a concrete jungle’. Yes, it would seem local people are beginning to wake up to the danger the Ellis duo now pose to their village. Could this be the first stirrings of mutiny in the community? … watch out Brian & Patricia, local voters are beginning to realise that you’re not as harmless and well-meaning as you would like them to believe. You claim that the BH field does not have an earth shattering impact on Cranleigh’s 12,000 residents, but you know what, the effect of your actions, will ensure that no future benefactors will ever again trust Cranleigh Parish Council!

Now the chairman’s seat is empty again – no doubt the man known locally as “Bully Boy Ellis” will have his b** back on the seat before it is cold, even though he says that after 15 years in the role he won’t be seeking election.

Not Seeking election! What he should be doing is seeking the forgiveness of his colleagues and the people of Cranleigh for both his, and his wife’s,  duplicity – and then he should do the decent thing and follow his Chairman’s decent example and resign!

Wake up Cranleigh Parish Councillors – two of your colleagues have recently resigned   and now your  chairman too has resigned. Find someone who commands the  respect of the residents of Cranleigh and someone who can restore villagers’ faith in the local political system. Or a vote of no confidence in Cranleigh Parish Council may  be sought?