Councillor calls it quits

Anne Salt at a council
meeting earlier this year.

THE Willow Court historic site has lost one of its most passionate supporters on the Derwent Valley Council with the sudden resignation of Councillor Anne Salt on Friday. The news was made public yesterday with a report on the Mercury newspaper website.

Mrs Salt was the long-time chairwoman of the council's Friends of Willow Court Special Committee at the time of her election to council on a recount last March following the resignation of Cr Damian Bester, another advocate for the redevelopment of the site. Mrs Salt attended her first meeting as a councillor that May, and in October successfully contested her seat in last year's local government elections.

At last year's Friends of Willow Court annual general meeting she stood down as the committee's chair but was elected to the position of secretary. Earlier this year the Local Government Standards Panel dismissed several code of conduct complaints against Mrs Salt but issued her with a caution for neglecting to declare a conflict of interest when the council considered the Friends of Willow Court's expression of interest in developing the historic site.

At last week's monthly council meeting Mrs Salt declared an interest and left the chamber while the council once again considered the Friends of Willow Court proposal. The council resolved not to proceed with the group's proposal but thanked the committee for its efforts and encouraged it to work alongside its preferred developer, the Salamanca Arts Centre, noting the similarities in their ideas.

Mrs Salt has been invited to to provide a statement for publication.