A STANDARDS committee was "frustrated" by a lack of consequences available for a district councillor who was censured after breaching the member's code of conduct.

A complaint was made against Councillor Fran Oborski after she streamed a public meeting on the proposed Woven Oaks development for new homes in Kidderminster earlier this year.

In the video, she allegedly gave out the address of a conservation officer, derided fellow councillors, made defamatory remarks relating to Diamond Bus and encouraged people to "break the law" by entering private fields.

This is according to independent person Tim Hipkiss who prepared a report for Wyre Forest District Council’s Ethics and Standards Committee meeting last month.

Responding to the report, Councillor Oborski said she withdrew the address of the officer from the video. She has apologised and insists she was not trying to be controversial.

After stating that the Worcestershire County Highways department were "not on this planet," she said: "I have made that comment at WFDC Planning Committee on several occasions, the first time I ever recall time the planning solicitor pulling me up over it was this August which was after our public meeting so I had assumed it was a comment I was able to make."

In relation to comments made about Diamond Bus, she said she chaired meetings of local bus user groups before Covid and "expressed residents’ concerns about reliability issues" with directors and managers.

She said her comments about residents needing to mention rare and endangered species on fields for development were made because it "played a considerable part in saving Spennells Fields."

The Ethics and Standards Committee decided to censure councillor Oborski for the remarks.

A statement made by Councillor Anna L'Huillier, chairperson of the Ethics and Standards Committee, said: "The majority of our hard-working Councillors serve their constituents in an appropriate and respectful way, without the need to breach our Code of Conduct and bring ourselves and our office into disrepute.

"Councillor Oborski has been fully trained multiple times in terms of the Code of Conduct. She has a long history of service as both County and District Councillor, so it was extremely disappointing to be presented with a complaint and Independent Person’s report which highlighted multiple breaches of the Code.

"Having heard from Councillor Oborski, and having had the opportunity to debate the matter and question the Independent Person, the Committee were in agreement that Councillor Oborski’s actions and comments breached the Code, and the main frustration was the lack of available consequences.

"The only sanction available to us is to censure the member. But I think there are questions that fall outside the powers of this Committee in terms of her position on upcoming discussions on the Local Plan and on future relevant Planning meetings.

"Despite her probably good intentions I feel Councillor Oborski has become too used to being able to “play the system” and capitalises on the lack of meaningful sanctions."

Councillor Oborski told the Shuttle she accepted the decision. She said: "Councillors have got to have the right to work with their communities and listen to their communities on planning applications.

"I accept it, but at the end of the day, councillors have got to be very careful what they say on Facebook."