A town council in Derbyshire has been left unable to function after a wave of resignations, forcing a higher authority to step in and appoint temporary members to prevent a complete collapse of local governance.
Council Left Without a Quorum
Shirebrook Town Council has been rendered effectively paralysed, after the resignation of eleven of its members between August and December 2025. The departures left the authority with just five sitting councillors, one short of the minimum six required to form a quorate body and make any legal decisions.
The situation became critical in early December when the Chairperson, Councillor Sarah Brooks, and Councillor Tony Burns stepped down. This followed an earlier exodus of nine councillors around August and September, which had already drastically reduced the council's numbers from its full complement of sixteen.
A spokesman for Bolsover District Council confirmed the severity of the situation, stating the town council was "paralysed from conducting any town council business." The remaining five members were powerless to co-opt new councillors or proceed with any official matters.
Emergency Measures Invoked
Faced with a governance vacuum, Bolsover District Council called an Extraordinary Meeting on 16 December 2025. Councillors unanimously voted to invoke a rarely used power: section 91 of the Local Government Act 1972.
This legislation allowed the district council to temporarily appoint five of its own members to serve as acting Shirebrook Town Councillors. The appointed district councillors are John Ritchie, Mary Dooley, Tom Munro, Amanda Davis, and Will Fletcher.
Jim Fieldsend, Monitoring Officer for Bolsover District Council, remarked on the unusual circumstances, saying, "This is quite an unusual scenario we find ourselves in. I have never known this at Bolsover District Council."
Path to Recovery and Underlying Discord
The immediate intervention has enabled the town council to resume operations. A meeting was scheduled for Monday, 22 December, where the newly constituted authority could begin the process of co-opting up to nine new town councillors to fill the majority of the vacant seats.
Interest from the community appears high, with the council reportedly inundated with applications from prospective members hoping to be co-opted. However, for the two seats vacated most recently by Sarah Brooks and Tony Burns, a Notice of Vacancy has been lodged. This could trigger a local election, potentially as early as March 2026.
The mass resignations occurred against a backdrop of significant internal and public discord. The turmoil forced the cancellation of two confidential council meetings concerning a proposal from Shirebrook Town Football Club to take over the council's village hall for community use.
A council spokesperson indicated the meetings were abandoned after disagreements among councillors over the scheme, with some believing a public consultation was necessary. The issue, combined with the resignations, sparked considerable and sometimes personal debate on social media.
The eleven councillors who resigned are: Sarah Brooks, Tony Burns, Jennifer Wilson, Nicola Smith, Pauline Chapman, Terry Chapman, Paul Harford, Vicky Kirby, Marian Stockdale, Steve Fritchley, and Christine Dale. Notably, Steve Fritchley, the former Leader of Bolsover District Council, and Jennifer Wilson continue to serve as district councillors.
The five remaining Shirebrook Town Councillors, now joined by the five temporary appointees, are Martin Barber, Shaun Cheeseman, Fred Gobey, Brian Murray-Carr, and Dale Smith. The Derbyshire Association of Local Councils is developing recommendations for the authority, including training, to aid its recovery from this unprecedented crisis.
