Earby Town Council condemns Pendle Council Leader, David Whipp's, allocation of its Pride in Place funds - accuses him of "self promotion"

Earby Town Council has released a damning statement against Pendle Borough Council Leader, David Whipp (Lib Dem), and his allocation of Pride in Place funds.

The Town Council says its share of funding has been allocated against projects it does not agree with and their own suggestions were dismissed by the Council leader.

Earby TC also implies there was a Conflict on Interest regarding David Whipp in the allocation of funds, given his position on Barnoldswick Town Council, the West Craven and District Committee, Pendle Borough Council and Lancashire County Council and that the decisions are part of the "Leader’s own agenda and self-promotion."

In the statement Earby TC said Councillors had spent months deliberating on where to allocate their share of the funding, only to find the that Pendle Councillors had already been deciding for them behind their backs.

Four of the prioritised proposals from Earby TC were "dismissed outright without explanation"

They were:

• Enhancements to the Town Centre CCTV infrastructure and four new cameras to supplement seven already connected to the CCTV control room and linked to Lancashire Constabulary. Members felt this project was critical to providing enhanced public safety and security, detecting crime and anti-social behaviour and protecting publicly funded assets from damage, particularly any new spending on the below projects. This was seen as a key enabling project for broader future improvements by the Town Council.
  
  
• The refurbishment and reopening of the public toilet at the Station Hotel following years of repeated expenditure and closure due to vandalism – to include a new steel door and card access system, proven to be instrumental in successfully reopening the bus station toilets in 2024.
  
  
• The refurbishment and reopening of the Hill Top Recreation Pavilion to support youth facilities and events.
  
  
• The landscaping and replanting of the paved seating area and railway embankment on Colne Road opposite the end of Victoria Road, to include the redesign and redevelopment of the seating and planters and screening of the industrial units to provide a more attractive and welcoming focal point in the town centre for residents, visitors and attract passersby.

Instead Pendle Councillors imposed the following projects on to Earby and its funding

• Sough Park changing rooms (£13,460)
  
  
• Sough Park public toilets (£6,730)
  
  
• Kelbrook playground (£4,000)
  
  
• Sough Park football pitch drainage (£16,825)
  
  
• Seats installed in the bus shelter (Earby Bus Station) (£6,250)
  
  
• New pavements, Victoria Road understood to be by the Conservative Club (£25,000)

Earby Town Council said:

"Earby Town Council does not support the use of PIPIF funding on the buildings at Sough Park which sit outside of the parish of Earby and have been subject to years of underfunding and neglect by its owner Pendle Borough Council. Indeed, the Town Council previously withdrew the annual contribution of 11% of its own budget to this park due to concerns over how the money was spent by PBC.

The Town Council is also of the view that the public realm pavement works proposed is also an inappropriate use of these funds, providing negligible benefit for the cost in a less visible area of the town. The tarmacadam pavement outside the Conservative Club and adjacent takeaway is currently fit for purpose and does not require stone paving at a cost of £25,000

he Town Council is also at a loss to understand how converting a perch bench to a park type bench in a single bus shelter can cost the proposed £6,250. We will continue to clean the bus shelter and maintain the other five benches in the bus station."

David Whipp in the firing line again

That wasn't the end of it though. The Council turned its sights onto the Borough Council leader, David Whipp, and his involvement in the decision-making. 

"The decision as to which projects have been allocated funding was taken by the Leader of Pendle Borough Council, Cllr Whipp in isolation, only later ratified by the Deputy Leader. The process implemented in allocating these centrally provided funds has been wholly inappropriate, lacked transparency and was undemocratic given Cllr Whipp’s positions on Barnoldswick Town Council, the West Craven and District Committee, Pendle Borough Council and Lancashire County Council.

Sadly, at a meeting held on Friday 9th January with Pendle Borough Council intended to be an initial exchange of ideas, Cllr Whipp was dismissive of the proposals presented by the three Town Councillors in attendance and spoke in derogatory terms about the town, abruptly terminating the meeting an hour early without an input from all those present.

This should have been a community-led collaboration of ideas and projects debated openly for their value and impact on local quality of life, in meeting the Pride In Place objectives. The outcome is a blinkered, funnelling of public funds into projects that meet the Leader’s own agenda and self-promotion. With a shocking lack of scrutiny, challenge and overview by the organisation’s Executive.

Pendle Borough Council’s public consultation survey is now presented to the communities involved as a done-deal, with the decisions already made without your prior input, seeking only to know what you think of the decisions already made by the Leader.

The survey closes at 5pm on March 8th, 2026. Earby Town Council encourages you to put your views on the local implementation of the Pride in Place funding on public record."

The Pendle Council leader has been heavily criticised recently, following another incident involving the Barnoldswick Town Council clerk of 14 years, who dramatically quit, citing David Whipp as the reason. read the article

He has also reportedly assaulted and bullied various Councillors as well as being found to have stolen rival election leaflets from residents' letterboxes in 2021.

The list of people growing unhappy with Councillor Whipp and his tactics seems to be expanding and gathering pace and a petition has been made calling for his resignation.

LINKS

Pride in Place Consultation Survey

Earby Town Council Full Statement

David Whipp resignation petition