Drama in Two Acts – STC AGM 2025

Ladies and gentlemen, the 2025 STC AGM ended with a shouting match, another scandal, a wave of resignations, and… the first-ever AGM split into two meetings. Yup, STC hit rock bottom and decided to go even deeper.

I didn’t spend much time on this article. Labour’s mediocrity is starting to bore and tire me so much that I don’t even want to listen to the recordings of the meetings. However, out of journalistic duty, I have to write down what happened at STC AGM 2025.

NO ONE HERE!!!
I was very hyped for that meeting – fresh from holiday, batteries charged, ready to go! Many people had declared they would attend, but when I arrived at the Village Hall, there were just 11 councillors and one (!) guest. This guest was Sarah Reaney – our new County Councillor. So in reality – I was the only non-elected person in the room. Funny, right?

I had a nice chat with Sarah Reaney and… basically, that was the last nice thing that evening.

THEY ARE PROUDLY… LEISURING!
No one saw the first part of the meeting, but no worries. I’ll summarise it briefly. Namely, most of the time was spent discussing STC’s “achievements” in the last year. The entire list fits into one sub-item: leisure. Car show, town show, boxing night, fireworks show, and so on. Usual, easy, leisure stuff. Any achievements in resident safety? Nope. Any updates or speakers on the most crucial issues like County Council reorganisation, Market, Crematorium? Nope. Any explanation why STC is spending thousands of pounds on lawyers? Nope.

The first 30 minutes went by in a jovial atmosphere. No problems, no issues, all nice and cosy – like in the old days when no one visited STC meetings and everything was kept under a thick layer of secrecy. Then, residents started to arrive…

ALL WENT SOUTH AS SOON AS…
…residents were allowed to ask questions. If you believe Labour – there’s nothing to worry about regarding the Crematorium and Market Square. Then someone asked about the “new residents” of Shirebrook, settled here by Bolsover District and SERCO.

Is SERCO putting criminal invaders into Shirebrook? Yes, why not! The Labour-led central government had a great idea: increase competition in the rental market by using private homes and HMOs for illegal invaders (four-star hotels are so meeeeh for them), and the Labour-led BDC agreed to house them in Labour-led STC. If you’re renting in the private sector – tough luck, buddy! HM Government is your competition now, using your own taxes to outbid you.

Labour-led STC is so sorry about it… so, so sorry. They are… also… well… angry! Yes! Labour is angry – believe them! Arrrr, really angry! All these people we know nothing about coming to enrich SERCO shareholders and BDC! Labour just… can’t do anything about it – probably too busy smashing the gangs! It was a BDC decision, not our ol’ poor councillors’. But wait… didn’t all the BDC councillors from Shirebrook go to BDC on a Labour ticket?

LABOUR PLAN?
I don’t know. Maybe they hope the illegals start doing in Shirebrook what they’ve done in other towns? That would distract people from the real issues, right? Stalking school children, rape, or murder – and no one would talk about a stupid crematorium. Is that the Labour plan? Naaaah, I’m just… imagining things. Please don’t two-tier police me!

So, what is the plan? Why did District councillors agree to bring illegals to Shirebrook? We should have some answers from District Councillors, right? We have so many of them! The BDC leader is from Shirebrook, after all! Did we get a speaker to explain things on behalf of BDC? Nope. Where were the District councillors from Shirebrook? Where was the BDC leader – the lady from Shirebrook? No one knows.

Of all the BDC councillors from Shirebrook, only one showed up – and she was as quiet as a mouse. She didn’t speak a single word the whole meeting as far as I noticed. I’m not 100% sure – there was a lot of shouting later, and maybe she jumped in – I couldn’t hear… because of all the shouting 😉

SERCO WAS ONLY ONE OF THE ISSUES
Residents asked about other things too. My impression? Labour has completely lost the plot. They know nothing, they do nothing, and everything they touch turns into scandal. Nothing is clear, nothing is explained, nothing is moving toward a solution. They were more worried about who said what and when to whom than about town issues.

PELLET SCANDAL
Of course – I got my few seconds. Someone sent me a letter. In the envelope – a pack of pellets with a note: “Hope you enjoy!” Is it a threat or a joke? I don’t know.

Two STC councillors again confirmed that STC agreed to allow me to bring in auditors at my own cost. I can’t find that in the minutes—there is no resolution, no mention. When I turned to the Town Clerk and asked if she would grant document access to the auditor sent by me, well, I didn’t get an answer.

I think it’s time to talk face to face with the Town Clerk and get some assurances. This meeting wasn’t a good place to set up the details of future cooperation. I know she wants to explain it just as much as I do. Right?

PELLET – HERE I COME!
No matter how many weird letters and “messages” I get – I know what I see in the documents. Labour Party took us for a ride with this pellet system. We’re losing thousands of pounds to either theft or straight-up mismanagement. Someday I’ll get those contracts, delivery notes, meter readings, seal numbers, invoices.

Bottom line is this – this “net-zero” project made zero sense and brought massive costs.
We need to get rid of this pellet furnace and go back to the cheapest option – natural gas.

ELECTION FOR NEW CHAIR
This is when “something brown” hit the fan. I’ll be honest – I have no idea what happened. Since the meeting I’ve spoken with several people, yet I still don’t really understand why Labour decided to shut down the meeting and go home without voting on the new Chair and Committee composition.

I think it all started with Cllr Dale Smith. One moment Cllr Paul Harford was asking for Chair candidates, the very next – everybody was shouting, talking over each other. There was finger-pointing, audience interjections, councillors trying to bring order. Next moment, I saw Paul Harford leaving the room.

I really don’t understand why Labour decided to wash their dirty laundry in public. Couldn’t they decide who to vote for before the meeting – as they usually did?

It was nasty. I’ve seen a lot in the STC Chamber. I’ve been insulted, attacked, shouted at, even physically attacked – but I’ve never seen anything like that. Internal Labour Party politics turned the AGM into… I’m lost for words. That happens very rarely…

WAVE OF RESIGNATIONS
Rumour has it that Paul Harford resigned – for now – from the Labour Party and from the Vice Chair position in STC. Not from STC – so no new election. I don’t know if that’s 100% true, but if it is: the Labour Party has brought us to a place where the town is without leadership at a very fragile time. A lot of projects need strong political leadership. Devolution is as much an opportunity as it is a risk – and we need someone at the helm who can use it for the benefit of our town and residents. Meanwhile, all we have is the Labour Party falling apart and dragging us with it to the bottom…

What I do know for sure is that two more Labour councillors posted messages on Facebook confirming their resignations. In just a few months, Labour lost S. Fritchley, S. Peake, Ch. Kane, J. Lewis, N. Smith, S. Brooks, and allegedly P. Harford. At this pace, they’ll run out of councillors around August next year…

ACT TWO! AGM RECONVENED!
This time – in the Town Hall. Agenda? Bonkers! Resident participation? Probably cut to the bone! I mean – a few of us lucky ones will get in, but we won’t be allowed to speak.

WHO WILL LEAD US TOWARD DEVOLUTION?
So far, I was 100% sure that Paul Harford would take the helm. I’m not his fan, but at least his style was a huge improvement over Cllr Kane’s. But if the rumours of his departure are true – who’s left to take over?

Sylwester Zwierzynski info@shirebrook247.com

Lead picture made with Chat GPT