A DEBATE and two separate votes in Keighley Town Council failed to resolve a row about a memorial bench in Keighley’s Town Hall Square.

A recommendation brought before the local authority last Wednesday proposed writing off a debt of £703 incurred by town councillor Andrea Walker to pay for the bench in memory of her daughter, Ellie.

Ellie Walker, died in 2013, aged three, from streptococcal septicaemia – a form of blood poisoning.

Cllr Walker told the Keighley News last month she had no idea she would have to pay for the bench herself. “The council has previously paid for benches in memory of councillors, and I thought this would be funded in the same way or through sponsorship,” she said.

But Cllr Brian Morris, speaking at last Wednesday’s meeting, claimed Cllr Walker had agreed to pay for the bench before it arrived.

Cllr Amjad Zaman said the situation should never have been allowed to develop in the first place. “Where are the systems and checks this council should have in place?” he asked.

“They should be in place from day one no matter what the emotional background to the story is. There should have been a written agreement. Who is going to pay that £703, and what guarantee do we have this won’t happen again?

“It’s not about vilifying someone, it’s about accountability.”

Cllr Walker was judged to have a prejudicial and financial interest in the issue, so left the town hall chamber for the duration of the debate.

Discussion of the issue continued for so long that at one point Keighley mayor, Cllr Graham Mitchell, said: “I’m slightly running out of patience. We’ve discussed this exhaustively and we’ve run out of time.”

Cllr Pauline Crawford, chairwoman of the council’s finance and audit committee, said: “There’s no agreement between the council and the individual of any sort of loan.

“Without a written, signed agreement, we don’t have a leg to stand on in terms of claiming anything back.

“Cllr Walker has said she doesn’t have the money pay this off.

“If we are going to recover the debt, it would involve going to court and would cost more than the debt itself.”

Cllr George Metcalf said there is documentary evidence to show Cllr Walker made an initial payment of £78, and had at one stage been prepared to continue paying the money back in instalments.

The proposal to write off the debt was defeated by 12 votes to 11. An alternative recommendation that all town councillors should be invited to contribute to the cost of the bench, which was put forward by Cllr Amjad Zaman, was also defeated.

Cllr Mitchell said the only alternative is for the finance and audit committee to look at the case again.