A Greenwich Labour councillor who quit her role after facing disciplinary action for supporting local residents has endorsed the Green candidate for next month’s Shooters Hill by-election.
Ivis Williams, who stood down three weeks ago in a row over plans to sell council land in her ward, has backed Tamasin Rhymes for the by-election, which will be on June 26.
Williams quit after she was threatened with suspension after speaking out for residents who were protesting at the planned sale of the Olympic legacy equestrian centre and Green Garth, a house in the grounds of Shrewsbury House community centre.
Now Williams is supporting Rhymes, who stood as her opponent in the last council election in 2022, in her quest to become Greenwich’s first Green councillor.
“There is a need for more opposition voices in the town hall, and I believe that the Green Party candidate can bring that voice and be a champion for residents,” Williams said.
Rhymes is a school governor and the chair of the Greener Greenwich Community Network, a non-political group hoping to build resilience in the face of climate change. She manages the Greener & Cleaner community hub in Bromley town centre.
She said: “It is vital to protect our community facilities, which need security of tenure, and not to have bits of it sold off piece by piece. To deal with anti social behaviour and knife crime we desperately need more safe spaces and youth centres for our young people.
“The Cubs and Scouts, who provide exactly this, need a secure home and the property at Shrewsbury House, which the council agreed to sell off, would be a potential venue.
“The council offers no meaningful community engagement on the environmental issues we face. Projects like Herbert Road Green Oasis have found that the council failed to work with them despite previous promises.
“Fly tipping is an issue we need to work hard on. And Herbert Road is a problem area for shoplifting and the businesses there need more careful support to alleviate crime. The council sits on large amounts of community infrastructure levy money which should be set aside for areas like this.”
The Conservatives have also picked their candidate, Tim Waters, a full-time grandfather of three after a career in marketing and owning and running a hospitality business.
He said: “When Labour brought forward their proposals to sell off the equestrian centre and Green Garth, it was only local Conservative councillors who backed our community’s campaign against the plans. If elected to join them at the Town Hall, I will fight Labour’s plan to sell off these vital local assets – and I will always work to protect Shrewsbury House, Barnfield Hub and all our community sites.
“I’ll campaign to get the council to finally fix the potholes and pavements. And I will oppose the controlled parking zone parking charges that Labour councillors are aiming to impose upon Shooters Hill – sneakily disguised as so-called ‘Sustainable Streets’. Residents shouldn’t be fooled about what Labour intends. I hope local people will lend me their votes so I can give Shooters Hill the voice it needs.”
Reform UK has been leafleting in Shooters Hill but is yet to confirm who its candidate will be. The party – which took control of Kent County Council earlier this month, including winning all three seats covering Dartford – said it would stand a “fantastic candidate who lives in the ward and wants to make a real difference”. The Liberal Democrats are also yet to confirm a candidate.
The Greenwich Wire understands from multiple sources that Labour’s London region is choosing its candidate rather than local party members, and that one candidate was picked last week before being dropped again. A final choice will be made on Tuesday. One figure in the party branded the process as “chaos”.
Labour currently has 50 councillors in Greenwich, with the Conservatives having four. Nominations for the election will close at 4pm on Friday, with a full list of candidates likely to follow shortly afterwards.
Labour’s woes in Shooters Hill began when the council’s cabinet voted through plans to sell Green Garth and the equestrian centre in November. Shrewsbury House had been hoping to take on Green Garth, while the equestrian centre was a pet project of former council leader Chris Roberts that had been opened by the Princess Royal in 2013. The decision to sell both was made in less than a minute and without discussion. The sales were part of a plan to cut the council’s budget by £33 million.
In January, a Labour-dominated panel of councillors rejected a challenge to the decision that had been brought by Conservatives after Labour councillors were warned off making their own representations.
When residents finally got a response to their petitions on the issue in March, Williams called for a pause in the sale process to allow for the community to make bids, and warned that the number of people who signed the petitions showed that Labour was under threat in her ward.
Labour responded by launching an investigation into her, in which her fellow Shooters Hill councillor, Raja Zeeshan, gave evidence against her – something Williams only discovered after she resigned.
Applications to register to vote must be received by June 10, while applications for postal votes must be made by the following day. Photo ID will still be needed to vote in person.
📩 Follow The Greenwich Wire on Bluesky, Facebook, LinkedIn or Threads. You can also sign up for WhatsApp alerts – or subscribe to our emails through the blue box above.
Comments are closed.