Conservative led Facebook group sparks concern in Evesham

Katie Gilbert, who manages a similar group called Evesham Noticeboard, is concerned that the page has a direct link with the political party.

However, councillors involved in the page, Evesham Vale Local, say this is not the case.

Ms Gilbert said: “If you're not aligned with their ways then expect to be deleted or suspended

“Why are there not councillors from other parties administrating it? Is there a Liberal Democrat or Green member? No, and they do not make it public it’s a conservative group, so you'll only see what they want you to see.”

She added: “If it was merely a community group, like Evesham Noticeboard, you would not link it to one party, none at all. The group is not transparent that it’s connected at all, so as you will see from other groups, a lot of people are unhappy with this being kept secret.

“I pay taxes and like to know what it is being spent on thank you very much!”

Evesham Vale Local was set up Conservative councillors in Evesham

Evesham Town Councillor and chairman of Wychavon District Council Robert Raphael is one of the page’s admins.

He said: “The page was set up by councillor Peter Griffiths on October 31 2021. He set it up because he was fed up of seeing negative posts about Evesham on local community noticeboards.

“There were so many negative things being spread about the town and hardly any good news stories were being shared.

“Peter created the page and invited a number of his Facebook friends to become admins - there are currently eight moderators. Five of them are town councillors, three of them are not.

“The political makeup of the group merely reflects Peter’s friendship group and the people he thought would promote Evesham and is not any deliberate plan.”

He added: “The group’s aim from day one has been to ‘Back business, support charity and deliver quality news without drama’.

“There has never been any party political posts and the few political or negative comments that have been made (by viewers not admins) have been removed.

“The site is not controlled in any way by either The Conservative Party or Evesham Town Council.”

“Absolutely no Conservative party posts have been shared on Evesham Vale local, or Labour, Liberal or Green posts for that matter.”

Town clerk Francesca Pridding said: “I have no knowledge of the Facebook page in question and as far as I am concerned it is nothing to do with the Town Council.”