A county transport chief is the latest politician in Bucks to slam the “undemocratic” district council, after receiving an email suggesting he should not take part in a major debate if he supported ‘super council’ plans.

Councillor Mark Shaw – who serves on both Bucks County (BCC) and Chiltern District (CDC) councils – made the decision to not attend last week’s full CDC meeting after receiving the email days before the debate.

“Twin-hat” councillors were told by the district council’s legal department that those who supported BCC’s proposal for a single-unitary authority in Bucks should declare it as either a personal or prejudicial interest and subsequently leave the meeting.

The cabinet member for transport at BCC said he refused to sit outside the meeting “like a child”, and added CDC “just want to get their own way” without listening to a full debate.

Cllr Shaw told the Bucks Free Press: “I had an email the Friday before the meeting to say I wouldn’t be allowed in because I had a prejudicial interest, which I was very upset about.

“I thought long and hard about what to do so I ended up writing to send in my apologies that I would not be attending just to be made to sit outside like a child.

“I think it should have been handled very differently – I think I should have been allowed in to the meeting.

“Chiltern have been seen as the undemocratic council in south Bucks. They don’t want to hear a debate, they just want to get their own way and that isn’t what democracy is about.”

Last month Government backed BCC plans to replace all five councils in Bucks with a 'super authority' and subsequently launched a consultation to encourage residents to share their views on the plans.

Wycombe, South Bucks, Aylesbury Vale and Chiltern district councils have publicly opposed the proposals since they came to light in 2016, and submitted rival plans for two-unitary authorities for the north and south of the county last year.

County councillors serving on SBDC, Dev Dhillon, Roger Reed and Lin Hazell all stormed out of a similar debate last week held at the district’s headquarters in Denham after receiving the same email.

Spokesman for CDC, Rachel Prance, defended the email, saying: “Prior to the extraordinary council meeting at Chiltern last week, some twin hatter councillors requested guidance on the declaration of interests and this was then shared, for consistency, with the twin-hatters on both councils.

“It should be stressed that it was up to the individual councillors whether they chose to take that advice, or not. The advice was intended to be helpful.”