A community group in South Bristol has lodged an official complaint against a local councillor, accusing him of bullying and misogyny.
The Friends of Redcatch Park group has formally made a complaint to the Monitoring Officer at City Hall about Cllr Gary Hopkins, who has dismissed the complaint as a ‘crude smear’, in a row over his conduct in a falling-out over the future of the tennis courts at the park.
The Friends group is made up of local residents who volunteer to raise money for and champion the park in Knowle, and the group issued a statement to confirm that its committee of nine voted unanimously at an emergency meeting on Wednesday last week (June 14), to make the formal complaint about Cllr Hopkins behaviour.
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The friends group has been in place for many years but was effectively dormant until a proposal to site a large mobile phone mast in the middle of the park sparked controversy. That prompted a new group of volunteers who first successfully fought a campaign against the mast, and then joined the Friends group to continue their support for the park.
Cllr Hopkins is one of two local councillors in Knowle, and was first elected to Bristol City Council back in 2002. He was a Liberal Democrat councillor until he and fellow Knowle councillor Christopher Davies left the Lib Dem party and formed their own Knowle Community Party in December 2021.
In their complaint about his conduct, the Friends of Redcatch Park accused Cllr Hopkins of several breaches of the city council’s ‘member code of conduct’. Sian Ellis-Thomas, the chair of FORP, said: “We took over the Friends of Redcatch Park in September 2022 and since that time have worked with Councillor Gary Hopkins, and Chris Davies, as well as possible. It hasn’t always been easy.
“We’ve had several causes for disagreement and concern about the way Gary in particular, behaves in relation to us and another local established community group, Knowle Neighbourhood Planning Group (KNPG). In our experience, he often works in a way that is disrespectful of others, especially women, and he’s well renowned for being a bully. Several people, including his fellow councillors have openly referred to him as such.
“We believe that he often walks a very fine line in terms of his adherence to the BCC Member Code of Conduct but this time, we felt he has crossed that line most egregiously. We are now making a stand to call out his behaviour and methods,” she added.
The latest row centres on a proposed consultation about the future running of the tennis courts in Redcatch Park, whether users should pay to play on them, who will manage and maintain them and whether a needed upgrade will happen if charges are not applied, and how that could be funded.
The Friends of Redcatch Park claim Cllr Hopkins has deliberately misled people living in Knowle who receive his monthly emailed newsletter, and say his behaviour towards local campaigners in both the Friends group and in other groups in Knowle amounts to bullying and, because they claim his behaviour is different and disrespectful towards women, also amounts to misogyny.
The Friends of Redcatch Park group say the final straw was a newsletter from Cllr Hopkins that they claim included misleading statements about an ongoing consultation about the tennis courts. The Friends of Redcatch Park group posted news of their complaint on their Facebook page.
Sian Ellis-Thomas added: “Let’s be clear, we are two members of a bona fide voluntary community group. We have no political axe to grind. Neither of us are affiliated to any political party. We are working purely for the good of the park community. We should be able to rely on the integrity and honesty of our councillors to support our efforts and not to subvert or undermine those efforts for their own ends or ego.
"There is no doubt that during his tenure, Gary Hopkins has done some good work here in Knowle, but his methods and practices hark back to an age where misogyny and bullying was an accepted mode of working. It is no longer acceptable, and someone must stand up and call it out. That’s what we’re doing. We are saying enough is enough,” she added.
Cllr Hopkins described the complaint against him by the Friends of Redcatch Park as a ‘crude smear’, in a lengthy statement detailing the history of the tennis courts and his work on the park.
“The first thing to say is that it is very disappointing to see such a crude smear from campaigners who should know better,” he said. “We will try to make sure that residents get a free choice on how the tennis courts in Redcatch Park are managed, and ensure that residents will not be railroaded.
“Tennis players have said that this looks like a done deal and this brings consultation into disrepute. It is a proud boast on the FORP website that ten years ago they were part of the partnership that resurfaced and rescued the tennis courts, and made them available for free to use for everyone.
“We welcome the fact that FORP is showing signs of reviving after a lean spell over Covid, but it will not be fully effective if energy is replaced with aggression and insults. We have carefully recorded all correspondence. which also shows what a nonsense this is.
"We, with partners, have been instrumental in improvements over 20+ years, which have made Redcatch so popular. We have been very pleased to support the Community Garden that has kept momentum going while The Friends were resting. Pausing and thinking before blasting off is always a good idea, and it seems that FORP members may not have been aware of this incendiary device before it was publicised,” he added.
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