ODIHAM Parish Council’s chairman has quit over the Extravaganza row.

Simon Quarrell, who held the chairmanship of Odiham Parish Council for two-and-a-half years, quit claiming fellow councillors had not been paying attention to what the parish wanted – a claim the vice-chairman has disputed.

As reported in The Gazette, the row over the organisation of the Odiham Extravaganza – the village’s High Street fireworks and late night shopping event held annually in the build up to Christmas – has already caused two other councillors to resign.

In previous years, the Extravaganza was organised by the Odiham Town Management Group (OTMG), a council-funded company set up in 2001 to promote the interests of the village.

But this year, the council’s events and community committee voted to keep the event under parish council control, with several councillors accusing fellow members of having a prejudicial interest in being non-paid directors of the OTMG.

Mr Quarrell, along with former councillors Derek Kearns and Peter Fountain who have also resigned, was a non-paid director of the OTMG.

Explaining the reasons for his resignation to The Gazette, Mr Quarrell said: “It is because of the way in which the parish councillors are behaving and not paying enough attention to what the parish wants.

“They are not there to say they know better when they are clearly against the wishes of the parish.”

Mr Quarrell, who delivered his resignation letter on August 26, said the OTMG had run the Extravaganza effectively in the past.

Councillor Roger Clarke, who became parish council vice-chairman at a meeting on August 24, said he could not understand Mr Quarrell’s reasoning.

He told The Gazette: “I cannot really make any sense of it all. We listen to our residents carefully and we do our very best to represent them.

“Simon said in his resignation letter that he felt that the parish council was divided. If the reason he’s resigning is because a majority of councillors do not agree with him, then that’s a disappointing and surprising reaction.”

Meanwhile, The Rev Gary Keith, vicar of Odiham parish, has written to David King, principal licensing officer at Hart District Council, following the parish council’s application for the premises license needed to run the Extravaganza.

He wrote he had “grave concerns” about the parish council’s ability to handle large groups of people at events in Odiham, and questioned the way in which they will ensure people’s safety.

But Cllr Clarke said: “We are a responsible statutory body. We will hire in the expertise that we need – he need not have any concern.

“The events will be as safe, if not safer, than events managed by others.”