I've raised £10000 to Fund the rebuttal of defamation toward the Bristol's planning committee Chair

I am Cllr Ani Stafford-Townsend, Green Party councillor for Central Ward in Bristol and Chair of Development Control Committee B (DCB), one of 2 regulatory planning committees in the city. I am currently being attacked by the administration with false allegations which I consider defamatory.
In November, DCB considered an application from the Administration to expand the South Bristol Cemetery into a Site of Special Nature Conservation Interest (SNCI). This was a controversial application that the administration were keen to get passed. However, the application had already been deferred by DCB in September because of serious concerns, including the apparent lack of a burials strategy or any consideration of alternative sites. Tensions ran high, and following the eventual passing of the application and conclusion of the meeting there was some heckling from the public.
Following that meeting, Bristol Labour Group issued a statement with allegations of racism and religious abuse against a member of the public, and accusing me of allowing their Councillors to be put in an unsafe situation. Labour’s Councillors are now boycotting DCB claiming that they do not feel safe with me as Chair, demanding that I be removed. These allegations were initially issued on social media, then repeated in the press and in the Council Chamber.
The Green Group has requested the Labour Group apologise to myself and the member of the public implicated, and requested a retraction of the allegations. Labour has declined to do so, therefore I am crowdfunding in order to sue for defamation.
It is my belief that Bristol Labour are using these allegations to distract from the administration’s serious mishandling of planning in the city. Bristol’s planning system is in disarray and dysfunctional. The administration has made cuts to the planning department, yet blames officers and Green Councillors for the lengthy backlog of undetermined planning applications. This has culminated in residents bringing a petition to Full Council in December declaring a loss of confidence in the planning system following the mishandling of a controversial planning application by Development Control Committee A.
I have long held that Development Control Committees are a demonstration of councillors working cross party, in a non partisan manner, informed by their values. Legally that’s how a regulatory committee is supposed to work, and it’s how councillors generally should be striving to work together for the benefit of our city and our residents.
The administration should be supporting the efforts of Chairs to ensure we meet our regulatory obligations and robustly consider applications. The administration should be working to improve the trust that the city has in the planning department and taking care of our planning officers, members of the public attending, and ensuring residents’ areas of concern are rectified.
We should hold ourselves to high account, and just like I do not condone intimidation of officers or councillors, we councillors must not intimidate others, especially people from minority communities. It erodes public trust in the Council, in the planning system, and disengages the public from democracy.
Politicians should not be allowed to libel, slander and defame the public or the opposition, unchecked and without resistance.