I think I should start this week by countering the completely hyped headline in this week’s newspapers that councillors are to get a £600 per year rise. The local press rarely let the facts get in the way of a good headline, especially in the run up to an election; however this one is completely irresponsible.
The truth of the matter is that an INDEPENDENT advisor has recommended that all of Mendip's councillors should get a large increase, however this has not been voted on by full council yet, and I'm very sure that the Conservative majority will fight tooth and nail to prevent any increase.
I'm aware that the Lib Dems in South Somerset recently voted themselves a hefty increase, then embarked on a project to cut services, Conservatives have higher morals than that and we take the views of the people that pay their taxes into account, we don't rub their noses in it.
More good news this week, we have an addition to the thousands of people who read this blog. It seems our local Lib Dem rabble rouser has become a regular visitor, true to form he twists everything that has been written to suit his own particularly slanted view of the world, but hey, at least he gets to read the truth once a week, it must make a nice change to reading the fictitious garbage pumped out by his own party machine!
The last two months has seen a period where all local politicians have been united in their campaign to save local libraries, for my part it has been very encouraging to see local councillors of varying flavours, working together for the common good. Cllr Kennedy was conspicuous by his absence from that process, preferring to sit on the sidelines and throw rocks rather than getting involved with careful negotiation. Now it seems that Cllr Kennedy has succeeded in alienating himself from the mainstream and his Lib Dem colleagues by trying to play party politics with local libraries.
At Wednesday night’s meeting of Mendip District Council, Cllr Kennedy, supported by his group leader Cllr Hudson, proposed a motion that would see Mendip District Council demanding further concessions from Somerset County Council, citing evidence provided by The Friends of Glastonbury Library and the former chief executive of Waterstones.
This motion may well have met with the approval of the meeting if Cllr Kennedy had actually provided this evidence; he singularly failed to do this simple thing, leaving the meeting with no evidence to base an opinion on. This motion, hastily cobbled together at the eleventh hour because his original politically motivated motion criticising the closure of Shepton Mallet and Glastonbury libraries, had become a victim of events, when the County Council announced that they would not be closing after all. This ill-conceived scheme was doomed to failure from the start, and most of his Lib Dem colleagues realised this fact.
Despite pleas from his backbenchers to drop the motion because they could see the political damage it would cause them, he arrogantly soldiered on, only to find himself isolated as his colleagues deserted him en-masse. As they were leaving the meeting his own group were saying that they were appalled by his intransigence.
By the time the meeting came to vote on his motion, only six of the twenty elected Lib Dems remained in the chamber, all of the others had either declared an interest or had gone home, preferring that option to actually voting against him.
It is clear that the Mendip Lib Dems are in disarray, a spate of recent defections followed by this public display of petulance points to a party where all is far from well. Cllr Kennedy has embarked from the start, on a spiteful campaign of vitriolic attack, deceit and spin. It is now clear that even his own fair minded friends can no longer stomach his methods and are deserting him; it won’t be long before he is a group of one.
The Wednesday Council meeting of was primarily called to discuss arguably the most important document produced in recent years, namely the Draft Local Development Framework.
This document, the replacement for the old Local Plan, has taken four years to produce and has cost at least £750,000 to date. It lays out in some detail where development will be permitted up until 2026, the levels of development that will be allowed, and the overall strategy that will be followed for business and housing expansion throughout the Mendip District.
You would have thought that a document of such importance, and planning is probably the most important function of a District Council, would attract input from every elected member, especially relating to the proposals in his or her own ward. It is therefore very surprising that a huge number of the Mendip Liberal Democrat Group decided to stay away rather than engaging in the process.
All councillors are supposed to represent all of the people that elect them, how can you possibly do this if you fail to turn up to crucial meetings and provide your input?
Wednesday evening saw Mendip Lib Dems reduced to just over half of their elected members. As I stated before, two Lib Dem councillors had already resigned from the party prior to the meeting and now sit as Independents, but even allowing for this schism, what had happened to the rest? The decisions taken as a result of the consultation will shape the district for the next fifteen years; it would not be unreasonable to expect elected members to contribute.
Is it any wonder that the public view all politicians with cynicism when they see such a poor example set locally? I would urge members of the communities impacted by this shocking lack of care to contact their local councillor and ask why he or she abdicated their responsibility.
The truth of the matter is that an INDEPENDENT advisor has recommended that all of Mendip's councillors should get a large increase, however this has not been voted on by full council yet, and I'm very sure that the Conservative majority will fight tooth and nail to prevent any increase.
I'm aware that the Lib Dems in South Somerset recently voted themselves a hefty increase, then embarked on a project to cut services, Conservatives have higher morals than that and we take the views of the people that pay their taxes into account, we don't rub their noses in it.
More good news this week, we have an addition to the thousands of people who read this blog. It seems our local Lib Dem rabble rouser has become a regular visitor, true to form he twists everything that has been written to suit his own particularly slanted view of the world, but hey, at least he gets to read the truth once a week, it must make a nice change to reading the fictitious garbage pumped out by his own party machine!
The last two months has seen a period where all local politicians have been united in their campaign to save local libraries, for my part it has been very encouraging to see local councillors of varying flavours, working together for the common good. Cllr Kennedy was conspicuous by his absence from that process, preferring to sit on the sidelines and throw rocks rather than getting involved with careful negotiation. Now it seems that Cllr Kennedy has succeeded in alienating himself from the mainstream and his Lib Dem colleagues by trying to play party politics with local libraries.
At Wednesday night’s meeting of Mendip District Council, Cllr Kennedy, supported by his group leader Cllr Hudson, proposed a motion that would see Mendip District Council demanding further concessions from Somerset County Council, citing evidence provided by The Friends of Glastonbury Library and the former chief executive of Waterstones.
This motion may well have met with the approval of the meeting if Cllr Kennedy had actually provided this evidence; he singularly failed to do this simple thing, leaving the meeting with no evidence to base an opinion on. This motion, hastily cobbled together at the eleventh hour because his original politically motivated motion criticising the closure of Shepton Mallet and Glastonbury libraries, had become a victim of events, when the County Council announced that they would not be closing after all. This ill-conceived scheme was doomed to failure from the start, and most of his Lib Dem colleagues realised this fact.
Despite pleas from his backbenchers to drop the motion because they could see the political damage it would cause them, he arrogantly soldiered on, only to find himself isolated as his colleagues deserted him en-masse. As they were leaving the meeting his own group were saying that they were appalled by his intransigence.
By the time the meeting came to vote on his motion, only six of the twenty elected Lib Dems remained in the chamber, all of the others had either declared an interest or had gone home, preferring that option to actually voting against him.
It is clear that the Mendip Lib Dems are in disarray, a spate of recent defections followed by this public display of petulance points to a party where all is far from well. Cllr Kennedy has embarked from the start, on a spiteful campaign of vitriolic attack, deceit and spin. It is now clear that even his own fair minded friends can no longer stomach his methods and are deserting him; it won’t be long before he is a group of one.
The Wednesday Council meeting of was primarily called to discuss arguably the most important document produced in recent years, namely the Draft Local Development Framework.
This document, the replacement for the old Local Plan, has taken four years to produce and has cost at least £750,000 to date. It lays out in some detail where development will be permitted up until 2026, the levels of development that will be allowed, and the overall strategy that will be followed for business and housing expansion throughout the Mendip District.
You would have thought that a document of such importance, and planning is probably the most important function of a District Council, would attract input from every elected member, especially relating to the proposals in his or her own ward. It is therefore very surprising that a huge number of the Mendip Liberal Democrat Group decided to stay away rather than engaging in the process.
All councillors are supposed to represent all of the people that elect them, how can you possibly do this if you fail to turn up to crucial meetings and provide your input?
Wednesday evening saw Mendip Lib Dems reduced to just over half of their elected members. As I stated before, two Lib Dem councillors had already resigned from the party prior to the meeting and now sit as Independents, but even allowing for this schism, what had happened to the rest? The decisions taken as a result of the consultation will shape the district for the next fifteen years; it would not be unreasonable to expect elected members to contribute.
Is it any wonder that the public view all politicians with cynicism when they see such a poor example set locally? I would urge members of the communities impacted by this shocking lack of care to contact their local councillor and ask why he or she abdicated their responsibility.
I don’t know which local newspapers Mr Parham is referring to but it can’t be the Shepton Mallet Journal or the rest of the Mid Somerset Series.
ReplyDeleteThe headline on page 13 of the current edition reads “Mendip allowances COULD rise by £600” and the second paragraph of the report says: “the proposal has been put forward by the chairman of the INDEPENDENT Remuneration Panel”.
The report goes on to make crystal clear that the councillors have to decide whether to accept the proposal and that the councillors voted against an increase in their allowances two years ago.
If you have a look at my e-mail in box you would reach a somewhat different conclusion. I'm not sure which are the guilty papers either, but a large number of local residents have got the idea that the £600 rise is a done deal, and they definitely didn't get that from me or the council!
ReplyDeleteI hope that there will be an equally big banner headline stating that the rise has been rejected if the vote goes against the proposal this week.
Ed