January 5, 2006
Town councillors in ‘blackmail’ row over traffic warden costs
Angry Burnham-On-Sea councillors have accused the District Council of “blackmail” after claiming they have been told to pay towards the cost of a traffic warden in the town or face not having one at all.
The town council this week rejected a request for £6,000 to be paid towards the cost of funding a Police Community Support Officer in Burnham who would help with the enforcement of parking regulations.
Speaking at this week’s town council meeting, Cllr John Morgan said: “We are being asked to pay for something here which we will have no powers over and which we might not actually see in Burnham.”
“They are saying that if we don’t pay we won’t get a PCSO. That amounts to blackmail.”
He added: “The introduction of PCSOs has been government-driven. They paid for them for three years and are now lumbering local councils with the costs. PCSOs have no powers except overseeing minimum parking regulations.”
And Town Council Leader Cllr Peter Clayton asked: “How often would we see the PCSO if we were to pay the £6,000?”
“We need someone in Burnham every day, not shared with other areas. We wouldn’t be getting that here.”
But Sedgemoor’s Corporate Director Doug Bamsey, who was present at the meeting, said the council’s concerns were unfounded.
“We are offering co-operation and positive partnership here – it’s certainly not blackmail,” he said. “There is no other way to enforce parking other than with traffic wardens.”
He said he wanted to help the town council tackle the problem of car parking in Burnham and Highbridge.
But the town council is angry at being asked to pay for the service and unanimously voted not to proceed.
