Burnham-On-Sea’s MP joined council leaders, trades unionists and council chief executives in a protest in London on Wednesday (March 14th) as they stepped up their campaign to defeat government plans to establish more unitary authorities across Britain
Representatives from Sedgemoor District Council and four other Somerset districts joined forces with representatives of UNISON, the local government union, as they met local MPs, including Burnham-On-Sea’s David Heathcoat-Amory (pictured right), and delivered a dossier of evidence against the County Council’s proposals to Ruth Kelly, the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government.
The delegation travelled from Westminster to the Department for Communities and Local Government in an open top Somerset bus and were met at Westminster by members of the Sealed Knot, invoking – in a light hearted way – the spirit of ‘The Pitchfork Rebellion’ of 1685.
The rebellion, which was led by the Duke of Monmouth and supported by Somerset’s farmers and peasants was, in some senses, the first battle for democratic rights in Somerset… the current battle against unitary authority status being the second.
The County Council’s proposals follow a decision by the Department for Communities and Local Government to explore the development of more unitary authorities around the country. The government favours unitary authorities but only where they save money and have popular support. Neither of these criteria apply in the case of Somerset.
Somerset County Council has nonetheless put forward proposals that would see the abolition of Somerset’s five District Councils and the creation of a super-size bureaucracy based in Taunton.
Leaders from all the district councils claim the County Council’s plans would create a new tier of red tape and bureaucracy far removed from the citizens of Somerset.
Cllr Duncan McGinty, Leader of Sedgemoor District Council said: “We have been speaking with parish councils and other organisations and there is an overwhelming dissatisfaction with Somerset County Council’s proposals for a single unitary council in Somerset.”
“By journeying jointly to London and the DCLG, we are hoping that the powers-that-be realise just how unpopular and costly this proposal is.”
Nigel Osborne from UNISON said: “It is clear from the County Council’s proposals that many jobs will be lost and many more will move from local towns into the regional centre at Taunton. My real fear is that a single super-size council in Somerset would have no alternative but to cut council services as it fought to pay the huge costs of becoming a unitary authority.”
RELATED LINKS:
Somerset County Councillors vote 28 to 21 in favour of unitary status
District council leader calls for free vote during unitary status debate
Burnham’s MP takes unitary debate to parliament
Unitary council plans move closer after county council vote
Burnham-On-Sea MP slams unitary council plans
