Ruth Kelly, the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, has this week been urged to visit Sedgemoor “to see for herself why a single unitary authority for the whole county would not work.”
That’s the invite from the leader of Sedgemoor District Council, Cllr Duncan McGinty, who said this week: “I feel that it is very important that Ruth Kelly is given the opportunity to see just exactly how diverse, large and rural Somerset is.”
“Mrs Kelly would be more than welcome to visit us, so that we can explain why all the Districts are unanimous in opposing a single authority for Somerset.”
It comes after Burnham-On-Sea’s MP and the leader of Sedgemoor District Council spoke last month of their disappointment regarding the decision by Somerset County Council to go ahead with plans to create one local authority and disband the districts – including Sedgemoor.
The bid for unitary status, which would see one single powerful authority replacing the five districts and county council, is now before the Government for consideration and a shortlist of successful authorities will be published at the end of March. If Somerset is successful, public consultation will take place from April until June.
