Since the district councils were abolished, too much power has been concentrated in Shrewsbury. Local voices have been ignored, rural assets have been stripped, local services wound down. This has led to the lion’s share of resources going to Shrewsbury including to vanity projects. It’s time to stop these excesses and distribute power and resources around the county.
We need to create local area partnerships. In Ludlow, this might cover from Clee to Burford and Ludlow to Bromfield. Town and parish councils, community groups and business representatives would be part of the partnership. The partnerships would need funding to run them and money to spend. Unitary councillors also need small budgets for small projects in their communities.
Shropshire Council would be the strategic body. Tackling issues that affect the whole county. Negotiating with government. Working with regional partners such as Telford & Wrekin, Herefordshire and Powys. Dealing with planning applications, with the partnerships consulted on major applications.
This is about turning Shropshire Council inside out. At the moment, it faces itself and thinks its priorities are the priorities that are best for the county. Often, they are not. Unprofitable shopping centres have been purchased and partially demolished. An incredible £39 million has been spend on the £215 million North West Relief Road in Shrewsbury. Yet not an inch has been built of the four-mile road which hasn’t yet got planning permission or government approval.
Youth provision has been centralised. Why? The way services are run in Ludlow need not be the same as the way they are run in, say, Oswestry.
The Lib Dems have great ambitions for our county. To make things happen with limited budgets, we need to decentralise and make better use of our communities and our town and parish councils. It is time for change. The date for change is 1 May.
You are not wrong. As a resident of Shrewsbury, perhaps I’d be smirking if we had done well out of this mis-allocation of dwindling resources. Instead, we have the remains of successive vanity projects: a few cobbles, a spalling concrete toastrack, the rubble heap on the site of N…….g’s folly, a shopping centre where small businesses are being priced out, and the road to nowhere. At the very least, we need a fresh start in May. And no, I don’t mean the Trump-worshippers.
Thank you Andy. I have long held the view that going unitary was a disaster for us in South Shropshire. The evidence for that is all around us and would tell counties thinking of doing so the same. Indeed, I read recently, the Labour M.P. for Shrewsbury feels it would be advantageous for Shropshire Council to merge with Telford and District. The fall out for us goes without saying.
Thank you Andy
I completely agree that the unitary model has proved to be an unfortunate mistake. Rural communities are suffering and feel disenfranchised. I also agree that creating parish groups with devolved powers as proposed by the South Shropshire Mayors Forum, or rural partnerships as you suggest, would make a huge difference to both peoples lives and the rural economy. It would be more effective, & efficient, and actually save money rather than wasting it on ludicrous capital projects.
We need a root & branch change to the way the county is run. The current administration has run out of ideas and we need a fresh team with sensible ideas to fix the mess before it too late. I for one will be voting for a positive change on May 1st