The veil of secrecy that has seemed to cloud policy decisions at the West Somerset Council has long appeared to many locals as being as dense as the fogs that hinder safe moorland driving across Exmoor and West Somerset during winter.
Sadly, according to Cllr Mitch Wicking, as reported in the Free Press (28th Dec 2007), little has changed since the Tory majority was kicked out in May 2007 and replaced with the Independent coalition.
Announcing his resignation from the Independent coalition, Cllr Wicking was reported as saying he was "fed up with all the secrecy" and wanted to get back to working for "improved democratic practice within this council".
I have often argued that a transparent debate between local people and the West Somerset Council lies at the heart of getting regeneration moving in this area.
If even our elected West Somerset Council representatives feel they have been left out of the loop, what chance do the rest of us have and what chance has Exmoor and West Somerset of achieving its much needed regeneration?
Apparently, interviews have been held for an interim manager of West Somerset Council which included former local government chief executive Jack Neal who has a reputation for sorting out failing councils.
I looked up Richmondshire District Council where Dr Neal helped out recently. I could not find any public discussion forums but I found a page on their web site entitled Let us know what you think.
There is a Residents' Panel system that selected members of the public can participate in and it appears explanations are subsequently made as to how arguments raised by the public have been incorporated into subsequent policy decisions.
My criticism of the consultation systems locally in Exmoor and West Somerset has long been that they are hierarchical and exclusive of the vast majority of the population.
The consultation systems at Richmondshire District Council, to me, look little different.
I have one question for any prospective interim or permanent manager of West Somerset Council:
How would you improve West Somerset Council systems to enable the local public to fully participate in policy and regeneration decisions?
And if his answer includes the word 'panels', I'd be very tempted to say 'next please'!
That excellent local institution the West Somerset Advice Bureau recently reported that one in six local people were accessing their services and debt was the number one problem.
It seems clear that the human cost to ordinary people in Exmoor and West Somerset of minimum wages and decades of failed regeneration policy has been huge.
Perhaps harnessing the collective intelligence of the people of Exmoor and West Somerset will not produce better answers. Perhaps the public of Exmoor and West Somerset are apathetic and lacking in ideas. Perhaps the regeneration problems locally are beyond solution.
Perhaps the managers of West Somerset Council should blow away their fog of secrecy and give open government a chance to solve local regeneration problems since they have failed so dramatically.
Bye for now
Rob
2 comments:
Rob, thanks for highlighting the stance I have taken in last week's Free Press. I have only just been made aware of your site via my wife who during an idle moment and for curiosity's sake typed my name into Google and came up with your domain. Having seen what you are doing I wish to congratulate you on putting the time towards setting this up and running it. We need more people like you to get a dialogue going, to provoke discussion, to start debates. It is essential we get everyone in the area up and talking and making noises about the inadequacies that seem to blight West Somerset Council. At present it is a sham - not necessarily as a direct result of the new administration - but as a result of the past ten years of Tory and officer-led mis-management and incompetence that has quite clearly driven this authority to a point of little hope of return. This council is shrouded in grandiose illusions of self-worth and importance at the cost of the local people. Those running it have pursued a set of targets it was never likely to achieve considering the council's financial situation. New offices for Minehead, New Horizons? But where was the funding? It quite clearly never existed and those running this council must have known this and were blindly pinning their hopes on selling Vulcan Road to pave the way to glory. And what happened to the £23 million the council received from the sale of its' housing stock to Magna? There's not one single penny left. At the end of the day those running this council thought the people were apathetic and would be easy meat for the slaughter they had planned. But we proved them wrong. Up to a point. The council has a new ruling group, but unfortunately nothing as far as I am concerned has changed for the better. As you quite rightly point out, the local people, the people with the local knowledge are the ones that need to be talked to, to be involved in and to help plan the future direction of West Somerset. Local knowledge, local skills, local expertise and affinity. We need them to be at the heart of any regeneration of this beautiful part of England. The council needs to talk to them if it has any real chance of surviving as an authority. We need to get to basics (to half-pinch a Tory phrase)and that means remembering who we are, where we are and what our limitations are. West Somerset is a large area but one of the most sparsely populated with just 35,000 inhabitants. So we need to be sensible, think logically, with common sense, put things into perspective and think outside the box that Central Government has foisted upon us. In many ways it is central government's fault. They set the ludicrous targets, standards and bureaucratic rules and regulations that local government is forced to adhere to. But then how much of this is down to EU directives? I don't know, but it all seems to have a knock-on effect. But the point is, I have taken a stand to try and put a stop to the nonsense that has straddled West Somerset Council with problems from all quarters. Chief Executive Tim Howes may well have thought he was only doing his best and what was expected of him. Same with Deputy Chief Executive Rod Latham. They may well have been working under the belief that they were doing what had to be done under government guidelines. I don't know. But what really matters is that given all these beliefs that they were only doing what they thought was best for the local people, the local people have never really been listened to, their opinions never taken into real consideration. There have been consultations, but the fears, concerns, opinions, wishes, ideas, suggestions have never been acted upon. The people have never been listened to and heard. I have been listening and I hear what they have been telling me because it is exactly the things I have been saying to myself. So I have come out because I have wanted to and because I feel the same way as them and their voices need to be heard. Is there a future for a West Somerset District Council? I don't know, but I do think a full review needs to be done to gauge the need, the role, the function of such a body. Something needs to be in place at a district level that is without doubt, but quite what it is perhaps is the question we should be asking. But whatever it is, let's hope some real change can be instigated before it is too late. Cllr. Mitch Wicking, Independent.
Mitch
Thanks for taking the time to add your valuable comments to my article.
Your point that there are lots of people out there who feel the same is particularly hopeful to me.
Talking costs so little if we do and so much if we don't.
Perhaps the challenge for 2008 is to find ways to bring the voices of all those of the public who care together so that the force of their arguments can at long last achieve some progressive change.
Rob
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