Wiltshire County Council has succeeded in its application to become a unitary authority, and to sweep away / take over the four district councils.

http://www.wiltshiretimes.co.uk/mostpopular.var.1571951.mostviewed.green_light_for_wiltshire_super_council.php

I am an advocate for simplifying the various levels of government - there are simply too many - but I regret the passing of the district councils who I have found to be much more in line with the community;   County feels / has been distant in many of the dealings, and their campaign for Unitary status has been - in my view - dishonest and misleading.

At least this means that the councillor who's responsible for travel and transport in the county will have to submit herself for re-election next May, so she may be more willing to listen to the views of the electorate.   The pity of it is that "the electorate" in question is the population of a part of Westbury, from where they have a uniquely excellent train service to Cardiff, Plymouth, Weymouth, Portsmouth and London.  And that the councillor in question could afford to say "F**k Melksham" - a town twice the size of the her own but with a pitiful service she has already allowed to be reduced to a tiny part of what it was since she was last elected.

From the link below :
http://www.westpress.co.uk/displayNode.jsp?nodeId=146238&command=displayContent&sourceNode=146064&contentPK=17938741&folderPk=100268&pNodeId=145795

"The letter from the Department for Communities and Local Government judges the bid against five criteria set by the Government.

The most contentious one is the need for support by a "cross section of partners and stakeholders".

Campaigners against the unitary council say it was opposed by most of the county MPs, district and parish councils, and claim there was little public support.

But the letter says Communities Secretary Hazel Blears "considers that, if implemented, the proposal would command a broad cross-section of support from a range of stakeholders, both public and private sector, as well as some support from the general public".

Ms Blears also says the Wiltshire bid passes the tests for strong, effective and accountable leadership, and for neighbourhood flexibility and empowerment.

On value for money "the commitment to rationalise management and back office service delivery functions, mean that local people will benefit from more efficient and effective services".

The unions will see that as justifying their fears of redundancies, especially as the Government says council tax must not rise to pay for the shake-up.

Mr Blears says on the fifth criteria, affordability, "the financial case looks reasonably robust and there is little risk that the proposal would be un-affordable".

I am just catching up with all this news as I have just moved. 

What a disappointment, at least from a Salisbury point of view.  I know our MP, Robert Key, was firmly against this and pointed out many flaws in the economic implications as well as those of representation. 

However it is perhaps to our advantage that our new councillors will have to address issues on a county-wide basis.  There is no excuse whatsoever to allow and pay for a bypass but not provide funds for a decent rail service cross-county.

Certainly Blears made this decision on a decision that was already made, as it were.  It is clearly a cost-cutting (short-termist) exercise and it is certain that jobs will go and there will be considerable difficulty getting much done for the next year or two.  I am always suspicious about any organisation saying they have a "raft of measures in place."  Wiltshire CC say in the press release that: "Changing the current system will save Wiltshire taxpayers £18million each year by 2012 as well as providing more effective, easy to access services and increased opportunities for local decision making and community involvement."  So how do people from Salisbury and the south access Chippenham by public transport where so many services are moving??

We must now increase the pressure at county level so the issue of rail is never allowed to be kept off the agenda. 

I would also like to say that this must be considered a stitch-up of all stich-ups by central government who may as well have not wasted money on the consultation.

Fleur de rhePhilipe, the County Councillor for part of Westbury and the cabinet member came onto the stand at the West Wilts show at the end of the last week.  She assured me that the County Council are doing everything they can to get an appropriate train service restored, but told me that it's not something they control, nor have the money to buy when they're squeezed to meet even their statutory responsibiities.

In recent weeks, Ms de rhePhilipe has received a number of communications from anxious and concerned Wiltshire residents asking her to take further positive action to get the service back to a sensible level. She  explained to me that as she doesn't have the position/ability to do this, the inputs are a waste of her time and taxpayer's money in answering them, and asked me to use any influence I might have to reduce their numbers or stop them.

My own view differs from hers - she and her team are, at the very least, major influencers and I think it's important that our elected representatives are aware of the mood / feeling that's around.  Once they start telling the people who put them there to "go away" they, and we, are on a slippery slope indeed.

All the fob-offs such as the ones Graham Ellis mentioned need to be made more public at election time.  It is unacceptable to tell someone with a perfectly reasonable local campaign to stop irritating her with messages.  This makes me very annoyed indeed.  Having said that, as many wise Greek warned, hubris is a man (and a woman's) final downfall.

Here is a further view on this (link below.)
http://tehmina.org/2007/08/03/a-single-wiltshire/

Also , the extraordinary West Wiltshire District Council meeting on Wednesday (08/08/2007) will be open to the public. It will take place at the council's offices in Bradley Road , Trowbridge and will start at 1900 (link below.)
http://www.wiltshiretimes.co.uk/news/latestheadlines/display.var.1595352.0.super_council_meeting_announced.php

I am still suffering intermittent access to the internet so have not been able to update my blog entry regarding a single Wiltshire (see Lee's link above).

However on reading the press release from Wilts CC I did raise a number of issues to Miss De Rhe-Philipe to which I await a response.  I will give it a fortnight and then send a reminder.  The points mainly revolve around the problematic nature of getting across the county via public transport.  As people will have to go further afield for some services this is a crucial issue they will have to respond to sooner rather than later.

I would of thought they would need the backing of the other districts as well?