Bridgwater Town Diary

Some things what happen in Bridgwater and some equally personal thoughts about them by Westover Councillor and Town Council Leader Brian Smedley. All opinions expressed in this column are not necessarily not bonkers. Oh and are definitely not official Labour Party policy, God No, they wouldn’t want people to think that.

Slay Those Dragons

The dragon roared. But nobody heard him. His roar had been downsized and his job combined with that of a beach warden from Berrow. So, nobody was listening anyway.

This week the new Unitary Council had a special scrutiny meeting to look at what ‘transformation’ might actually mean. The Lib Dems are cutting services and sacking workers to such a great extent that at the end of the process the whole council will look totally different. This is what they’re calling ‘transformation’.

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Delirium Mining

I’m ecstatic! No, I’M ecstatic! Well, I’m overjoyed! No, I’M overjoyed! Well in that case I’m euphoric! Ah, not ‘elated’ then? Yes, I’m that too. Well, me I’m delighted. I’m thrilled, I’m over the moon, and, well, I’m basically quite pleased. Such was the reaction to the announcement of the new gigafactory. Everyone was more delighted than the next person in welcoming this £4b investment into the green economy and situated somewhere (well, you won’t not notice it at 40 metres high) on the green fields of Somerset.

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Not Gone, Just Forgotten.

Today they buried Somerset Council. But left the toes sticking out. Ineptness? Or just another case of future proofing.?

When you can’t fund something, you ‘future-proof’ it. That means you do what you can with the funds you’ve got then you leave the rest of the wish list until someone else turns up further down the line who CAN fund it.

And this is exactly what happened at Somerset Council this week. There just isn’t the money to do what the council wants to do, so it does what it HAS to do (the statutory stuff). Then one day in the future someone will solve it. Probably the incoming Government. Of whichever colour red it is. Continue reading “Not Gone, Just Forgotten.”

The Chances of Anything Coming from Mars…

No one would have believed in the early years of the twenty first century that this county was being watched keenly and jealously by eyes greater than man’s and yet as mortal as his own; Intellects vast and cool and unsympathetic. Yes, Throbworth and Twott Chartered Accountants of Basingstoke who had been brought in as Commissioners by the Government to run the now bankrupt Somerset County Council.

Dear reader, as you read this I will be in a life-or-death meeting of the new, unwanted and totally pointless Somerset Unitary taking the final vote on whether to balance a budget and make cuts that the councillors don’t want to do, or to vote against and try to make someone see sense. Continue reading “The Chances of Anything Coming from Mars…”

I Wouldn’t Start From Here…

Tommorrow is Valentine’s Day and what better moment for me to open the Bridgwater Mercury to see what they’d done to my column this week only to find the smiling face of Tory Leader Gill Slocombe heading up her own column. Eeek! I thought we’d seen the last of Diogo’s writings in the local paper but seems only to be replaced by another weekly Tory PR piece.  Not to worry though, Tory lovers,  she managed to keep up the relentless hypocritical campaign that her fellow Tory started off. That’s the one attacking the Town Council for agreeing £1,200 a year allowance  whilst not mentioning that they both get more than £40,000 a year between them as County Councillors. Still, nothing like scaring people. Incidentally the Town Councillors allowance per member for the whole year is what Commissioners would be paid per DAY if they’re brought in to clean up the mess the Tories left the County in. Oh, and  if people are scared of Town Councillors getting a small allowance to deliver services then maybe Diogo and Slocombe won’t tell you that for every £ you pay in council tax the councillors allowance is 0.0005% of that. Anyway, got that off my chest. Here’s this weeks article. (mine, not hers)

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