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Published:
July 25, 2007
Burnham-On-Sea
MP welcomes decision to throw out unitary plans
 The
government has rejected Somerset County Council's plans to create
a single unitary authority and abolish Sedgemoor District Council,
which oversees Burnham-On-Sea.
An
announcement by the Department for Communities and Local Government
on Wednesday (July 25th) confirmed the decision.
Although
nine other unitary councils will be created in the UK, including
Cornwall and Wiltshire, Somerset was spared after widespread opposition
to the proposal, as demonstrated by an 82% no vote in a county-wide
referendum.
Burnham-On-Sea's
MP, David Heathcoat-Amory, welcomed the news: "I am delighted
that our campaign for local democracy succeeded. I regret that
the LibDem controlled County Council wasted a great deal of time
and money in promoting itself as the sole local authority for
Somerset when it was clear that the public were overwhelmingly
against it."
"The
message for the public is that they don't like centralised empire
building, but want good services under local control. I will be
demanding an estimate of how much money the County Council wasted
in its fruitless campaign; money that could have been spent on
education and social services."
 And
Councillor Duncan McGinty, Leader of Sedgemoor District Council
(pictured), said: "The government has listened to the voice
of the people. When local residents voted overwhelmingly against
unitary status in the recent county-wide referendum the County
Council ignored them. It is to the government’s credit that
the people’s voice has now been heard."
Somerset
County Council expressed disappointment about the news. Cllr Jill
Shortland, Leader of Somerset County Council, said in a statement:
"The news that our bid to create One Council for Somerset
is not being taken forward by the DCLG is very disappointing."
"However
the business of providing excellent services to residents will
continue with full pace. I truly hope that we can re-engage with
our District Council partners to look for new ways of working
closer together through Local Area Working where many opportunities
exist to empower Somerset’s communities."
Somerset
County Council submitted a bid to the
Department of Communities and Local Government (DCLG) to
replace Somerset’s five District Councils and the County
Council with a new unitary authority covering the existing boundary
of Somerset. Despite being shortlisted in March 2007, its bid
was not one of the proposals to be taken forward.
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