Press Release 30 May 2007

 

Executive Appointed at Taunton Deane Borough Council

Ross Henley, Liberal Democrat Leader at Taunton Deane Borough Council (TDBC) has at last announced his Executive to run the Council.  It includes two Somerset County Councillors who voted at County Hall for the abolition of TDBC.

Councillors Hazel Prior-Sankey and Steve Brookes both voted to get rid of TDBC and the other District Councils in Somerset, yet they have accepted Portfolios from Ross Henley.

“Cllr Prior-Sankey, who already holds the County Council Portfolio for Transport and Waste, will be taking on the added responsibility for Deane Housing. The need for her to do this shows clearly the paucity of talent available to Cllr Henley and augers badly for the residents and tenants of Taunton Deane. However, it is ironic, they will now have to see through the disastrous housing situation that they engineered by encouraging a “No Vote” to transfer of our housing”, said Cllr John Williams, Conservative Leader at Taunton Deane.

Cllr Williams continued, “Cllr Prior-Sankey has a clear conflict of interest and it beggars belief that she should be given such a vital portfolio when she obviously does not support the aims and aspirations of TDBC. How can she pretend to be doing the best for residents and at the same time actively campaign for the destruction of the very Council she is elected to serve?

The County Council and Cllr Prior-Sankey in particular have demonstrated a clear contempt for the residents of Taunton Deane with their failure to consult over their attempts to impose a Unitary Authority right across Somerset. They know their plans cobbled together in closed-door meetings with the Government, which will lead to higher Council Taxes and worsened services, would have been rejected before now by the people of Somerset if they had been asked.

A lack of meaningful consultation seems to be the trade mark of Cllr Prior-Sankey who presided over the unpopular location and for a Park and Ride site to the East of Taunton.  Her total abdication of responsibility, about the Highways Agency’s proposals for a massive loop to join the A358 and M5 at Blackbrook, led to Conservatives on the County Council demanding her resignation because of the incompetent way it was handled.

Cllr Brookes as the Portfolio Holder for Communications at Taunton Deane is now responsible for the campaign to keep Taunton Deane Borough Council, yet he too is campaigning at County Hall for the opposite - a mammoth sized unitary council and the abolition of the Deane Council he has been elected to serve.

This is treating the electorate of Taunton Deane with contempt and is rank hypocrisy.  If Cllr Henley is really sincere about fighting for Taunton Deane’s survival then he should remove Cllrs Prior–Sankey and Brookes from the Executive immediately.  They cannot properly serve two masters and their own consciences should demand they resign immediately from the Borough Council.”