Mendip District Council – “reminiscent of an absentee landlord who takes the rent, but never repairs the house”.
A FROME county councillor is calling for the town council to make a bid for independence as a unitary town and become separate from both Mendip District Council and Somerset County Council.
Martin Dimery, county councillor for Frome East, has said that the Frome Town Council is “well placed to take on the management of its own affairs” and that a unitary council could manage its own car parks, avoiding the proposed changes to charges by the district council, and ensure any revenue created is reinvested in the town.
The suggestion by cllr Dimery, comes following the news that leader of the county council, cllr David Fothergill, wants to abolish all six local authorities in the county – including the county council – and replace them with a smaller number of single-tier authorities, or potentially just one authority.
Speaking to the Frome Times, cllr Dimery said, “For me, as county councillor for Frome East, to support the dissolution of Somerset County Council might appear like the proverbial turkey voting for Christmas. However, my Green Party colleague, John Clarke, and I campaigned last year on the basis that we would represent the best interests of Frome at Somerset County Council and make sure the distance between Frome and Taunton was not used as an excuse to disenfranchise the people we represent. In the last year we have done much to ensure the needs of Frome is considered at County Hall.
“This does not divert from the fact that Frome has long been isolated from all areas of governance. On the periphery of Wiltshire and Bath and North East Somerset, people in Frome look to Bath or Trowbridge for much of their medical, educational and retail needs.
“We do not enjoy a close relationship with Taunton or the Mendip District Council epicentre of Shepton Mallet. Indeed, one hears the deep and bitter resentment towards Mendip, reminiscent of an absentee landlord who takes the rent, but never repairs the house. The recent controversy over car parking changes endorses this view. The fact that Frome entrepreneurs and businesses have taken it upon themselves to develop a flourishing range of crowd- drawing activities in the town on Sundays, is of no consequence to the pariah-like, revenue greedy district council, who want to raise charges or build on car parks, whilst having inspired absolutely no regeneration initiative in Frome for at least 10 years.
Vision
“Frome’s politically Independent council has had the vision to support regeneration and Frome is now regularly hailed as one of the most pleasant and impressive places to live in the country. Frome Town Council could, perhaps, seize the initiative offered by the suggestion of re-organising local government to reinstate the former Frome Urban District Council as a unitary body. With so many essential services either tendered out to private companies, school academy groups, or being supplied by our neighbouring authorities, Frome is well-placed to take on the management of its own affairs and “buy in” services it cannot supply centrally.
Car Parks
“Also, town management of Frome’s own car parks would ensure a system uncompromised by a district-wide policy and see the revenue spent in Frome on our own targeted needs.
“It is clear to me as a county councillor, Frome has been short-changed by Somerset in the past, and as the biggest town in Mendip, we are providing a large share of the revenue to be spent by councillors who are not elected by the people of Frome. The startling fact is that Frome elects a total of 17 town councillors, 11 district councillors and 3 county councillors, of whom only 4 out of the 31 total, are Conservatives, and yet we are governed by a huge Tory majority in both Mendip and Somerset.
“My position as a county councillor is one I have found fulfilling, and of which I am proud. I would consider standing for a new authority, however, if it brought greater power to Frome. Is it time for (dare I coin the phrase?) ‘Frexit’?”
