Letter: Glastonbury is sick to death of the PSPO delay

I think everyone in Glastonbury is now sick to death of the ludicrous delay in re-enacting the PSPO, which used to apply to this town.

I feel that my own time is being wasted by having to write to Somerset Council repeatedly to ask the same question, albeit in different ways.

It would seem that my tactic of creating analogies to the current incomprehensible and protracted delay in providing us with a PSPO has not worked.

You may recall the analogy between the making of mature cheese, followed up by the more extreme one of coal creation from carbon-based elements.

I try to make my communications entertaining in order to brighten the days of those tasked with reading them, but I’ve received not one iota of recognition for the creative effort that I’ve put into these emails.

Not a scintilla of thanks for my effort or appreciation of my desire to inject mirth into anyone’s life.

I have been assured by others in the town that I will never win in my mission of getting the PSPO, as Somerset Council have no intention of providing us with this legal weapon in the armoury necessary to address the problem of drunken yobbery in our town centre.

In short, I am simply being fobbed off with excuses, the implausibility of which increases with the passage of time, which has now reached a year since I first wrote.

Why might this be the case?

One theory presented to me is that Somerset Council is embarrassed to have Glastonbury within its borders, as we are a nest of dysfunctional work-shy hippies who deserve nothing.

We do have more than our fair share of the work shy, though in fairness, some have mental problems, and there are plenty of more average type people who hold down regular jobs, and there are plenty of traders in our unique High Street who want to make a living and are not happy with the disincentive to the tourists coming here that drunken oafs represent.

This fobbing off exercise that has now reached the status of a farce is attributed by some to political motives, with a desire to see the Green majority council embarrassed by its inability to get the problem dealt with, cited as the real motive.

I welcome your views on this.

In the last few days, I have observed that the number one ‘usual suspect’ is back on the streets, bottle of beer in hand, and marching around like a victorious general, when in a perfect world, he should be breaking rocks.

The dismay this has caused the people affected by his repulsive behaviour is acute.

I have to applaud the efforts of Cllr Ewan Cameron, who provides comprehensive reports and attends Glastonbury Council meetings.

I was, however, surprised when Ewan told last week’s council meeting that I had been told that the delay in Somerset Council giving us the PSPO we have requested is due to discussion about introducing a county-wide rule to deal with anti-social behaviour.

I receive hundreds of emails a week, and it is possible I have deleted such a message in error.

Whatever the situation, I am not convinced that this ludicrous delay in agreeing to a perfectly reasonable request owes anything to a genuine motive.

I am inclined toward the suspicion, commonly held here, that the motive for the delay is malicious.

I am not what one might call a conspiracy theorist, but it is so difficult to imagine any legitimate explanation for this delay that is not rooted either in malicious intent toward Glastonbury or, at best, contempt for this town and the perfectly reasonable expectations of its inhabitants.

I imagine you think I shall tire of this line of interrogation, but here you are wrong.

I have made a career out of tirelessly working within the political sphere to address what I believe to be injustices in our politics.

This has followed a career in the merchant navy in which I rose to the rank of Second Officer, in which capacity I avoided ever colliding with another vessel and without fail always arrived somewhere.

I am currently writing a story entitled Voyage Without End to record many mirthful experiences, a book to follow my travel stories that may be found on my site, which is entitled adventuresandvendettas.com.

I stress the vendettas are not malicious, and no one featuring in them, mostly commercial companies that have annoyed me, has ever had any reason to fear the consequences of my efforts, though some may be irked by my insatiable appetite for ridiculing absurdity.

I find the conduct of SCC spectacularly absurd, all excuses offered so far for its contemptuous behaviour with regard to the issue in question, flimsy and incomprehensible, and frankly deserving of a novel by Kafka.

I’m not a malicious man, but I am persistent.

I will continue this line of exploration until Glastonbury is treated with the courtesy that so far the county council has conspicuously failed to deliver.

Good health and peace to you all.

Give us the PSPO, and we shall be the best of friends, I am sure.

Cllr Ian Mutch

St Benedicts Ward, Glastonbury