THE new “Shadow Executive” of Somerset West and Taunton was announced on June 7.

The self-appointed Leader is none other than our Cllr John Williams, whose track record over the last 10 years is not great.

He will be aided and abetted by Cllr Anthony Trollope-Bellew as his Deputy. 

It seems strange, not to say undemocratic, that the TD shadow executives are all councillors in rural areas; Taunton, Wellington and Wiveliscombe are not represented.


READ MORE: 'Shadow cabinet' for Taunton and West Somerset revealed 


Furthermore, Taunton Deane is three times the size of West Somerset in population terms and yet they are equally represented numerically, with three members from each area.

Thus the West Somerset group can and will stop any proposals that are not to their advantage and why shouldn’t they? Decision making will not be easy or fair. 

The upfront cost of this merger is now well in excess of £8.1 million.

We have seen already the maximum increase in council tax imposed by this Tory-led council, add to this the loss of experienced staff made redundant and replaced by high cost agency personnel at highly inflated costs.

It is now clear where the new Somerset West and Taunton Council is heading. 

Somerset County Council is seriously considering creating a unitary authority with all the six councils by 2021, we now understand that Bath and North East Somerset Council are considering the proposal too, indicating that this Unitary proposal has, indeed, been on the cards for some time.


READ MORE: Somerset County Council to consider ditching district councils for unitary model


Just when did they seek a mandate for any of this from the residents they serve? One can only think that yet again it will be after the event. 

You may ask why are the Tories in TD and WSC merging the two councils at a cost of millions of pounds to only last two years at best?

Somerset West & Taunton would be formed in April 2019 and disbanded to create a new “Super Unitary” in time for the May 2021 elections. 

Thus making this new council the shortest lived and most expensive in the history of local government and certainly not a good use of taxpayers’ money. 

Could this be political scheming, or just plain muddle, incompetence and Tory council leaders failing to talk to each other?

Do the leaders of Taunton Deane and Somerset County Council not have each others’ phone numbers? 

CLLR SIMON COLES 
Lib Dem Group Leader, TDBC