WEST Somerset Council leader Anthony Trollope-Bellew will recommend that the authority merges with Taunton Deane when the decision is made on the council’s future at a special meeting on Wednesday, September 7.
In a statement this week, Cllr Trollope-Bellew said he would also urge the council to agree to a shared programme of “transformation” modernising and streamlining services and decision-making with Taunton Deane.
A merger would mean that both councils lost their sovereignty and he said that, while he accepted this with a heavy hear, “I do believe that this offers the best solution for our community.”
It was, he said, “the most difficult decision I have had to take during my many years in local government”.
But local MP Ian Liddell-Grainger accused Cllr Trollope-Bellew of “jumping the gun” by coming out in favour of the merger while negotiations were still going on.
When we spoke recently he assured me that his mind was still open to getting the best deal possible for West Somerset.
“Now he is trying to close the door on working with other councils at a time when it is vitally important that West Somerset has a loud and clear voice on the best way to go forward.”
Mr Liddell-Grainger told the Free Press he would shortly be meeting with Government Ministers to discuss the possibility of tripartite working with Sedgemoor District Council as part of the long-term survivability of West Somerset Council.
Full story in the Free Press