OPPONENTS of the scheme to form a new council for West Somerset and Taunton Deane have posted a parliamentary petition on the House of Commons website calling for the merger to be scrapped.

The organisers plan to feed the results of the e-petition into the latest government consultation on the merger, which closes on January 19.

Luccombe parish councillor Henry Harington, a key figure behind the move, said that a group of local residents had “decided to take matters into their own hands and do something to stop the obliteration of our council and the erosion of our independence”.

He added: “There is still time to warn against the dire consequences of the death of West Somerset.”

Cllr Harington claimed there was a growing feeling in the area that West Somerset council should not be replaced by “a distant, unresponsive and characterless body arising from an ill-matched coupling with Taunton Deane”.

The petition, which went online last Thursday afternoon, is called “Halt Taunton Deane District Council taking over West Somerset District Council”.

It reads: “The obliteration of West Somerset Council will reduce its electorial representation, will centralise services in the more prosperous and more urbanised Taunton Deane and distance people in West Somerset from the delivery of services by making those delivering them less accountable.

“The proposed merger was based on a deficit accumulated by West Somerset.

“The deficit, that is forecast to drop dramatically, is not surprising, given West Somerset’s relative deprivation and the unfair distribition of the rural grant that pays a city like Bristol more per head than in the deeply rural and underpopulated West Somerset.

“Construction of Hinkley C power station and the government’s policy of local councils retaining business rates, will change the fortunes of West Somerset.”