ALL 31 elected members of West Somerset Council are being called on to resign in a bid to make a stand against Government funding cuts that have threatened the authority's viability.

Independent Cllr Sandra Slade, who represents Minehead South, has come up with the idea of the mass resignation protest in the wake of the 8.9 per cut in the council's spending, which equates to a 13.8 per cent reduction in grant aid in real terms.

West Somerset had the worst settlement of all the county's local authorities and, having already saved hundreds of thousands of pounds just to stay afloat, is now faced with having to make savings of more than £1.2 million over the next two years.

Council leader Cllr Tim Taylor has already warned that the authority's viability is at stake unless the Government takes its situation seriously.

But Cllr Slade said that having previously pleaded it was a special case, West Somerset had now been treated just like anyone else and put in an untenable position where councillors had to question the authority's viability.

"I have heard the argument that we should hold on for another year because we might get financial relief via the proposed Hinkley nuclear power station but what if we don't get any relief?" she said. "What's our position then?

"We live in an area where the majority of residents are on fixed incomes or very low wages and I feel we owe them something other than just charging them more for some services and cutting others completely.

"Do we want to be put in the position of having to make people redundant, cut services, put up charges and generally do the dirty on the communities and people that we were elected to serve?"

Cll Slade said all 31 councillors should resign en bloc and make it very publicly clear what they were doing:

"Let's say enough is enough and we won't do this to our community and our employees.

"This is not throwing in the towel - it's making a stand. Let's say to Government, if you think you can run this council on this funding, then you do it."

Cllr Slade said she believed that if West Somerset took the lead, other councils would agree with the action.

"And I'm sure our residents would, for once, have a little respect for us and feel that we are trying to act in their best interests.

"I know I'm probably being very naive but I, for one, am fed up with being pushed and pushed into having to get rid of staff, put extra burdens on our existing staff and cut services for our residents."

Cllr Slade said West Somerset was the smallest district council in the country by population but, geographically, one of the largest, meaning it had a very limited income but had to provide services over a large area.

She said it was that situation which had led to troubleshooter and Government advisor Bill Roots confirming that West Somerset needed special consideration if it was to survive.

Instead, it had received the biggest percentage cut of any council in the country.

"I think that as councillors we need to have the courage of our convictions," said Cllr Slade.

"If we think we are being asked to perform an impossible task, then surely we have to say no - it's not that we don't want to serve our constituents but rather that we are being placed in a position where we cannot."