I was unsure at the end of a difficult and tumultuous week where to post this or whether I had the wherewithal to do it . On that other subject I have even more respect for the Cllr who stepped down from cabinet, than I had before is all Ill say.
But back to the post that I do believe is hugely important . possibly more important than any political post I have written since being apart of the FODDC.
And that is because word reaches us that the Government and our illustrious County Council colleagues are looking to save £££££s by creating unitary councils and cutting out district Council altogether. Hoorah !!some of you might be shouting but I offer you this, do you want your bins collected , your street wardens your housing advice, your planning issues and all the other things the FODDC are responsible for, being done by Shire hall and a Mayor of Gloucestershire, who will no doubt be from the current governments party and wont know the first thing about The Forest of Dean .As useless as you might consider me and my colleagues to be, ill bet when you think of your cllr you think of your district cllr , not your county councillor. When was the last time that you even thought about County Council ? even the roads and all the complaints about the state of them that are piled up against the district councils door is actually a County Council issue. Bus services ,schools , youth provision the same. Lydney aside ( cos Alan Preest in all fairness is a County Councillor first and foremost) do you know who your county councillor is? So keep that in the back of your mind and then to save even more ££££ the government, the boundaries commission and shire hall proclaim that actually we dont need the ward sizes the county has now and we can cut down on the number of councillors. Perhaps halve them? Hows that feeling for representation? How are issues in the Forest getting raised who is shouting our corner? who is standing up for us. Oh and you think this plan is for the future , a while away ? there might be a different government? think again..... our information is that the plan is to apply for a postponement of next Mays county council elections with a view to the new super Gloucestershire Unitary authority drawing its first breath in May 2022 .Some of you wont give a monkeys because you think we are crap, might think the district council deserves being closed down . I dont . I think it will be hugely damaging to the Forests future and I think we will become a place that rich people live in and visit. We have tried so hard for the last three years to give the Forest a voice, remember what these same people arranging the super gloucs came up with for the forest in their expensive Glos 2050 vision document. Other areas had the cyber park or the industry zone, improved railway or road junctions , the Forest ? the sum total of what they saw for us ? Regional Park designation, a designation that doesn't actually exist as yet. This is Conservative ideology and what they want to do , if it suits you well done, its down to numbers and you have them. But if your not a blue you need to do something. I dont have a party to call on but if I did Id be saying that we must not allow the cancellation of next years county council elections and we must stand on a ticket of retaining in some part the FODDCs sovereignty perhaps if need be in a combined authority with perhaps Gloucs city and Stroud , thats what the big opposition parties need to do and they need to do it now in my view before the Juggernaut of a Unitary Gloucestershire and your new mayor of gloucs is simply to fast to stop,,,,,, Goverment white paper on unitary being rushed through august /september . Of course this is my personal view and not that of the leader of FODDC
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