Unitary authority? Nobody asked me!

SOMERSET local government is under threat: have you been consulted?

I am told by my district councillor that the request for Mendip District Council to be subsumed into a larger unitary authority has already been lodged with the Secretary of State in Westminster! Were you consulted on this matter?

The first I knew of this was when BBC Points West announced a change in recycling collections.

From what I understand from my scant knowledge, there are two proposals; one that Somerset be divided into two larger districts, or that it becomes one very large authority run by the county; no doubt all justified in the name of cost effectiveness.

Under the Tories, our district councils have been starved of adequate funds resulting in only the most basic local services barely being delivered.

During the Covid pandemic, it has been shown clearly that countries with good local services thus creating in-depth community knowledge have been the most efficient at keeping infections low.

Why have we the voters not been consulted? An explanation is urgently required.

As British citizens living in a democracy we must have our say before such changes occur that will make it more difficult to access our so necessary and valued local services and before they become completely inadequate due to them all being outsourced to unaccountable faceless private businesses. Speak up now or regret it at your leisure!

L Macnab by email