Poll Result Gives few Answers

'Despite potentially costing Shepton Mallet Town Council £2,200 last week's Parish Poll on a possible new Community Centre leaves us with far more questions than answers', says Cllr Sue Cook, LibDem Mendip District Councillor and Town Councillor for Shepton West. 'And the fact that the instigator of the referendum has offered to pay half indicates to me that this was a personal and politically motivated campaign rather than for community benefit.' The Parish Poll, in which only 488 local people voted asked whether the Town Council should go ahead with plans to build a new Civic venue - raising loans over the next 20 years - lost with nearly 90% of voters turning the idea down.

'I think the approach to any new Civic Centre has been wrong from the start.' said Cllr Cook, 'Rather than waiting to carry out a wider consultation of current community needs, the Tories forged ahead with what has turned out to be a pretty unpopular idea, and rather than waiting for the results of the working party on this issue, the Parish Poll has wasted money before any conclusions were made as to exactly what the new facility would provide and how it was going to be funded.'

A Parish Poll can be triggered where local people wish to hold a referendum on a particular issue, however is not legally binding and doesn't have to be considered by the Town Council Administration.

'It seems to me that nobody has won where this is concerned,' Cllr Cook concluded, '£2,200 has been wasted on a poll came at the wrong time and may even be ignored, and the £5,000 has been put aside for the working party to develop a business plan for a Civic Hall before community needs have been fully assessed.  I'm all for democracy but if Parish Polls were initiated every time someone didn't like what they heard at a Town Council meeting a lot of funds would be wasted that could be used positively for the benefit of our town!'

Sue Cook was elected to Mendip in May 2011 and forms part of the Liberal Democrats Shadow Cabinet with particular focus on Mendip's 'People and Places' Portfolio.