One councillor from Glastonbury town council summarising the Mendip district council redundancies. All who are losing their jobs are either gone or have been told. He ended by stating "now we have got rid of all the Roughs and Scruffs, only the quality staff are left" Great to know how they value their staff and how much sympathy they have for people who have lost their jobs. Need to get the minutes.

Depends on long the Councillor has been there and what they have seen. It depends whether you see Local Authorities as well oiled machines or over bloated with staff hanging out of the windows (or counting them along with the lamp posts).

Well said Bilko! Robjaw, if you do get the minutes it would be great to read your thoughts...maybe as a bloggy article or something? You can always drop me an email too if you want: sheptonmallet@thelocalpeople.co.uk

I honestly don't have enough information to have a view. It is an insult to those who have had their posts cut, whether it was meant as such or not (it actually sounds like a nervous statement like that involuntary laugh you do when you nearly have an accident, but escape at the last minute).

Maybe they need to get glastonburyradio.net to start broadcasting them again. Or maybe even the community based radio station Glastonbury FM. If they had nothing to hide this would give everyone a chance to hear exactly what is said.

Yeah Mildew - minutes are what they want you to know, not what actually happens. If you want to know what they really think about stuff you should go to every meeting. Same as with the government - if you dont watch the parliament channel 24/7 then you quite frankly dont deserve the vote. A guy I know got injured recently but I told him 'dont you bother the hospital - if your first aid qualification isnt up to date you might as well cut your own wrists and bleed to death where you stand'. 'Dave' has got it right - if you want a library then darn well run one, if you want a bus, go set up a bus service. Cmon, its not like you should actually expect anything from councilors (like advocacy, representation or heaven forbid transparency). The evidence to the contrary is overwhelming so stop it with your unreasonable expectations right now and go and fix some potholes you waster! I always thought every single person having their own stake in society and its running (anarchy) was a bad thing, but its growing on me...like this wart Im going to remove as soon as I get my medical degree. In short: Please will councilors/local government officers etc please get on with their jobs and allow the rest of us to get on with ours, or god help me I will run for parliament. Boris Johnson and George Dubbya tell me anything is possible.

Entertaining rant Gripe! I do believe I have reached a stage where little surprises me. What is really encouraging is how positive much of the community remains. Please noone say 'big society' to me, but if anything is going to get us through these times it is good old fashioned community spirit. Blitz spirit probably, but spirit all the same.