Cabinet has tarnished the jewels in our town (From Echo)

Cabinet has tarnished the jewels in our town

11:04am Thursday 26th August 2010 in

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I write in despair of what Southend Council is doing to our town.

Against residents’ wishes and, in a survey I carried out, against the wishes of the majority of councillors, it appears a few individual councillors and officers decide what they want to do, and the majority have little say. It appears to be a dictatorship.

In February, after watching a full council meeting, I e-mailed every councillor pointing out that there were now no trees in the High Street or Odeon Square. Yet many years ago we were led to believe it would be made “attractive with a proper landscaping and tree planting scheme”.

I asked for councillors’ personal assurances that they would do all in their power to honour the public’s expectations for the High Street, Odeon Square and Victoria Gateway Square.

These areas should be the jewels of Southend, not some of the most depressing.

I also asked them to ensure there is careful planning before any more trees are unnecessarily felled.

A total of 18 councillors fully supported my call, two Conservatives, four Labour, seven Lib Dems and five Independents.

Some support was promised by seven, five Conservatives, one Labour and one Lib Dem.

Those who did not support or were hostile to my call totalled six, all Conservatives.

A further 19 abstained – 12 Conservatives, one Labour, three Lib Dems and three Independents.

It appears from the above that if all councillors were involved in important decision-making, we would have a better town. Many councillors, from all parties, are unhappy with the way this council is run.

One said in an e-mail to me: “I would love to assure you that I will do all in my power to honour the promises made by the administration, but as you are probably aware, this sort of decision is usually made by the cabinet, with very little input by the Conservative councillors, let alone the minority groups.”

There you have it. It seems most councillors are fed up with being rendered virtually powerless by the cabinet system.

From the public gallery I was shocked at the treatment meted out to any councillor who dared speak up for the residents.

R J Nunn
Chalkwell Lodge
Westcliff