WEST Dorset District Council came under fire after leaders turned down invitations to attend a democracy meeting in Bridport.

Public First, which is campaigning for the council's cabinet to be changed to a cross-party committee, held the meeting at the Electric Palace on Friday.

The group are hoping to collect signatures from five percent of West Dorset residents to trigger a referendum to replace the all-Conservative cabinet with a committee.

Richard Freer was first to speak."Currently West Dorset District Council is an autocratic organisation who do not uphold the required democratic process as is expected and is deserving of the residents of West Dorset" he said.

"Potentially the cabinet system should be scrapped. Failing that, I think the cabinet would work better if it had cross-party representation."

Mike Farmer said he thinks the rural county should move to a unitary authority - with more power given to parish and town councils.

But Lee Rhodes said he thinks changing to a unitary authority may only bring short-term financial savings.

"We need to be careful what we wish for" he said.

"I'm concerned we run the risk of throwing the baby out with the bathwater. West Dorset District Council has a PR problem. It needs to change its ways and they clearly need to amend how they work."

West Dorset MP Oliver Letwin came to the defence of the council.

"I disagree profoundly with the people who say that West Dorset District Council is a disaster" said Mr Letwin. "I suspect people will look back in it and find it was better than they thought."

Labour parliamentary candidate for West Dorset Rachel Rogers said campaigners may be fighting the wrong battle - and that more should be done to encourage a diverse range of candidates to stand for election.

"The real problem to me seems to be about transparency" she said. "The reason they don’t consult is that they want to do things their way, so the transparency is the issue – not necessarily the structure."

Liberal Democrat candidate and West Dorset Councillor Ros Kayes added: "Our democratic process is no longer working for us. We desperately need to shake it up. What we have seen in West Dorset is government by contempt.

"Even if they were to have disagreed with the sentiments expressed by the meeting, to claim an allowance for your work as a councillor and then simply not to respond to invitations to attend public meetings about the conduct of the council held in your area is contemptible in itself."

Leader of West Dorset District Council Cllr Anthony Alford told The News that he was unable to attend due to a prior commitment.

"Unlike other local authorities, no individual member of the executive committee has any decision-making powers" he said. "All decisions are made in a transparent way at meetings that are open to the public and with agendas that have been published."

Public First have postponed a meeting scheduled for Sherborne tomorrow (27) but will be collecting signatures at Bucky Doo Square on Saturday (28).

 

Public First organiser John Grantham accused West Dorset District Council of a 'silent power'.

Speaking at the democracy meeting, he said: "There is a pool of fog over us - it is a sort of silent power that is not democratic.

"We must get rid of cabinet government and try to get some more people having hope because there are an awful lot of people who have lost it."

Peter Barton, representing the Green Party believes campaigning for elections by proportional representation would create a fairer council.

"We have a massive democratic deficit" he said.

"We need to engage people to make them feel empowered and lower the level at which decisions are made."

UKIP representative David Glossop said he felt people should feel they can stand for election based on their own merits - and not because of their political party.