I won’t apologise for being political this month; you’ll see why. Six months after Wiltshire’s elections left the Council in “no overall control”, the Liberal Democrats scraped together votes from Independent councillors and concerns are growing over their leadership.
Previously, Council finances were so well managed we were able to invest an extra £22m into Highways, improving roads locally, including Black Dog. Last year Wiltshire Council ranked best-performing council in the southwest and 7th out of 151 nationally.
How quickly things have changed. Since May the new administration has authorised spend of almost £7m; money they did not need to spend and can’t afford. Expect cuts to services and a maximum council tax increase to pay for it.
Where has this £7m gone? A huge chunk (I am not allowed to tell you how much) is being given to a private individual (I am not allowed to tell you who) along with a publicly owned multistorey carpark on a 1.7-acre site in central Trowbridge. Yes, you read that right – the Liberal Democrat Cabinet has agreed to give £Xmillion of taxpayer money to a person who will likely redevelop the site into flats, making tens of millions of pounds for themself. The details of the transaction were recently leaked and can be found online and in the local paper, but I am still banned from talking about it!
I have publicly questioned this “deal” (which has been done behind closed doors) several times. You may have seen in the news that I brought a temporary halt to proceedings by forcing it through an extraordinary scrutiny committee. Frustratingly some councillors on the committee (I’m not allowed to tell you who, but you can probably guess) voted it through. I refused to give up the fight, and this is where the story has now taken a VERY dark turn.
A few weeks ago, I personally received a threat of legal action from a trade union representing a council employee AND a separate Wiltshire Council Standards complaint after speaking out against this deal. Lawyers acting for me mounted a robust defence and today the Standards complaint was dismissed but this aggression has caught the eye of the Free Speech Union. They consider the disciplinary action and the threat to sue me might be a David versus Goliath “SLAPP” (Strategic Lawsuit Against Public Participation) i.e. “Keep your nose out of our deal or we will bankrupt you with legal fees”. I have never backed down to bullies and I won’t start now. This heavy-handed response tells me I am onto something.
Why am I sharing this with you? Well, this is your council, these are your taxes and these are your services which are all at risk due to poor governance. Furthermore, this holier-than-thou administration is constantly talking about “openness and transparency” whilst actively shutting down criticism and scrutiny. I want to hear from you urgently if you are concerned by this – please drop me a line below.
You may contact me about this or any other matter by email to dominic.muns@wiltshire.gov.uk or by phone on 07585 394 178.
