Tories aren't listening

5.16.08pm BST (GMT +0100) Tue 27th Jul 2010

At her monthly open air surgery at Shepton Mallet’s Market last Friday, Tessa Munt MP adds her name to the petition to stop Tesco’s further expansion and planning application to open a café on the Townsend Retail Park in the town.

The growing resistance to the expansion plans for Tesco in Shepton Mallet is likely to be ignored under a new policy cooked up by Mendip District Council's Conservative Administration.

The Cabinet of Tory Councillors have decided to ignore petitions related to Planning and Licensing decisions. Already over 400 people have signed the petition to stop the Tesco café in Shepton. This includes MP Tessa Munt.

Yet, it now makes no difference how many people sign a petition: The Tories won't be listening! Petitions related to planning and licensing can now be excluded as a matter of policy. No matter how important or pressing the issue, the Council can ignore them as a matter of policy.

The Mendip Tories have decided to fly in the face of revised directives from the coalition government that point to much greater direct involvement in decisions that directly affect a community. While Westminister is reforming the planning system to put real power in the hands of local people, the Tory Cabinet in Mendip is proving once more that it's out of touch.

New Shepton Lib Dem councillor, Garfield Kennedy, says:

"The electorate in Mendip are fed up with the Tories not listening. It's particularly galling to hear them say at Cabinet that petitions often come from unreliable sources and thus can be discounted. Even though they've just lost overall control of Mendip in the recent by-election, the minority Tory Group still aren't willing to engage in democracy."

The policy that the Mendip Tories have adopted states that petitions can be excluded when they relate "to a planning decision, including a development plan document" or "Any matter relating to a licensing decision, including licensing applications under the Licensing Act 2003 and Gambling Act 2005".