Page 5 - link magazine

The Link Magazine • November 2001 5
Swindon to continue shambolic

cabinet system, after 56% of citizens
panel support directly elected mayor A
^^ . EASON
Petition launched demanding referendum

As the business of the Swindon Borough Council degenerated into
chaos on 27 September after the controlling Labour group resigned
following a vote of no confidence, the irony of a decision taken at the
very same meeting escaped notice when councillors voted to con-
tinue with the leader and cabinet system of local government. ^ OF
Now a petition is being opened is planning to challenge the pro-
calling for a referendum on posal by the council to the govern- W hen you buy
whether the town should have a ment to continue with the leader 2 or more
directly elected mayor. cabinet system, if she can attract
Most people won't have noticed 6,000 signatures on a petition.
d ranges.
a consultation exercise by Swin- "At present the leader of the selectes from
don Council asking for views on council is the choice of a party
three options put forward by cen- political group. The benefit of di-
tral government on how the coun- rectly electing a mayor is that all
cil should be run: voters across the town choose the 4' L
1. the present leader / cabinet person who will have responsibil- at t h
arrangement; ity for leading the decision mak- re 9e 11 a R
St n9ie %
2. an elected mayor with a cabinet; ing. It would connect voters with ittSer ng ie °b^ in9
3. a mayor plus council manager. how the town is run and could Bo y 2 669 Price Bo y £ 299 price
lead to less partisan behaviour by I
Swindon Council did more than councillors." \99
many other authorities by circu- Martha will be collecting signa- ^2Or
lating every household with a leaf- tures for the referendum in Swin- ^4
I11 1
let asking for comment, but with- don town centre on Saturday 3
out a public awareness campaign November. To help, call 528095.
for an arcane subject like local gov-
ernment adminstration, response
was always likely to be low. Minister sides
The report presented to council-
lors on the outcome of the consul- with Swindon I/I 100%
SOLID
tation positively asserts that there Although North Swindon MP
perSX 3
is clear support for retention of the Michael Wills is a government ta bl e hOt, Wh PINE
existing system. But how clear is minister with responsibility for C
o0 239
this? The details in the report the Channel Islands, he was defi- &1/ t , 4 or 49hr ^^ ,Ofte
h
muddies the water. nitely backing the Swindon ° air ors, v,
First, response was perhaps too Tigersharks swimming club
low to justify such a positive con- when they travelled to Jersey for S9
clusion. Only 9% responded to the
an open meeting against other
household survey and a confer- teams from all over the south at
ence of interested 'stakeholders,' a the end of October.
main indicator of support, was at-
tended by under 40 people.
Secondly, a common theme in
different consultation forums was
a lack of knowledge about the exist-
g
ing system and uncertainty about wh e n e F FEF
the options. oQr bUy
Thirdly, the rules were skewed,
S
not by the council, but uninten- r v;tQ us
tionally or otherwise by the gov- 99I
ernment, as the vote by those want-
ing a directly elected mayor was
split between two options. Thus,
the Swindon People's Voice 'citi-
zens panel', heavily relied upon in
the report's conclusions, sought the Huge choice of Cane
views of 2,640 local residents. Just
over 50% replied, the best response Pi ne &Cane
of any of the processes used. The
leader/cabinet system won most _Town High St
support at 44%. Cenhe - '^ 8 E L 34 WOOD ST.
But if the votes in favour of both Pine 8 Cane ^ V^-+^-• OLD TOWN,
systems involving a directly I ___ centre SWINDON
elected mayor are combined, the Devizes Road Tel: (01793) 535320
picture is different, with 56% want- Diving in for the Tigersharks, Michael Victoria Rd Wroaghton --r
ing a change from the cabinet sys- Wills with club coach Phil Millard, ; y 'ii EASY OPEN : Monday to Saturday
9.00am till 5.30pm.
PARKING.
tem. Grant Thornton from Shaw and N7nsrnm i n Old Towr Sunday: 10.30 am till 4.30pm.
Swindon resident Martha Parry Hayley Wood from Haydon Wick