The letter states that the Liberal Democrats councillors on Horsham district council fail to provide an effective opposition to the ruling Tory group, with the result that matters affecting the town of Horsham are decided largely by councillors from outside the town and with no significant scrutiny from councillors who represent the town.
This is the full text of the letter:
It is outrageous that in these straitened economic times incompetent management by the Tory administration has left a £1.6 million hole in the council’s finances.
What is worse is that it would appear from reports in last week's County Times that the Lib Dems' inability to provide effective scrutiny or to keep up to speed with council business is partly to blame for this state of affairs.
The Lib Dem Group Leader admits in the article of 25th November ('Council "are in denial" over scheme costs') that the scrutiny committee failed to obtain a report into the financing of the Acorn recycling scheme back in July. So not much scrutiny there.
On the letters page another Lib Dem councillor is outraged that she only learned of the Council's decision to call time on the market traders through the pages of the County Times. The outrage is not only that a councillor is not better informed but also that this is yet another example of the Tory-run Council riding roughshod over the views and wishes of Horsham town residents. (Think town hall, think playschemes, affordable housing, Shelly fountain...)
The Tories' actions go unchallenged in the council chamber and they clearly have little or no respect for the Lib Dems who, if what I have seen as an observer at district council meetings is anything to go by, they see as struggling to identify how to act as an effective opposition.
Recent ineffectual performance from the Lib Dems includes failing to propose an alternative budget this year despite claiming, in response to Horsham Labour party’s campaign to save the holiday playschemes, that they opposed cuts to funding. And when it came to the biggest housing development within Horsham for a generation and an opportunity to support the Labour party’s campaign to provide more affordable housing for local people, the Lib Dems failed even then to work out where they stood, and failed to vote together as a political group to increase to level of affordable homes.
What Horsham council needs are good, able and strong minded councillors to provide effective scrutiny of all council decisions and expenditure. This would improve the decision making processes and deliver better services and greater value for money for local residents. By so undervaluing the opposition the Tory Council are guilty of running a one party district which is becoming a personal fiefdom for a few individual councillors, all of whom live outside of the town centre.
Surely this can not be allowed to go on. The overall effect of this is a lack of good financial management and lack of delivery of appropriate services for council tax payers.