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Somerset Lib Dems Wasting YOUR MONEY |
UPDATED (15/1/21) with links to Southampton Independents work and response from South Somerset District Council to our challenges.
During the Covid-19 crisis, South Somerset District Council has decided to commit £23 MILLION of YOUR money, to an arts project. This is despite being challenged by us, in public, as reported by SomersetLive. They have been forced to respond to our challenge. We have a great deal of experience of projects like this, as can be seen with the "Arts Complex" on the archived Southampton Independents website.
Somerset Independents was formed to stand up for Somerset residents.
We had to be formed, because the Somerset Liberal Democrats are just like the other national parties - Labour, the Greens and the Conservatives. They put their party first and local residents last. And they misuse public money to do so.
Somerset Independents has exposed the Lib Dems on Mendip District Council for their financial mismanagement and hiding their financial decisions behind closed doors from the public. Ernst and Young are still investigating the Lib Dems there, as described elsewhere on this website.
Somerset Independents listens to residents. We believe, from the comments we have heard, that the vast majority of residents do not support South Somerset District Council guaranteeing the £23 MILLION forecast to be spent on the Octagon Theatre in Yeovil.
So we are doing something about it.
Somerset Independents does not just SAY that it stands up for residents.
We LISTEN and we ACT.
Our Leader Andrew Pope spoke at the South Somerset District Executive (Cabinet) this week. He and his colleague Denise Wyatt have substantial experience at exposing the misuse of public funds. This includes their previous work in Southampton that exposed the horrifying failure of "Studio 144" or "Arts Complex" (link to various articles here).
What Andrew said at the Executive has been reported by SomersetLive and the County Gazette. And a further response from South Somerset District Council in response to our concerns is now here. Andrew's full speech is below:
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Andrew Pope |
Andrew Pope Speech To South Somerset District Council 7th January 2020
"Thank you Councillor Keitch.
Thank you very much.
The Octagon Theatre Development...when I saw this report, reported by the County Gazette, I was quite concerned.
Until 2019, I was a City Councillor in Southampton. And during my time as an Independent councillor there, I worked very hard to expose the failings of Southampton City Council and the tens of millions of pounds of public money which they robbed from other budgets to pay for a project just like this one.
It was interesting, I think it was Councillor Clark on the previous item who mentioned about an Internal Audit report.
I worked to leak that Internal Audit report. But it was too late, because the tens of millions of pounds of public money that could have been spent on basic services, were instead spent on arts.
That project now has been an absolute disaster.
The former Leader of the Council, who lost his seat shortly after we exposed this, was former Councillor Simon Letts. He did not want to answer questions from the local newspaper in response to that internal audit report.
As I say, tens of millions of pounds of public money that could have gone on other things.
This report today asks you to underwrite £23 million. That money will have to be raided from other budgets, if you do not raise the funds. That is exactly what happened with the arts complex in Southampton.
It was a project that was going nowhere, the Council stepped in, underwrote the project and then the Council and the taxpayer ended up footing the bill.
I’m asking you to seriously consider very carefully whether you wish to do this and suggest that you do not do this.
If this project is feasible, it needs to be funded from other sources and not from the taxpayers money.
Thank you very much."
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