Shropshire Council 'is failing towns like Bridgnorth’ - councillor
A Shropshire councillor today launched a withering attack on his own authority, accusing it of being "obsessed" with the north of Shropshire.
Councillor Andy Boddington says Shropshire Council is an example of a unitary authority that does not work for the people.
Instead, he says self interest has drained resources from his home town of Ludlow and other nearby areas and pushed them to Shrewsbury and towns to the north.
In an open letter in the Shropshire Star, he today says there needs to be a shift change in the way local democracy works in our county.
He says: "Barely a day goes by without someone telling me it was wrong for the county to go unitary in 2009.
"They complain that rural areas and towns like Ludlow are no longer heard in Shirehall. They say we don’t get the investment that Shrewsbury and Oswestry get. They protest that services are being concentrated in the county town.
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"They are right about the north of the county sucking up the lion’s share of council cash."
He highlighted figures that showed Market Drayton, Shrewsbury and Oswestry have received funding for capital projects amounting to around £400 per head of population. But in the south, Bridgnorth received just £132 a head and Ludlow just £35.
The Ludlow North councillor says: "Decision-making has been dominated by councillors representing the north of the county. Resources intended for the whole county have been swallowed up by a few northern towns.
"Proposals for new investment in Ludlow have been on the table for more than three months. Council leaders haven’t yet found time to discuss them.
"Shropshire Council is proposing to cut back its customer service points countywide. Ludlow will be reduced to just two days. The Shrewsbury service will remain open five days a week, despite having only 30 per cent more customers than Ludlow.
"The economy and welfare of our county is suffering – all because of political obsession with a few towns in the north of the county."
