Echo’s influential reporter Geoff Percival has a pretty damning article in tonight’s Echo. He warns that the increased payments to cabinet councillors may lead to the District Council being merged with Southend, simply to save costs.
We don’t like to say “We told you so” but this is exactly what Chris Black said at Full Council when the item was debated.
Geoff is understating things when he says that several Tory councillors abstained. 17 Conservative councillors voted for this. 16 of them didn’t – they either abstained at the meeting or didn’t turn up at all.
What are these Lemmins doing, doing themselves out of a ‘nice little earner’ I would have thought. Even I knew and wrote back in July about the Southend Tories wanting Rochford under their wing. They think that Rochford is too small and the expense is too large for a District Council. The only explanation I can think of is they have guaranteed the ‘Cabinet’ a role in the Unitary Council otherwise they have missed a gilt edged opportunity AGAIN of showing the residents of Rochford that they are responsible guardians of our welfare by turning down these obscene rises. I personally am not sure if we would be better off under a District Council who gives residents no confidence in their ability to manage our council or an unknown quantity that is Southend council. All I do know is that they continue to go from one disaster to another. Surely it is time they started listening to the people of Rochford instead of ignoring us!