I see that once again the Conservative Party has selected a district council candidate for Barnt Green & Hopwood who lives on the other side of Bromsgrove. It is clear from her “Manifesto for Barnt Green” that she is either ill-informed or ignorant with regard to recent housing development in the village.
She states, “If we vote in an Independent the only thing they can do is complain without effect and the result is the development happens anyway, as it did with CALA Homes”.
Back in July 2012 when the CALA development received planning permission, Barnt Green was part of the Hillside Ward which was represented by Conservative councillors Richard Deeming and Stuart Dudley.
Despite lobbying from the parish council, Residents’ Association and many local individuals, neither councillor spoke against the development. That was probably the main reason why Barnt Green elected an independent candidate three years later.
The district council has long been a laughing stock for its incompetence (Sports Hall, anyone) and our experience shows that if we elect a Conservative they won’t represent us at all; they will just blindly follow the party line.
It only needs a couple of seats to change hands from Conservative to Independent for the Tories to lose overall control of the council this month. For the sake of local democracy I sincerely hope that happens.
Malcolm Shine, Barnt Green