Statement on the Poole Town Council Consultation

Our democracy is under threat. Too many politicians say one thing and do another - that’s why the people have lost trust in them. We need a different kind of politics.

I am on record saying that a town council for Poole would be a way of restoring some civic pride and identity, that I believe has been lost since we became BCP. On the doorstep residents often ask me if we can leave BCP and have our own council again. They feel that Poole is overlooked.

In my view a town council could start to restore some of that loss of identity. It would take over duties that BCP used to perform and we could argue for a reduction in council tax to offset these new functions. But this has to be coupled with fair funding for local authorities, so that local people aren’t left facing higher costs as a result.

The recent consultation was not democratic. Fewer than 1% of the population took part, which makes the result neither meaningful nor representative. For something like this, we should have had a proper referendum. You cannot ask people for their views and then discount them. This is what undermines our democratic system. This is what needs to change. Let’s have a proper vote that means something rather than one of these meaningless consultation exercises in which most people don’t even vote. We need to have a series of public debates about the issues and encourage local residents to have their say - after they’ve listened to the arguments.

If this can’t happen then we are left with a discredited consultation exercise and a flawed result in which the only winners are those who have a strange view of democracy. Bringing decisions closer to the people has to be a good thing, so leaving them with BCP doesn’t speak to those many residents who tell me they are unhappy with the current situation.

Wouldn’t it therefore be better if we had a proper referendum on this issue to decide it properly and abide by the decision?