Well, I admit, the Black Dog Crossroads has reopened with shiny new traffic lights and looks pretty groovy, as far as road junctions look groovy. But I will forever be flabbergasted how the Wiltshire councillor for The Lavingtons, Dominic Muns, who signed off the project, concentrated his announcement of the project with political point-scoring rather than safety….
Claiming this “wouldn’t have happened” with any other specific party at the helm of Wiltshire Council, particularly spatting The Greens with certain bitterness, was hearsay. The project was signed off prior to the Lib Dem takeover, so we can never be certain if it would or would not have been approved. This was a red light warning, altering me to the notion Dominic Muns enjoys stirring the pot, but whilst I respect that along with his motivation to respond, I remain sceptical the sauce in his pot is spiced with nothing more than bamboozlement.
A few other Wiltshire Councillors have got their knickers in a twist over the new council budget, and would-bes too, like lone ranger Devizes former Reform candidate Malcom Cupis, who loves spreading his verbal faeces on the Devizes Issue (But Bitter) Facebook group, and, reading between his lines of his recent nonsensical rant, seemed to approve fascism provided he could get his bins emptied weekly. But Muns, well, he called in AI and went to town on his Facebook page with a post yesterday which should come with a content warning; it reads like the boy who cried wolf is writing for the Daily Fail.
The question remains, how twisted can one’s knickers get before they ride up the bum crack with a plethora of brown stained untruths, or at the very least, skid-marked exaggerations?!
Omitting mentioning the £6 billion “sink hole” the Liberal Democrat led council inherited County Hall with, and all its gubbings from decades of Tory reign, like, say, the worst social care provisions and roads which look like they belonged on a battlefield at the Somme, Muns said “Wiltshire deserves better than this,” and suggested their “alternative budget took on no debt and delivered a £20m better position over 3 years,” adding emojis of a bar chart and suitcase for the benefit of, what I can only deem, his followers unable to read, or an imaginary artistic licence.
“Cutting spending on our road network” and “hiking car parking charges, including a huge increase on Sundays,” were on his hitlist, “cutting black bin collections to once every 3 weeks, cutting the Parish Steward Scheme,” and “cutting the Parish Emergency Assistance Scheme” were others he is disgruntled about.
But whoa there Munster, is it a random hike, or does the 4.99% rise include the 2% adult social care precept, which most councils are using because care costs are rising sharply?
Aren’t the three-weekly black bin collections part of a shift toward higher recycling rates, which many other councils have already adopted?
Is this really as unprecedented or uniquely reckless as you’re suggesting? On highways and the parish schemes, can you point to the specific budget lines showing outright removal rather than reprioritisation or consultation? This might help residents to see the details rather than broad claims.
And you couldn’t get broader than when he added in the cascading comments, “I use the term “Independent” loosely since they’re actually all on the Lib Dem payroll and merely masquerading as independent councillors to win local votes.”
Ooh, I had to ask for proof to this crazy accusation, with which he returned with, “you can check the list of SRAs (Special Responsibility Allowances) and see which councillors are receiving additional money for certain roles. It’s public record.”
Big Rod Stewart sized butt; receiving a Special Responsibility Allowance as an independent councillor does not put them on a Lib Dem (or any specific party) payroll. SRAs are paid directly by Wiltshire Council based on recommendations from an independent panel for specific roles like committee chairs, regardless of political affiliation.
Another unfortunate visitor to his Facebook page asked on this thread, if he was “saying my Wiltshire Councillor Ernie Clark – Independent in Hilperton is a LibDem?!”
The Munster responded, “we were made aware of a written contract drafted by the Lib Dem administration and Independent councillors which promised paid roles in exchange for support. Independent councillors are currently in those same paid roles. Make of that what you will.”
Cllr Dominic Muns for The Lavingtons seems to be making quite a lot of “what you will” out of the Council budget, but still, failed to answer the question to his accusation, which comes over just a smidgen slanderous. He says I’m confused, and “certain roles are appointed directly by the Lib Dem administration, others by a vote of the committee which is apportioned to mirror overall political balance,” perhaps he’s right; I’m confused as to how this puts an independent councillor on a Lib Dem payroll.
If, as he said, the Conservatives’ alternative delivered a £20m better position over three years with no debt, where is that £20m coming from, and what assumptions were used, I wonder, but not enough to keep me up at night! For if it’s genuinely stronger, he could show the workings so residents can judge. Budgets are about trade-offs. If we’re going to criticise decisions, let’s do it with the full numbers on the table.
As I patiently wait for the green light at the shiny new Black Dog Crossroads which looks like it belongs in a different county, I think it’s best to wait for peace of mind, and perhaps we should wait for the effects of this budget too, before casting assumptions.
Face it, the only credible thing about his post of yesterday is that “Wiltshire deserves better than this,” yet, poop scooping the doggie doings of the previous council, did anyone expect a welcoming budget?
Yes, buddy, Wiltshire residents deserve better, they deserve transparency from everyone, not just slogans. Cool, you signed off Black Dog, but the campaign for this has taken decades, decades in which the Munster was but a mini-Munster, and The Conservatives had ample opportunity to make this Tory stronghold better, but failed, and that’s why the democratic system showed them the door. You’re a big boy now, so dry your eyes and accept that sometimes you win, sometimes you don’t and that’s the way it goes!
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