I NOTE from last week’s ‘County Times’ that between 12 August and 30 September a ‘consultation’ took place presumably ‘organised’ by Powys County Council asking residents whether or not they wished to adopt a system of Single Transferable Vote in local elections.
I read the paper every week, but have never heard of this ‘consultation’ and have no idea how it was promoted or conducted. I missed it completely!
It doesn’t matter whether or not you favour STV. What matters is that 60.5% of respondents voted in favour of STV and just 27.6% against. And yet the Council rejected to proposal.
OTHER NEWS:
- Police force apologises to family of man who died in Powys train crash
- New £49m Powys 'super-school' given go-ahead by council
- Police name two men who died in motorcycle crash on A40 near Powys
What is the point of organising consultations’ only to reject the result, particularly such an overwhelming one?
How many people actually voted? What proportion of the potential electorate does this represent? What excuses do councillors have for ignoring the result and abandoning the debate at the whim of the chairman - who, being a Tory was naturally against any change of any kind.
The rest of the UK might be vaguely democratic, but Powys certainly isn’t.
Eric Flounders, Newtown
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