And so it begins

                                                                                                                                                                                                    Theres really nothing worse than someone throwing out the " we told you so " line.
Perhaps we didnt get our very real concerns over enough?

But the financial issues that many groups and Councillors have held about a Green Cabinet are beginning to show through

You may know that they have already announced that they intend to withdraw services from the shared service company the council set up with West Oxon, Cotswold DC and Cheltenham BC in 2017.

They have announced they will bring services back in house.

That may well be the best thing to do, however the Council has had NO COSTINGS, NO FINANCIAL IMPLICATIONS and NO FORWARD PLAN presented to it,

Nothing , Zilch , nowt

Worse is that the Chairman of the Scrutiny Panel ( put in place with the support of the Greens ) has agreed NOT TO examine this massivley important finacial decison until AFTER it had been made.

One can only hope that the Council will still be finacially viable by the time that decison is finally scrutinised.

We know the Green Machine is on full General Election charge here in the Forest of Dean. They have press officers and strategists at every meeting and are basically doing as they wish. They are working in agreement with Labour and the Scrutiny Committee chairmans group.

The only effectual opposition are sidelined.

They may actually have to listen to the public, at least eventually.

THIS IS AN OPPORTUNITY TO HAVE YOUR SAY ON THE PROPOSED DISTRICT COUNCIL BUDGET THAT WILL BE USED TO SET YOUR COUNCIL TAX -

The headlines of which are :

CAR PARKING CHARGES INCREASING BY 300% from 50p to £2 for 2 hours GREEN BINS an increase of £5 There is a proposal to Commission a drama group to write a play specific to the Forest, which can be shared with the community to educate and engage re 'the money'. Plus additional engagement around Climate and Waste@ a cost of £65K

Julia Gooch ( Leader of Progressive Independents ) is asking residents to make their views known to the Council. " The Budget consultation usually only gets a few comments from residents of the Forest of Dean. This year , with these proposals being put forward, the people of the Forest must play a role. We are very worried about the direction the Council is heading."

Residents can vread the budget proposals and find out how to respond by clicking on the following link :

https://news.fdean.gov.uk/news/residents-invited-to-have-their-say-on-forest-of-dean-district-council-budget-1?fbclid=IwAR3bS7qSBi24e1bph5XpvKpwo20sAEwk0t8ieSREAAOfpcvLUchS1G8L8Wg