Let's Be Clear On How Town Cash Is Spent

It's good to see that our District Council are very aware of the concerns of our Town Council, and I am sure many of our residents. This section 106 finance is very important finance.

However it would seem that this same District Council is strangely unaware that Wincanton Town Council, and probably the vast majority of the people of Wincanton, have no or very little interest in shoring up the financially struggling Octagon Theatre in Yeovil.

Maybe the District Council would like to furnish us with statistics showing how many people from Wincanton, or indeed other surrounding towns and villages actually attend events at this loss making venue. I suspect that is they were reliant on the people of Wincanton they would have been bankrupt years ago. Why is it that there is a natural tendency to pour finance into such institutions. Are they a deserving charity, or could all this money be better used in more practical ways.

Locally in Wincanton we have a hard working group of Friends at Verrington raising funds for a much needed scanner. I think that most would say that this would be a much better use of section 106 finance raised in Wincanton.

What about The balsam centre with all the charities and community services that work hard there for the benefit of our community? Why do they have to fill out copious forms throughout the year begging for finance to keep valuable community services open and service those in need? Section 106 finance would make a huge difference here.

What does The Octagon Theatre provide for Wincanton and surrounding communities other than the vanity of professional events? If people want to support The octagon Theatre let them pay the going rate for tickets and keep it in the black. SSDC should not be subsidising professional organisation like this.

Before I get shot down for being anti-theatre I should say that the best productions I have ever attended in Yeovil (by a long way) were at “The swan Theatre”. Compared to The swan The Octagon is bland. To be honest I think it is trying very hard to be something that it can never be. It will never be The Theatre Royal in Bath.

So I say that our District Council should be very, very careful house it spends the money that it gather’s in from its hard pressed satellite towns and villages. The most recent move of this nature arose when SSDC forced Wincanton and others into paying an annual fee to stop them introducing Pay & Display meters in our car parks. They told us that they would get circa £30,000 income from this venture, but would be gracious and give us a huge discount asking only for £24,000 per annum for the next three years. After that “the only way is up” (Now there was a bad song). I can’t see SSDC giving us a bigger discount.

How much of that £24,000 will be spent in Wincanton? Very little I expect. So for SSDC to say….

"We believe most people will recognise that it is simply not financially feasible or sensible to seek to deliver professional arts and theatre in every market town area." It was therefore reasonable to enhance the Octagon Theatre, serving the whole district, the spokesman added.”

…..I suggest that they either need a new spin doctor, or a new way of thinking, because this current operation shows clearly that they have little concern for the towns and villages around them. Is there any wonder that the majority of ordinary everyday people in the street don’t like them? I always thought that our District Council was meant to be a solid and positive enabler in all our communities. They need to go back to school and learn how to think and do joined up writing. That would be a good and positive start to redressing the years of total mishandling of the taxes gathered from the hard working people of this District, and the countless bad decisions that cause hardship in our towns and villages. Only then can they even start to redress the damage they have done over the years.

Before anyone jumps the gun I am not critical of District Council Employees. They, like us work their socks off. This all stems from the political body who give the impression that they have nil awareness of the damage they are causing.

It makes my skin crawl to think that Wincanton folk are expected to contribute towards activities in Yeovil and more specifically, The Octagon Theatre when we have ventures of our own in our own town we need to enforce and contribute to. Wincanton Amateur Dramatics Society for one. This is a group that needs financial local support - and one that despite being fruitful in its profits for years is now struggling withrehearsal and venue costs at The Memorial Hall. Although I am not directly involved with the group at the moment I understand theyare proposing a pantomime 'Beauty and the Beast' which will hopefully generate significant interest from local children and supporters.

My question is, how can groups like this expect to continue when costs are so high and support is so low? Surely our local politicians should be focussing on town own needs, talent and demand...

I have just returned from seeing relatives in the States and would like to thank David Smith for informing me about Wincanton Window printing this article.

I met with the civil servant at SSDC responsible, Mr Steve Joel, and argued with him for two hours about the theft of our money. He did not choose to agree with our viewpoint, indeed when I asked him directly "Don't you think the local representatives should be consulted as to where their communities need their health and leisure money spending", his answer was a mind numbingly simple NO!

The fact is South Somerset District Council deliberately take our money and they do it because they can, the Liberal Democrats have a majority in Yeovil and use it to take our money. They know but don't care that we are appalled by it.

That is why I exposed what they are doing, I can almost certainly garantee their method of dealing with this will be to do nothing and hope that it will die down when we tire of complaining, then they will continue to take our money as before. Mr Joel confirmed to me that they have no intention of changing their formula to bring about fairness.

This years annual subsidy to the Octagon Theatre is a staggering £340,000, that says to me not enough people patronise it and not at a ticket price that is realistic so they make you pay the balance through your rates and 106 monies rather than tackle the problem at the source.

Looking at the comments above it seems clear that the current elected body have a very shaky stance on this. I hold no allegiance to any political part, and the last thing I will be involved in is political bickering. That only serves to show clearly why politicians are minus three on the Richter scale of trust by the voters.

However, whatever the colour of the party, there is no excuse whatsoever for what can only be dubious financial practice. By his own statement Mr Joel show that he or his political masters have no conception about what is fair, or what is good for a local community.

It seems that when you reach one of those hallowed elected positions you have to give up/lose part of your basic humanity. By that I mean that their sense of honour, and fairness has either been seriously dented, or at worst, amputated leaving them on a power trip sitting safely in their offices behind walls of impenetrable protection to shield them from the frustrations of the ordinary everyday folk to voted them into position.

I guess that's the downside of living in a democracy. Sometimes, what or who you vote for can come back and bite you where it hurts.

I suggest that we need to find a platform where local communities can sit in meaningful discussion with those who hold the power of decision over us. How can this happen. How can the representatives of Wincanton achieve fair play in what us currently a cold and callous we don't care atmosphere. Whatever happened to lead by example? In the bible even Jesus told his disciples that if they wanted to be great they had to be the least, and serve the people.

I don't see the current elected body serving. I can only see them ruling the roost from a very remote location.

We need a change of attitude to show that our elected body serve our communities.