The following is a column submitted by Cllr Ashley O’Neill, Conservative Wiltshire councillor for Calne Rural, reflecting on recent developments regarding the Lower Compton and Purton household recycling centres. The views expressed are those of Cllr O’Neill.
by Cllr Ashley o'Neill
If ever there was a case study on how not to make a decision as a council, this would be it. Following the U-turn that was announced yesterday, despite claims from the administration that it shows they listened to residents, quite frankly we should never have ended up here in the first place. The handling of the whole thing has been an absolute shambles from start to finish.
If we go right back to December, as the Wiltshire Council division member for Calne Rural, in which the Lower Compton site sits, I was surprised and disappointed that I was not briefed about the proposals in advance and instead learnt through a press release that the matter was due to be discussed at the next Cabinet meeting. It is customary practice that any administration should discuss such significant policy decisions with local division members in advance and the fact that this didn’t happen is even more disappointing given the Lib Dem promise to collaborate with members across Wiltshire Council and be open, fair and honest following the election in May 2025.
I was even more surprised when at the Cabinet meeting in December when the matter was being discussed, there was a proposal to seek public feedback on the potential closure of Purton and Lower Compton Household Recycling Centres, and that after a short break, Cabinet returned and declared that they had decided that they were not going to seek any public feedback and instead were going to let the contact expire and close the sites. Worse still, this was done in a Part 2 session where the press and public are excluded from the room. The very fact that they made that decision would suggest that it was planned all along, even though the option for immediately closure was not listed in the papers - that is not open, fair or honest.
Following that meeting, more than 10 councillors requested a “call-in” of the decision they made which would have led to extra scrutiny around whether the appropriate decision-making principles had been followed, and in this case they had not as the Council’s constitution requires the relevant Area Board where the closure is taking place to be consulted, which in this case it was not. Astonishingly, the Lib Dems then blocked this call-in - coming up with some spurious reason saying that the decision was urgent. Quite how that is the case when you are letting a contract expire some 8 months in the future makes no sense and looks even more silly now that the U-turn has been announced, so clearly this decision was not urgent after all.
Fast forward to January and members of Ian’s own Liberal Democrat-run Calne Town Council publicly criticised the decision, with councillors voting for a motion against the administration’s approach and criticising him personally for failing to represent Calne. Laughably, the Lib Dem candidate in a recent Calne Town Council by-election even campaigned in his literature against the closure of Lower Compton and now claims a victory – no doubt this was all part of the ruse.
And then on Monday 2nd January, a significant reversal was announced - not at a meeting of Wiltshire Council - but to Calne Town Council before the Cabinet at Wiltshire Council was due to meet the following day – no doubt all of this because Ian was facing a no confidence vote in his leadership at that meeting. Whatever the internal Lib Dem party dynamics at play, this is not how serious decisions affecting residents and communities should be handled and clearly Ian being privy to information as Leader of Wiltshire Council that is then used in his position as Mayor of Calne is totally inappropriate and is a conflict of interest.
I attended the Cabinet meeting on Tuesday 3rd January at County Hall and asked numerous questions on how they had got themselves into this mess. I asked why they didn’t negotiate with Hills before going through all of this and when challenged on whether they had attempted to, they couldn’t give me an answer. Says it all really doesn’t it.
Obviously, I am pleased that Lower Compton has had a stay of execution, but even now it’s future is uncertain. The extension of Lower Compton is for only one year, whereas Purton is for three years, despite claims Lower Compton will stay open whilst Purton is open. Why not a three-year contact then? Again,when challenged on that, no answer. You have to wonder what it is that they are hiding from us? Regardless, when a new facility opens in the Royal Wootton Basset area, Lower Compton will close, and Calne will lose its facility.That is unacceptable and unfair to the Calne Community and the campaign goes on.
To then see the Lib Dems all over social media celebrating this U-Turn as a victory, and that they secured a better deal as a result and that all is well shows a complete lack of self-awareness. Why couldn’t they just say sorry, we got this wrong and we’ve fixed it? Had they done their job properly in the first place and sat round the table with Hills, we wouldn’t have been in this mess in the first place.
This whole situation demonstrates that this is a Cabinet that lacks experience in running a council and is used to saying whatever they want to whoever they want. But this is no joke. This is not the campaign trail. This is the administration of a council with a budget in excess of £500 million pounds. With that responsibility comes an expectation of proper process, transparency,and sound decision-making. The people of Wiltshire deserve better.
Cllr Ashley O’Neill
Calne News welcomes column submissions from all local councillors. If you are a councillor and would like to share your views on any local issue, at any time, please contact us to discuss submitting a piece for publication.
Want to know what’s on in Calne? Visit our local events page for listings and to find out how to add your own events for free. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram to keep up with all the latest news. Have you got a story for us? Email editor@calnenews.com or contact us here.
