22nd September 2011

DORCHESTER: Dorset voters stand up for democracy

Angry Dorset voters have launched a new campaign to challenge unpopular council decisions which ignore the community’s wishes and amount to a “travesty of democracy”.

Dorset for Democracy (D4D) rose from the ashes of the former Fair Votes for Dorset group, at Thursday’s meeting at the George Hotel in Bridport.

The protest group plans to address a “democratic deficit “ in local government, which has led to unpopular plans going ahead against the wishes of the community.

The building of new district council offices in Charles Street in Dorchester and the closure of nine community libraries in the county have angered members in particular.

They would like to see changes to the way local politicians are elected and how development decisions are made, to give greater control to the community.

Richard Denton, the chairman of D4D, said: “The political system is failing to give voters a meaningful say in how big issues like the Charles Street development are determined.

“We are committed to a campaign to make the public aware of the failures of the system and the need to bring about common sense changes to the way we elect local councillors.”

Membership secretary Richard Shrubb said: “There are serious travesties of democracy in the UK that need to be dealt with urgently, if we purport to lead the democratic world and practice what we preach.”

D4D, whose key figures are Richard Denton, of Portland, Ros Kayes, of Bridport and Trefor Morgan, of Weymouth, are working with the umbrella group Reform Groups Network to push for voting to be made fairer.

Those who are “fed up with the political system” are invited to join them to air their views at their next meeting on Thursday October 4.

DORCHESTER: Dorset voters stand up for democracy

Comments

Add new comment