A CAMPAIGN has been launched to get Bromsgrove a town council.
John Ellis said he started the drive because he felt, as there are a lot of councillors in outlying areas on the district council, it did not fully represent the people of Bromsgrove.
He added the outlying areas had parish councils and having a town council would give those living in the central wards the same representation and support, when it came to decision-making.
The Stoke Prior resident said: “I’m very much against the cabinet approach we have at the moment with one group of councillors making all the decisions.
“If we had a town council. issues such as the demolishing of the Market Hall could have been approached in a different way.
“It would give people more of a say on what goes on in the town centre.
“Droitwich, Kidderminster, Stourport and Bewdley all have town councils and Bromsgrove should have one too.
“Having a town council has often been suggested, but now is the time to act.
“If we can get ten per cent of the electorate to sign a petition, we can set the wheels in motion.”
Mr Ellis now wants people who are interested in helping get Bromsgrove a town council to email him at [email protected] to arrange a meeting.
In order to get a town council formed, Bromsgrove District Council must carry out a Community Governance Review (CGR) which can be triggered by local electors presenting public petitions to the principal council – in this case Bromsgrove District.
The petition must define the area to which the review relates to, referring to exact identifiable boundaries and set out at least one recommendation that the petitioners want the review to to consider – in this case the creation of a town council.
Because there would be a local electorate of more than 2,500 in the town council catchment area, the number of signatures must be at least ten per cent of the those of voting age living in the area to trigger a CGR.
