Councils got priorities wrong again ?

Bath and North East Somerset Council has spent nearly £150,000 on publicity relating to the Bath Transport Package and BRT scheme, it has been revealed this week.

Councillor Nigel Roberts (Odd Down) quizzed the Cabinet member responsible for transport at Council this week and found that total spending thus far on publicity relating to the BTP including the BRT scheme was £145,136.51.

However, only £30,819 has been spent on publicising the Core Strategy consultation programme so far this year, despite the fact that the Core Strategy is arguably the most important issue facing the Council in its current term.

Councillor Roberts commented:

“I do find it disappointing that there is such an imbalance in the funding dedicated to publicity. Yes, the transport package is important and the Council should be communicating with residents about it, but the Core Strategy is going to affect the whole of the district for the next 20 years.

“The Council must do more to reach out to all parts of the community and communicate the importance of this consultation, which will influence the location of housing, land allocated for business use and other issues for years to come.”