Omnipresence

Cornovii: The Risk Nobody Can Quite Find

Every council has meetings.Some have strategies.Some have visions.A few even have plans. What they are supposed to have, particularly when tens of millions of pounds of public borrowing are involved, is a clear understanding of risk. Recently, a Freedom of Information request asked Shropshire Council to produce exactly that: the documentation showing its financial exposureContinue reading “Cornovii: The Risk Nobody Can Quite Find”

WHEN TRANSPARENCY MEETS REALITY

THE NIGHT OSWESTRY TOWN COUNCIL FORGOT ITS OWN HISTORY There are council meetings that drift quietly into obscurity, preserved only in minutes nobody reads and archived somewhere between ‘apologies received’ and ‘any other business’. And then there are meetings that accidentally reveal how power behaves when it assumes nobody important is watching. The latest OswestryContinue reading “WHEN TRANSPARENCY MEETS REALITY”

Which Hat will Your Councillor Wear Today?

Or, how firmly are they clinging to the generous, multi-pocketed teat of Shropshire Council? In Shropshire, a notable number of councillors are proud owners of not one, but two hats. Because why settle for representing the county when you can also represent the village green, the high street, and occasionally what appears suspiciously close toContinue reading “Which Hat will Your Councillor Wear Today?”

Transparency at the Local Council

Now With Added Devolution, Fewer Services, and Even Less Memory Local councils are, we are endlessly assured, champions of transparency. This is said often, confidently, and usually just after something significant has happened without anyone quite noticing. Transparency, in the modern council sense, does not mean visibility. That would invite questions. Instead, it means thatContinue reading “Transparency at the Local Council”

Shropshire Council’s Financial Strategy: How to Look Solvent While Running Out of Road

The Calm Voice at the Edge of the Cliff There is a particular tone councils adopt when the numbers stop adding up. It is not panic.It is not honesty.It is reassurance. Shropshire Council’s Financial Strategy for 2026–31 is written in that tone. Calm. Managerial. Responsible. The kind of document that wants you to feel thatContinue reading “Shropshire Council’s Financial Strategy: How to Look Solvent While Running Out of Road”

Devolution: Resign or Consent

The Democratic Question Parish Councillors Cannot Dodge There is a convenient fiction circulating through Shropshire and Telford & Wrekin. It goes like this:Devolution is happening. Parishes will step up. Communities will benefit. This is “local democracy” in action. What it carefully avoids mentioning is consent. Not consultation. Not briefing sessions. Not officer-led reassurance meetings withContinue reading “Devolution: Resign or Consent”

WHEN THE ARCHITECTS LEAVE AND THE BILL IS SENT TO OSWESTRY

There is a pattern emerging in Shropshire that is now too obvious to ignore. Senior officers design risk.Senior officers depart.Residents are handed the invoice — repackaged as “local choice”. Last week, Miranda Garrard, Head of Legal and Democratic Services at Shropshire Council, became the fourth very senior officer to leave suddenly. Her farewell statement spokeContinue reading “WHEN THE ARCHITECTS LEAVE AND THE BILL IS SENT TO OSWESTRY”

The Cornovii Web: Public Risk, Private Control

Architects Gone, Liabilities Remain There comes a point in any local controversy where the reader stops nodding politely and starts checking whether the page is upside down. This is that point. Because once the structure is laid out in full, even the most charitable observer is entitled to pause, rub their eyes, and say:“That can’tContinue reading “The Cornovii Web: Public Risk, Private Control”

THE COMFORTING MEMO BEFORE THE RECKONING

(OR: HOW TO SOUND CALM WHILE THE HOUSE BURNS) Shropshire Council has written to its staff to reassure them. This is always a bad sign. Councils do not issue soothing messages unless something has gone badly wrong. Calm language is deployed only after the fire alarm has been ripped off the wall and quietly hiddenContinue reading “THE COMFORTING MEMO BEFORE THE RECKONING”

£195 Million, No One Responsible: How Shropshire Council Learned to Forget

Yesterday, Shropshire Council finally said the number out loud. £195 million. A four-year funding gap so large it should have triggered resignations, emergency scrutiny, and a public explanation of who authorised what. Instead, residents were offered spreadsheets, inevitability, and silence. Still no meaningful mention of Cornovii Developments Ltd.Still no ownership.Still no accountability. Then came theContinue reading “£195 Million, No One Responsible: How Shropshire Council Learned to Forget”