Buried quietly on the Council website, published days before a Cabinet meeting and largely unread by the public, sit two documents that matter more than almost anything else Shropshire Council will consider this year: • The Draft Medium Term Financial Plan 2026/27–2030/31• The accompanying Capital Strategy These are not background papers.They are the blueprint. OnceContinue reading “Before Cabinet Meets: Three Questions Shropshire Councillors Ought to Ask Tomorrow”
Category Archives: Uncategorized
Property Development for Beginners (By People Who Won’t Pay the Bill)
Cornovii in 60 seconds • Shropshire Council owns Cornovii• Shropshire Council lends it money• Those loans are secured on public land• If Cornovii fails, the Council is on the hook• The taxpayer ultimately carries the risk We ask why that arrangement is still described as “arm’s length”. They call it “commercial”.They call it “arm’s length”.Continue reading “Property Development for Beginners (By People Who Won’t Pay the Bill)”
Smile, Pay, Be Quiet
The Lib Dem Art of Hypocrisy: When Residents Speak and Power Laughs Written in another age, but uncomfortably familiar today: We hear men speaking for us of new laws strong and sweet,Yet is there no man speaketh as we speak in the street.It may be we shall rise the last as Frenchmen rose the first,OurContinue reading “Smile, Pay, Be Quiet”
The Cowards of the County
Devolution: How Responsibility Was Abandoned, Bills Were Exported, and Accountability Quietly Abstained Devolution, in theory, is about local empowerment.In Shropshire, it has become something else entirely: the systematic off‑loading of cost, risk, and responsibility from a failing unitary authority onto the smallest, least‑resourced tier of local government — and ultimately onto residents. Let us beContinue reading “The Cowards of the County”
When the Money Ran Out: A Tale of Two Councils (and One Missing Opposition)
There are only two honest ways to respond to a financial crisis. You either take less yourself — or you become very clever indeed. Shropshire Council has tried both. Just not at the same time. 2011: When Councillors Went First At a full meeting of Shropshire Council in January 2011, during the early austerity period,Continue reading “When the Money Ran Out: A Tale of Two Councils (and One Missing Opposition)”
Angry?
Then meet the people who thought running a property development company was just another council hobby Before we go any further, let’s get one thing straight. Shropshire Council is currently exposed to Cornovii to the tune of around £45 million of public money.That is not a forecast.It is not a worst-case scenario.It is not aContinue reading “Angry?”
When Devolution Becomes the Invoice
Homes England, Cornovii and the Grand Tradition of Official Incompetence This article makes no allegation of fraud or corruption. That would require intent. What follows is about something far more pervasive and far more embarrassing: institutional stupidity, protected by process and polished by press releases. If failure carried a health warning, Homes England and ShropshireContinue reading “When Devolution Becomes the Invoice”
Abolish Shropshire Council
It Didn’t Fail. It Worked — Just Not for You Shropshire Council was sold as progress in 2009 One council.One vision.One streamlined authority delivering better services for less money. What we got instead was something far more efficient: a system that concentrates power, disperses blame, and exports failure. Let’s stop pretending this is a glitchContinue reading “Abolish Shropshire Council”
Cowards of the County: Snouts in the Trough
Austerity for residents. Certainty for councillors That is not a talking point — it is the evidence. What follows names those who are paid, recalls the precedent they have chosen to ignore, and records the silence that now defines leadership in Shropshire. Then vs Now: A Matter of Choice Shropshire Council became a unitary authorityContinue reading “Cowards of the County: Snouts in the Trough”
Cowards of the County: Planning by Fear, Silence by Design
This Is What Cowardice Looks Like There is a new planning doctrine stalking Shropshire. It is not written down. It has not been voted on. It comes with no consultation, no mandate, and no courage. It is called Pre‑Emptive Surrender. Its guiding principle is simple: if a developer might win an appeal, fold early, avoidContinue reading “Cowards of the County: Planning by Fear, Silence by Design”
The Alternative Council 