Brewer Simon Buckley throws challenge down to councillors

Letter to the editor of the Carmarthen Journal from Simon Buckley, chief executive of Llandeilo-based brewery Evan-Evans - 

Dear Madam,
It just goes to show that politicians do listen if you talk to the right ones!
The Budget yet again produced a helping hand for the brewing and pub industry.
If careful balloting of MPs and Government ministers can achieve this huge result, why is it that at a local level we cannot exercise democracy?
Why can’t we see our independent councillors in Carmarthenshire do what they were elected to do: act independently and fight the corner for the electorate and council tax-payers?
The Mark James fiasco is a poor example of so-called ‘Independent’ democracy at work.
It was laughable.
The simple fact is that Meryl’s Gravell’s Gang (and I think the former Leader is still calling the shots) respond to a ‘party’ whip line when voting.
An ‘Independent’ group responding to a whip?
That makes them far from ‘independent’, and certainly emasculated and, dare I say it, incapable. Are there no free thinkers on the council?
Many will face the guillotine of democracy at the next local election, when I know that there will be thousands who turn out to show that when they vote for an independent councillor that is what they expect to get.
The people deserve to be represented by councillors who vote as their constituents want, not on his/her matriarch’s instructions.
The rural economy needs nursing back to life.
To do that, it needs local elected councillors who understand the demands of the community they serve and not hide behind some banner that purports to be independent.
Pubs are still closing at an alarming rate and we in Carmarthenshire need to protect our heritage by being innovative, reducing red tape, and the need for over-zealous council officers, whether they be planners, licensing, or environmental health.
We should replace them with people who care beyond the four’o’clock Friday finish.
As the London property prices scream through the roof, we will see more and more rural pubs closing and being sold as holiday homes, unless we do something now.
I want to lead a fight to reinvigorate the rural pub community and to drive new opportunities for licensees and to drive tourism.
These are simple ideas that need the support of local councillors who are capable of thinking for themselves.
I can deliver my part.
Can our ‘independent’ councillors accept and then deliver on the challenge?

Simon Buckley, Chief Executive Evan-Evans Group Ltd, Rhosmaen Street, Llandeilo.

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