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Strategic Partnership: The challenges ahead for county | This is Cornwall

As reported in The Cornishman/West Briton

LAST week the Cornish newspapers asked: "Was this the day local democracy in Cornwall died?"

The answer is that our democracy died the day we were forced to accept a unitary council. It died when the Government, in answering my challenge for evidence to support its unitary decision, replied to me that "The Government should explain, that their criteria on support for unitary is not about whether there is a majority of stakeholders or a majority of local citizens or a majority of some other group of interested persons who support or approve the unitary proposal; but the decision for unitary is based on sufficient support for it to be successful".

In other words we had no choice in it.

We all know just how unsuccessful it has been and, with Alec Robertson at the helm, it never stood a chance. Alec should now resign or be sacked and return back to running his pub or club, but even that may be difficult as I have heard many councillors say that he could not organise a party in a brewery – or words like that.

Mr Robertson has never understood – and this is paramount for success – that his critical objective is to obtain the best out of each and every one of his team.

All he and his Cabinet members appear to continually demonstrate is their contribution towards the demolition of the other team members' morale.

In doing so this indirectly puts two fingers up to the public's opinions, comments and needs.

It also makes a complete mockery of his June 2009 speech, in which he stated that: "We need to work together and prove to the people that we can do what is needed."

Mr Robertson boasts that the council's commitment to training and developing staff has resulted in Cornwall scooping the Workforce Award for Human Resources – a local government equivalent of the Oscars.

Well Mr Robertson, I think you are the only winner of an Oscar – for the part you played acting as our council leader. It fooled us all until today – goodbye.

DEREK ELLIOTT

Angarrack