Morlands fiasco

Today I offer the English language two new versions of a tired old word.
“Morland” is now both a verb and a noun – the verb, “to morland”, means to delay or procrastinate indefinitely, while the noun “morland” has come to mean a waste of public money by unaccountable organisations.
These additions to our already rich vocabulary are inspired by the fiasco of the unelected South West Regional Development Agency (SWRDA) spending eight years and £19 million of taxpayers’ money on the Morlands site, in Glastonbury, without creating any permanent jobs there.
The brownfield site now known as Morlands used to be occupied by two rival tanneries.
Clark Son and Morland Ltd shut down in 1982, and the small Baily’s tannery closed in 1992. Since then, this prime site has been left sadly unused.
In its eight years of control, SWRDA’s few achievements have included building a reputation for inefficiency and arrogance. A small example is how they did not tell the local newspaper that they were pulling out of Morlands despite the fact that we ask them every week for progress reports on the empty site.
Now the baton is being passed to a reluctant and cash-strapped Mendip District Council. They were involved in previous failures to redevelop the site. Lets hope they do better this time.
One thing is certain – Mid Somerset News & Media will keep badgering whoever is in charge about the disgrace that is Morlands.
Philip Welch