WEST Dorset District Council has come under fire for its slow reaction to a referendum calling for a change in the way it is run.

The South and West Dorset Green Party is calling for the council to immediately honour the results of a referendum where more than 16,000 out of 25,000 voters called for a change from the current cabinet style system to a committee based system.

The council has since revealed the new system will not come into force until May next year, which Cllr Kelvin Clayton - who is chairman of the South and West Dorset Green Party and a Bridport town councillor - described as a "slap in the face".

He said: "You could send a manned space mission to Mars in less time than West Dorset councillors say it will take to rearrange the seating around their cabinet table.

"People voted by a big majority to replace this unpopular single party cabinet with a wider range of voices and opinions. 

"Why don‘t they get on with it? 

"I call on the leader of the council to explain why this implementation will take so long."

The referendum was triggered by a petition from the non-political Public First Group, with the Green Party hitting back at claims that the £95,000 estimated cost of the poll was "regrettable".

Cllr Clayton said: "Public First should be congratulated not criticised. If the council had listened to them in the first place this wouldn’t have gone to a vote. 

"Local politics only works if local people feel they have a real say in the issues affecting their neighbourhoods. 

"The latest decision to ignore the verdict of the referendum for the next 12 months is an insult to the 25,000 people who took the time and trouble to take part."

He added: "How on earth can West Dorset Council’s leaders claim they want to listen to people when they behave like this. 

"Some of the cabinet appear to be living in the 19th century. The rest of us are living in the 21st. It would be nice if they could join us."

Leader of West Dorset District Council Anthony Alford said: "The change to the committee system cannot be implemented overnight, it’s a fundamentally different form of local governance falling under different legislative control.

"It will require a complete review of the council’s constitution covering everything from committee procedures to financial regulations.

"The district council will be involving all councillors in the review process. The public would expect members to have a full debate and consideration of the alternatives and the ways that procedures will change.

"The overall process will take many months to complete and will be followed by the formal decision making process by councillors.

"If there is a possibility to implement a change sooner than May 2017 then this will be reviewed over the months ahead and after the relevant consideration of the processes and legislation."