ONLY in the public sector could there be such blatant disregard for the views of the very people who pay the wages and such arrogance when it comes to backing down and admitting they got it wrong.

Whether it is arrogance or embarrassment this dogged attempt to save face is fast turning into a script for a TV sit-com.

Even Gloucestershire County Council’s own district council has offered it a get out of jail card.

Stroud District Council has very generously offered to contribute financially to an independent report to look at alternatives to the incinerator at Javelin Park in an effort to find a solution to this very fine mess we are now in.

Leader Geoff Wheeler has said the district council would be willing to jointly commission a report to look at the alternatives.

Crikey can the combined opposition to this ridiculous proposal make it any clearer?

The world has moved on since the contract was signed and technology has changed.

It’s like saying motor cars would never outstrip the popularity of penny farthings and as for driverless cars, pass the vapours.

GCC says it has already completed a six-month re-appraisal of the alternatives. So that’s it then. Conversation over. Everybody get back in your boxes.

Could the council at least open its mind to the alternatives and for once listen to the people who from the start have been against this – its own planning department, councillors, the public and now the district council.

The only thing worse than making a mistake is refusing to admit it.