East Devon DC has suggested the historic county of Devon be split into two unitaries with a city in each, in a move which would include changing the boundaries of two existing unitaries. However, Exeter City Council is seeking unitary status on its own.
All seven of Devon’s districts oppose the county’s request to delay elections this year and move to a single county unitary. At the beginning of the year they issued a joint statement to that effect, but two have now set out different options for reorganisation.
East Devon has said its “preferred option” is becoming part of a new unitary involving North Devon, Mid Devon and Teingbriege DCs along with Exeter City Council. Another unitary would then be created bringing together the existing unitaries Plymouth City Council and Torbay Council with South Hams and Torridge DCs and West Devon DC.
Papers prepared for a meeting earlier this month said the “people of Devon would be best served after the abolition of the county council by the two new unitaries, containing a city in each this being Plymouth to the west, and Exeter to the east.”
A proposal about how Devon could be reshaped in the biggest overhaul of local government in 50 years looks set to suggest the county should have three councils. A so-called ‘1-5-4’ proposal is understood to have been agreed upon by several Devon councils, with details set to be announced in the coming days.
The model suggests that the ‘1’ is Plymouth, which will remain as a unitary authority but may expand its borders slightly east into the South Hams. The ‘5’ in the proposal would be a combination of East Devon, Mid Devon, North Devon, Exeter and Torridge into one large council, while the ‘4’ would be South Hams, Teignbridge, West Devon and Torbay merging into another.
The proposal comes as the government looks to sweep away the two-tier model of local government where two councils have responsibility for different services within the same area; such as Devon County Council being responsible for roads, but district councils collecting household waste within the same boundary. Instead, the government wants areas to have fewer but larger unitary councils responsible for all the services in their area. It would prefer councils to have cover areas of 500,000 people, but may allow so-called ‘growth areas’ to have smaller numbers.
Councils have been given until Thursday 21 March to submit initial proposals to the government about how their areas could be reorganised to create a smaller number of bigger councils.
Devon has 11 councils at present, but this could reduce to three if the 1-5-4 proposal is accepted. A source with knowledge of the talks, who did not want to be named, said seven of Devon’s district councils are collaborating on the proposal, but that Exeter – the county’s eighth district council – still had ambitions of going it alone and becoming a unitary council.
Devon’s eleven councils have less than five weeks to develop a joint proposal for local government reorganisation covering the whole of Devon, Plymouth and Torbay after local government minister Jim McMahon invited them to submit their initial plans by 21 March.
In a letter sent earlier this month to all Devon’s council CEOs and leaders, as well as Devon’s thirteen MPs and the Devon & Cornwall Police and Crime Commissioner, the minister also set out the criteria, guidance and timeline for the submission of council reorganisation plans that the government wants delivered in tandem with wider South West peninsula devolution.
Within weeks Devon County Council and Exeter City Council each declared conflicting intentions to go it alone, leaving Devon’s seven other district councils out in the cold, at the same time supporting the creation of a peninsula-wide mayoral strategic authority to sit above the unitaries despite unequivocal opposition to the idea from Cornwall Council and all bar one of Cornwall’s six MPs.
However, the political weather changed when Devon County Council’s plan to postpone the local elections failed alongside its application to join the government’s fast-track devolution priority programme. A county-wide consensus has since been gaining traction, with most of Devon’s councils already on board, according to several sources who are familiar with the matter. Only Exeter City Council is standing in its way while County Hall has yet to make up its mind.
A name for the new authority
The choices will be made by District councillors – and yet they will also affect what happens to town councils.
Cllr Edward Willis Fleming, vice-chair of the town council’s Tourism & Economy committee, has shared his thoughts with fellow councillors. His comments are published here with permission:
Sooner rather than later the two new Authorities will be announced in Devon and will be given new names.
As Vice Chair of Sidmouth Tourism and Economy, please can I suggest that we resist the word “East” being used again. I think it sends the wrong message to potential visitors to what is arguably one of the very best parts of the west England. The “Westcountry” wordage sounds great but the minute you start talking about the “east” of the region, many people starting thinking of connotations with The East Wind, East Berlin, The East End, The Beast from the East, The Eastern Block and so on. I am convinced that it is a turn off for many who might otherwise come and so we need a name that is inviting and inspires. Places with names like Slough, Skegness, Scunthorpe do not inspire a visit, nor does East Croydon!
At the very least can I persuade our District members to run a competition for what the new Regional Area might be called. For instance, with The Exe, Otter, Sid and Axe then how about “The Four Rivers Authority”.
Cllr Kevin Walker, VGS representative on the town council, gives his own suggestion:
A competition would be good. I favour ‘Raleigh Country’ or something Jurassic.
Any thoughts on both the make-up and the name of the new authority for this part of Devon?
