I am responding to Cllrs John Tucker and Simon Wright’s recent letter in respect of the proposed merger between South Hams District Council and West Devon Borough Council.
Firstly, I would like to say that Kingsbridge Town Council voted unanimously to reject the proposals, having been influenced by the following considerations.
1. Council tax payments to SHDC, excluding the county council, town council, police and fire service,?for a South Hams band D household is, at present, around £155 per year. This is £63 less than the present £218 for the equivalent household in West Devon. Under SHDC’s proposal, ours would rise by £63 but West Devon’s would remain the same. So South Hams households would be funding West Devon’s ongoing deficit. This is not equalisation, it is subsidy.
2. Cllr Tucker did not mention in his letter that West Devon has agreed, in principle, to borrow £25m to invest in property in the Midlands hoping to make a profit. These transactions are always a gamble and, if as elsewhere, the project failed, as one council we would go down with them.
3. SHDC alleges that the merger could save £500,000, but its own figures show that the proposed increase in council tax would raise £2.3m, which was not mentioned in the letter. I feel that if council tax needs to be increased, the money should remain in the SHDC area so that our services are maintained and not used to bail out a failing council.
4. If the proposed rise in council tax is more than two per cent or £5, SHDC would normally have to launch a referendum to gain agreement for the proposal, and if it felt that its arguments were strong and persuasive, then I’m sure residents would vote accordingly. But instead, SHDC appears to be going by the back door for permission from central government, thereby bypassing local democracy.
5. There would be a reduction in the number of councillors from 62 to 48 with the inevitable triggering of a boundary review, resulting in a weakening of local democracy.
6. The One Council consultation and questionnaire are deeply flawed, with selective information, answers to questions being compulsory and no option to say “None of the above.”
Regrettably, Cllrs Tucker and Wright appear to contradict themselves in first stating that West Devon is facing similar problems to South Hams but then stating that West Devon is likely to go bust!
If West Devon did go under, the Department of Communities & Local Government would send in commissioners to run the authority until it got back on its feet and they would undoubtedly ensure that West Devon continued to work jointly with South Hams which has kept West Devon afloat until now.
All this would take place alongside increases demanded from Devon County Council, the police, service and parish/ town councils. I firmly believe that SHDC is asking our households to bear an unfair and unnecessary burden.
Cllr Barrie Fishman
Kingsbridge Town Council