The proposed merger of South Hams and West Devon Council has been described as not being: “a marriage of equals” by Cllr. Phillip Lafferty-Holt.

On Wednesday, September 25, Salcombe Town Council discussed the ‘One Council’ issue at length to reach a unanimous opposition to the proposal.

It was concluded that there were no benefits for the South Hams and it was negatively perceived as a way to subsidise and save West Devon from their current debt.

Cllr. Lang began the discussion by objecting to having to pay more council tax for the same services, which was seconded by other councillors who were unimpressed with the amount of frontline service cuts that had already occurred. District Cllr. Judy Pearce highlighted that West Devon are in the top quartile of councils across the country, whereas Salcombe are lower down in the third quartile.

Consequently, a merger would result in the joint council being one of the most expensive councils in the country.

Additionally, issues were highlighted about the lack of information available on how much income would be raised through the increase in tax and where this would go.

Cllr. Pearce explained that the extra tax income which will amount to around 2.5 million will be: “spread across all areas for both councils”.

Deputy mayor, Cllr. Nikki Turton questioned whether West Devon Council are definitely going ahead with the borrowing and investment venture that had been proposed before this.

In response, Cllr. Pearce explained how: “West Devon have stated that they will not proceed with their investment until the decision on the One Council has been made.

“But they haven’t said that they will not go ahead in the future”, which frustrated councillors.

Cllr. Lafferty-Holt asked whether the feedback from West Devon Councils and residents had been positive, to which Cllr. Pearce replied that: “I think the deal is more attractive, particularly for West Devon residents.

Though she admitted that: “So far I have had fairly negative responses from people who have attended Parish Councils that I have been to so far” in the South Hams but added that: “there is the odd person who says that it is the only thing to be done so we need to go ahead with it.”

Logistical issues were also highlighted which brought light to why West Devon have struggled with their administration and budget and how the administration would change if the merger took place.

Cllr. Pearce explained that West Devon have a much smaller population than the South Hams but their population is much more sparsely populated which makes services and administration more difficult. Both councils have 31 councillors which would need to be altered if the merger took place to ensure that each councillor was representing a similar size population.

Currently: “a South Hams councillor represents about 2,400 people and West Devon only represent around 1,400 people.” This would need to be equalised.

Cllr. Lindy Sinnott asked Cllr. Pearce what the residents of South Hams have to gain from the merger, which Cllr. Pearce struggled to respond to directly.

“It will be the largest lower tier council in Devon with the largest population that could make us more sustainable, but there would be sparsity issues.”

After prompts from Cllr. Turton, Cllr. Pearce stated that there would be what she preferred to call: “a rationalisation of frontline services, not frontline cuts.”

She stressed that: “It is happening all over the country but the South Hams is fortunate because there are new housing development programmes such as Sherford”

However, when prompted again about what the South Hams has to gain, Cllr Pearce admitted that: “I am finding this quite hard to answer.”

In summary, Cllr. Pearce pointed out that ‘We’ve been living together for ten years, so to split would be quite expensive but what you have got to decide is if we actually need to get married.”

Salcombe responded to this with a unanimous agreement that the “marriage” of the two councils was not a sensible way forward.