Traditionally, the summer holidays are known as the silly season within politics. Westminster shuts down, and with it reports on parliamentary debates and government policies. Many are on holiday, including journalists, trying to escape the rather depressing news agenda. Exeter has decided to produce its vision for how Devon should look following the Local Government Reorganisation. As I said, it’s the silly season.

From what I can see, they have taken all the valuable land with respect to business rates generation and house building opportunities within about a 10-mile radius of the city. At the same time, they’ve supported Plymouth’s ridiculous land grab in the South Hams. I haven’t got a problem with politicians fighting for what they think is best for their residents. After all, that’s their job and certainly better than working for their own vested interests. But not if it’s to the detriment of others, like the rest of Devon.

Quite why rural residents of the South Hams would want to be absorbed into debt-ridden urban Plymouth is beyond me. (The relative debt for Plymouth Council is over 4 times that of Devon County Council, standing at over £2500 per person.) No one’s fooled into believing it’s about becoming a rural-focused council. No, for both Exeter and Plymouth, it’s about trying to seize what they can in an ‘I’m alright Jack’ approach. The rest of us can just pick up the pieces.

The best comedy moments have thus far come from the Exeter City Council debate. One councillor accused the rest of us of ill-thought-out, a pack of fag packet options. Evidently. Clumping local authority areas together just isn’t going to work. Well, we can probably agree on that, but it’s what the government has told us to do. The instructions are clear; create unitary councils using the existing second-tier councils as the building blocks, and your solution should be for the whole area affected, not just your own authority.

Exeter’s plan appears to break just about every rule we’ve been set by the government. Does it use existing authorities as building blocks? No. Does it present a feasible plan for the rest of Devon? No. And does it reach the 500,000 population threshold? No.

Of course, the final decision rests with the Labour government. Proposals must be submitted by the end of November, after which they’ll select their preferred option and open a public consultation. The process is meant to deliver better services more efficiently, but it could also be seen as an attempt to undermine the last two Labour strongholds in Devon. Perhaps that’s too cynical – but it does smell like gerrymandering.

As I’ve said before, most members of the public have absolutely no interest in the subject, and who can blame them? It’s just incredibly frustrating that the central government is telling local government how to reorganise. Latest estimates say it’s going to cost about £100 million in Devon, and there’s no guarantee it will be anything different. Yes, they can divert money to the two new urban-centric unitaries, but that won’t last. Doesn’t look like the present government is going to be around for long. It’s turning into a pointless exercise, costing time and money when we have day-to-day issues to deal with.