It has suited the Westminster government to agree with the proposal put forward by Plymouth City Council.

Most of the services we have in Ivybridge will likely continue much as they do now. Changes may come after April 2028 as the new authority begins to implement its own plans. As always, do vote, even in these lower tier elections.

I have been keen to keep Ivybridge as my focus since I was first elected in 2019. Our historic setting will not be lost. The river and town centre will remain identifiable, and the heart of our community will continue through our local shops, businesses, halls and community groups.

We were asked for our views, and I believed there were better solutions.

It is hard to see how expanding two cities and a small unitary authority, which did not even ask to grow, provides the best solution for the fourth unitary, Coast & Country, which will retain the same geographical extent, from Salcombe to Ilfracombe and Tavistock to Axminster, but without the economic drivers: no city, no university and none of the larger businesses. If Westminster wanted to be awkward, how about including Saltash and Torpoint in Plymouth?

We have clear town boundaries, a town council that owns and operates property through local staff, councillors elected from within the community, landmarks from the Ivy Bridge to The Watermark, and our parks, clubs and societies. Yet there is a battle ahead. There will be four Ivybridge councillors, 11 across the 13 parishes, compared with 57 already in Plymouth. Plymouth City Council is particularly divided, alternating between Labour and Conservative control.

Elections are won by those who turn up: as candidates, as campaigners, as voters, and by those who will ultimately determine policy in the new unitary authority.