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Home , Clyst St George

September 2008

Messrs Sam Hartley & Tim Bowden BCfE Trevelyan House Gt Peter Street LONDON SW1P 2HW

Dear Sam Hartley & Tim Bowden 2008 structural review of local government in My original letter discussed parished-Devon's future: a single-unitary-shire or parished-unitary-ridings or two-unitary-pattern. That letter then suggested an urban-based greater- because rural Devon is wholly parished. There needs to be a third urban-based unitary in Devon: the city of Exeter. Two (2) unitary pattern is the sensible solution: enlarged city-of-Exeter and parished- Devon. The future of local government has to be unitary not 2-tier, shire & district: there should be clarity of service-provider not current confusing chaos.

Before opting for the Committee’s (BCfE) draft-proposal - new Devon unitary - we must ask is it reasonable for a major economic hub that is an historic city & borough constituency, to loose its own >800y old democratically elected 'local- council' whilst in parished-Devon small-towns will retain their own local-councils eg , , Barnstable ie a major hub Exeter is un-parished.

Devolution & subsidiarity were dealt with, in 1969, by an honestly rigorous Royal Commission: all communities to retain an elected 'local-council' whilst the unitary-council would determine the depth of subsidiarity in rural unitaries. Frequency of local elections greatly influences a council's character: counties retire full-council, LGA-2000 allows for half-council to retire, whilst in Exeter members retire by thirds.

Size of council with its electoral-divisions (ED) or ward decides the frequency: in Co Durham UA the single-member ED have become 2-member wards allowing for half-council to retire. Last July in Cornwall their IE proposed a 123-member UA to replace current 82-member arrangement: with 41-wards they can be 3-cllr thus to retire by thirds will enhance democratic accountability to the electors. Wholly parished Devon UA could retire by halves if each current 1-member ED becomes a 2-member ward.

"Exeter in 2026" http://www.electoralcommission.org.uk/__data/assets/pdf_file/0017/42029/exeter-cc.pdf “[greater Exeter] ... a city that is a key economic driver ... will, [by 2026] according to the SWRDA, have taken its economy past that of ... it will be the biggest economic driver S & W of Bristol, ... Science Park ... Skypark ... will provide quality space for ... business growth in the city. ... as in York ... benefits of LG focused on a major urban area ... will have largely become ... by 2026 a force for prosperity ..."

My alternative is greater Exeter with : please study schedule & map.

______Peter Kingswood RIBA

September 2008

2008 structural-review of Local Government in DEVON … proposed unitary’s WARDS: the city of EXETER with EXMOUTH ward name cllr constituent units ZONE ======Alphington 3 [Exeter (Xtr)] Alphington ward WEST Cowick 2 [Xtr] Cowick St Thomas 2 [Xtr] St Thomas Exwick 3 [Xtr] Exwick Duryard 2 [Xtr] Duryard ward NORTH Pennsylvania 2 Huxham-CP, and [Xtr] Pennsylvania ward Mincinglake 2 [Xtr] Mincinglake Pinhoe 2 [Xtr] Pinhoe ward St David’s 2 [Xtr] St David’s ward CENTRAL St James 2 [Xtr] St James Newtown 2 [Xtr] Newtown Polsloe 2 [Xtr] Polsloe Heavitree 2 [Xtr] Heavitree Whipton 3 [Xtr] Whipton & Barton St Leonard’s 2 [Xtr] St Leonard’s ward SOUTH Priory 3 [Xtr] Priory St Loye’s 2 [Xtr] St Loye’s Topsham 2 [Xtr] Topsham ward Clyst Rural 2 -CP + transfer-IN (w), RURAL Clyst -CP + transfer-IN (sw), -CP, Clyst St Mary-CP, Farringdon-CP, Clyst St George-CP, -CP + transfer-IN (se) Woodbury 1 Woodbury-CP Exmouth Town 2 Exmouth Town ward EXMOUTH 3 Exmouth Littleham Lympstone & 3 Lympstone-CP, and Exmouth Halsdon ward Halsdon Withycombe 3 Exmouth Withycombe Raleigh Brixington 2 Exmouth Brixington ward of Exmouth-CP ======total 56-members in city’s council of the future == summary: * 25# wards: 1# 1-mem, 17# 2-mem, 7# 3-members; * 11-CP with un-parished city of Exeter. ======(w) that pt of Broad Clyst-CP (BC) w of M5: PinhoeWithout; (sw) that pt of BC s-&-w of SW-railway & Mosshayne La (fp); (se) that pt of BC south-east of SW-railway: Crannaford.

______Peter Kingswood RIBA

September 2008

BCfE’s draft proposal is a unitary Devon in which the, >15% of the extant popu- lation, city of Exeter will loose their local government: & thus a substantial urban area would be disenfranchised! Also they suggest a 2-unitary (UA) pattern: an enlarged city of Exeter with a parished 'necklace' or 'Polo mint' would include the urban parish [(& town)] of Exmouth, & wholly parished Devon. This Polo's hollow centre would be the city [of Exeter]: it is too large to become a 'town- council', because the LGA 1972 restricts former-municipalities ability to mutate into parish-councils: in future the Lord-Mayor to be elected by Charter-Trustees.

BCfE's alternative suggestion an estuarine Exeter-with-Exmouth UA has viability: but, with a 'necklace' of parishes it ignores shire’s geography & the city's current eastward economic expansion based upon the region’s airport in . The Regional Spatial Strategy (RSS) 2006-2026 identifies new growth points in Poltimore, Clyst Honiton, & Rockbeare: all in rural nether Clyst. There is no need to expand westward: Haldon Hills are to be in the future a recreation-area adjoining Forest NP. To the north a clear identifiable boundary are the rivers Exe & Culm: Huxham PC could join the city UA. To the east & south-east is CROW Act 2000 'access-land' eg Woodbury Common, Aylesbeare Common with the B3180: these uplands are a clear boundary for an urban-based UA.

3-alternatives for greater Exeter are: * a minimal expansion, RSS identifies growth points in Poltimore, Clyst Honiton, & Rockbeare & 3-pieces of BroadClyst; * A good expansion will be Clyst Rural ward, please see above schedule; * The BCfE's adventurous expansion will also include the estuarine coast along to [the parish of] Exmouth.

In Devon UA area) elected members sub-committees (panels) need to balance rural with urban: >=8-panels <=11-subcommittes of the UA. Cornwall's IE 'lost the plot' when instead of 7-panels it proposed a score of micro-committees. My justification for size is >30y in RBWM: there are 2-development control panels. In conclusion, there must be a third urban-based-unitary: city of Exeter with [nether-Clyst & estuarine-Exe to] Exmouth. Please consider this suggestion for neighbourhood en-powerment in greater Exeter.

Yours sincerely

Peter Kingswood enc: AS PROPOSED [map of] Exeter with Exmouth

______Peter Kingswood RIBA