Clayhidon Parish Council

M. C. Osmond Oak Cottage, Clerk Rosemary Lane, Clayhidon, CULLOMPTON Devon EX15 3PQ Review Manager (Devon Review) The Boundary Committee for England Trevelyan House Great Peter Street London SW1P 2HW 9 April 2008

Devon Boundary Review

Dear Sir,

Thank you for the opportunity to comment on the issues surrounding the potential for unitary councils within Devon. The parish council has held its Annual Parish Meeting this week and this matter was aired with parishioners. The following general comments are the result of that “grass-roots” consultation.

Shame it is Devon Only

It was considered a great shame that the review did not have the opportunity to look at the “edges” of the County of Devon. Our parish sits on the border with Somerset and is geographically closer to Wellington and Taunton than any Devon town. In viewing the variety of maps made available to the public by Devon County Council, great interest was shown in the “travel to work” graphical representations. If such a map was produced showing “travel to work” for Taunton or Wellington we are confident that the north and east of Devon would display similar results as those shown for the modern hinterland of Exeter, Plymouth and Torbay. Modern living, with improved road communication, now means that the historical links down river valleys and now disused railways no longer apply. Parishioners have no real links to the District Council (Mid Devon) and would have even less with a combination of North Devon/Torridge etc.

Urban with Rural

The parish is well aware that the cost of providing services to locations such as ours is more costly than providing them in towns or cities. Our parish is 19 miles long by several miles wide, but with less than 500 souls, and the council tax take, although high for individual families, would not provide sufficient to meet the weekly collection of rubbish – our only regular council provided service. Road maintenance is the only other service received here – and that is irregular and very limited. Any new council boundary must combine both urban and rural areas if these services are not to be reduced further.

Councillors

We enjoy two District Councillors and one County Councillor. Few parishioners know the difference between them and their alleged spheres of interest. Indeed the County Councillor is a District Councillor in another ward. This is a crazy situation. One local councillor for the parish to harangue is quite enough. The financial savings would be significant, and a lot of dead wood would be removed.

Conclusion

The parishioners were unsure how the aims of financial savings and greater line accountability from parish to council could be achieved with more than one layer of democratic body. A Devon wide unitary authority with some form of low level grouping of parishes would seem to be the only option. Any change would have to be radically different to the current County and District councils, or all that would happen is a change of name but “business as normal” with Officers and Councillors merely swapping titles.

Yours sincerely,

M C Osmond Clerk