WE are being asked to make a decision on the basis of little detailed information on the way a unitary authority would be run or any idea of cost — we are asked to accept that there will be advantages as yet unquantified! Can we leave it to chance?
The strongest voices in favour are those who stand to gain the most and who have not, in my view, been closest to the 'grass roots' of the local population who will be even more sparsely represented. In other words a dilution of local democracy as a number of parish councils are simply not equipped to assume many of the tasks handled by borough and district councils, whose local knowledge of an area enables a balanced approach among adjacent parishes.
The proposal that Community Boards would be capable of fufilling this role is questionable at best and a non-starter at worst. Their likely content, again just a proposal, sounds uninspiring!
When has big in this type of exercise ever been beautiful and is it really a ruse to get more control nearer the centre? If one believes, for example, that there is any chance of council tax being reduced as a result, then you will believe anything!
David Sommerfelt
Highland Farm, Whitchurch