Slicing up Devon

Proposals on how to divide up Devon for a new look local Government have to be on the Minister’s desk by tomorrow. (Friday).
We already know that Plymouth City Council wants to spread north and east, gobbling up 13 South Hams parishes.

Our council leader Julian Brazil (Lib Dem) says the whole thing is a nonsense.
Plymouth’s leader Tudor Evans, a Labour stalwart, says it is a pivotal moment for the sea city. He described the13 parishes as “Plymouth Growth Area”.

Shades of Orwell’s Airstrip One?

Not surprisingly SHDC is repelling all boarders and says those 30,000 residents should remain snug in the embrace of this district. A meeting with the town and parish councils next week (27th March) will reveal the plans being discussed by seven district councils.

Devon County Council too has ideas about what this devolution revolution should look like, as does Exeter City which has decided to go for growth.

Anyone watching the outskirts of Exeter becoming vast housing estates will wonder where else it can spread to…. Plymouth says the whole ”modest expansion” into the South Hams as far east as Ivybridge, Ermington and Ugborough and north to Bickleigh will deliver “better public services, create more jobs and build much needed new homes.”

Whether it is a land grab – as Julian Brazil says – or a sensible streamlining of councils, the final decision won’t be made by me or you as electors, but by the Government, which is determined to bring in its reforms at speed.