Should we aim for a unitary authority?

There will be a lot of sympathy with the proposal from Maidstone council’s leader David Burton that it is time to re-shape our system of local government with a view to forming a unitary authority.

To say that there has been a lack of joined-up thinking between Maidstone borough and KCC in recent years would be an understatement sometimes it has bordered on outright hostility.

One of the biggest areas of dissent has been over traffic and highways. We’ve lost count of the number of times borough councillors have wished to refuse an unsatisfactory planning application on highways grounds, only to be told they couldn’t because KCC has raised no objection.

That often leaves residents uncertain who to blame, with some suspecting the borough sometimes uses KCC as a good excuse when approving an unpopular proposal.

Clearly planning and highways cannot really be separated and we would all benefit if one set of councillors considered all the matters.

But KCC also deals with some very big services such as education and social care, of which the borough councillors have no experience.

Because of the scale needed to deliver these services efficiently, Maidstone would need to combine probably with two or more authorities.

That would likely mean we ended up with fewer councillors overall, each covering a wider area. As well as making the councillors more remote from electors, bigger wards also favour the political status quo, as it becomes harder for Independents or smaller parties to get elected.

Perhaps that is part of the appeal for Cllr Burton?

‘Bigger wards favour the political status quo’