Merger plan would be a disaster, say Vale councillors
A PLAN to merge Cardiff and the Vale of Glamorgan’s councils has drawn scathing criticism from Vale councillors – while Cardiff’s leader has welcomed the “constructive approach” taken.
As reported in yesterday’s Echo, the Welsh Government has announced plans to cut the number of Welsh authorities by more than half, from 22 to as few as 10.
Under one proposal, Cardiff council would merge with the Vale of Glamorgan, Bridgend would join with Rhondda Cynon Taf and Merthyr Tydfil, and Newport would merge with Caerphilly.
Alun Davies, public services cabinet secretary, is the third minister to consider changes to local government in Wales.
Cardiff council’s leader, Huw Thomas, Labour, welcomed moves to create “stronger” councils. But councillors in the Vale warned their authority would be “reduced to ashes”.
Councillor John Thomas, Conservative leader of the Vale council, said it was a “considerable disappointment” that “flawed” plans to reform Wales’ authorities were being resurrected.
He said: “There is absolutely no good reason to merge the Vale of Glamorgan Council, consistently rated as the highest-performing local authority in Wales, with the City of Cardiff Council.
“The Vale of Glamorgan is a very different place to Cardiff, both geographically and culturally, and has very different characteristics and needs to that of the capital city.
“This is something that Welsh Government still fails to understand, even after several years of debate and challenge by this council.
“Typically there has been no meaningful discussion or engagement with councils, or more importantly the local residents that will be affected, ahead of these plans being published.
“It is my hope that this recent announcement represents the start of full and meaningful dialogue and the beginning of the end for these nonsensical plans.”
A green-paper consultation has been published outlining the proposals.
Mr Davies said the move would create “stronger, more sustainable authorities”.
Barry Conservative councillor Vince Bailey said the plans felt like “Groundhog Day”.
He said: “How many times do we have to fight off Labour’s plans to force the Vale into a merger with Cardiff?
“This will be time-consuming and expensive, and will divert muchneeded resources away from better priorities.
“Forcing the Vale into a merger with Cardiff would be a disaster, diluting our influence and taking decisionmaking right into the heart of Cardiff Bay – which has hardly served us well as a county since devolution.
“These proposals put the unique identity of the Vale of Glamorgan on the line, and could see the country’s best-performing council reduced to ashes.”
Mr Davies said a radical approach is needed to make local authorities sustainable in the face of UK government cuts.
Councillor Huw Thomas, Labour’s leader of Cardiff council, said: “Cardiff welcomes this constructive approach from the minister.
“The case for stronger councils is one that I have made myself, and Cardiff has already outlined a range of new powers which would support the city’s development. It is good to see discussion on extended powers for local government featuring in the Green Paper.
“We will reflect carefully on the merger options, to form a considered opinion.”