Single unitary authority proposal best for North Yorkshire
NOW that councils have received a letter inviting them to put forward proposals regarding local government reorganisation, I am of the opinion, as the former leader of Scarborough Borough Council and as a county councillor, that North Yorkshire County Council should be successful with their bid to create a new authority.
As a councillor representing Scalby and the Coast I accept if NYCC is successful with its bid, this will create a whole new authority within the curtilage of North Yorkshire.
It is a very important point that the size of the new unitary authority will not be any bigger than it is now and not encroach into any neighbouring council area.
At the moment the NYCC delivers very good services both in Adult and Child Care, which could put lives at risk if such experience is lost in breaking up what is already well respected services. Other services including education, highways and economic development are all punching well above their weight.
The proposal by the district and borough council leaders to create an Eastern Unitary and a Western Unitary is ridiculous to the point that, quite rightly, the City of York have made it perfectly clear that they do not want to play any part in the Eastern Unitary.
Have they considered what will happen to the police and fire service following the excellent way our police commissioner Julia Mulligan is running the service? This service would need splitting in two, with expertise and knowledge lost.
Parish and town councils will be encouraged to take on more responsibilities where there is a desire to do so, step by step with professional support similar to how the libraries transferred into “local ownership”.
Iwould urge all interested parties toback thecountycouncil unitary bid. It’s a bid that will serve the people in a most professional way, abid thatwill servethepeople in the most cost effective way, a bid that will prove the present County
Council has an excellent track record, abidthatwill workwith businesses to attract investment, a bid that will set out how it intends to improve the economy and a bid that will show the diverse beauty of thecounty.
From: Jarvis Browning, York.
ONE way to make Staithes equal is to reunite Cleveland back into North Riding and bring back the West Riding as well as the East Riding. The previous system worked well before the boundary changes.