Council fights to survive
AS Wear Valley District Council faces extinction, calls for a Crook town council are getting louder.The Government announced plans on Tuesday to take the next step in replacing Durham County Council, and the region¹s district councils, with one Œsuper¹ council.
But Crook councillors are fighting back by campaigning for a new kind of representation.
Cllr Mowbray, Cllr Murphy, and Cllr Brown are all hoping that a new Crook town council could offset the damage done by the loss of the district council.
Cllr Mowbray said: ³With a unitary system on the cards town councils should end up with more teeth and more funding to address the balance.
³This is too important to become party political so we are hoping that the Crook Community Partnership could champion the idea.
³It would require a petition with about 1,000 signatures depending on boundaries to make it happen.
³If a unitary council becomes a reality there will be no Wear Valley District Council, and no district councillors so each place will need its own town council, otherwise the voice of Crook will come from Willington or Bishop Auckland.
³We would like to make an offer to the Partnership that if they want to take on the process we could provide them with all the information needed.
David English, who is vice chair of Crook Community Partnership, said: ³If we are approached about organising a town council we will look into it as long as it is made clear to people that it could cost them more Council Tax.
Andrew Hall, who is a trustee of the Partnership, said: ³We will work with anybody if it is for the betterment of the area² The move towards unitary local government has been slammed by the district councils.
Cllr Bob Fleming, leader of Sedgefield BC and Chairman of the Durham Districts¹ Forum, said: ³This will have a negative impact on local people and there is a real risk that some of the most vulnerable in communities those who rely on local council services will be at risk.
³Then there is the cost of this transition which, in our view and that of independent consultants, is likely to be £25m double what the County claim and money that could be invested to properly serve local people.
³District Councils won¹t be bulldozed by the Government and over the consultation period we will formally state our objections in the strongest possible terms.
However, not everybody is against the unitary system.
Durham County Council Leader Albert Nugent has welcomed the Government¹s decision to consult on his authority¹s proposals for a shake-up of local government in the county.
He said: ³ The Government has closely examined the individual merits of every submission and has measured each set of proposals against the criteria it set out.
³We are delighted that our submission has met this criteria and that it has cleared this important hurdle in the review process.² The Government is expected to announce its final decision on any reform in July.
Wear Valley District Council has 39 councillors and 629 members of staff on the pay roll.
