THE importance of community connections must be at the heart of plans for a new unitary authority, a local Liberal Democrat councillor has said.
The Government intends to end two-tier council areas – such as Lichfield District Council and Staffordshire County Council – in favour of new bodies covering at least 500,000 residents.
Initial proposals must be drawn up by 21st March before a formal plan is put together in November.
Cllr Paul Ray, leader of the Liberal Democrats at Lichfield District Council, said the changes must be managed carefully in order not to create a disconnection between elected representatives and their residents.
He said:
“These reforms are huge. They will remove second tier councils – like Lichfield District Council – and require that they join up with first tier councils to form a unitary authority.
“The Lichfield Lib Dems do have some reservations about these reforms because they will be very disruptive at a time when we have so much to do to rebuild our economy and public services.
“A fundamental value of Liberal Democrats is the importance of community and so any new council must maintain a close connection with our residents in Lichfield, Burntwood and the villages.
“So we would definitely not support a new unitary authority covering the whole of Staffordshire.
“If these proposals are to go ahead, we would support a South Staffordshire unitary authority – but it is vital that it should not be too large and distant from our residents.
“The new authority has to understand our community so that it can properly deliver services for us all.”
Cllr Ray said the “obvious” link up would see connections between areas covered by Lichfield District Council along with Tamworth Borough Council, East Staffordshire Borough Council and Cannock Chase District Council.
He added:
“But we say that Lichfield District Council should link up with a maximum of three other councils because of the fundamental priority that the new authority must be connected with us here in Lichfield district so it works properly for all of us.”
Well the old saying of ‘Use it or lose it’ would seem to apply here. The turn out for local elections has been abysmally low. The ‘elected’? Councillors have ridden rough shod over those they purport to represent because there is little resistance. This compounds the disinterest in the council and the affairs of the city.
There are few double councils in the country. The others seem to function reasonably alright, although there are common complaints about housing developments and infrastructure.
Whatever Paul Ray wants is immaterial. Parliament will make the decision. The long suffering electorate will continue to suffer high rates and poor services whoever holds the reigns.
Considering this leaves South Staffordshire itself and Stafford in the wilderness, I don’t see it happening. Sadly we could well see Cannock, East Staffs Lichfield, Stafford and Tamworth in some daft mega authority.
When I look at Tamworth, Cannock and Burton (East Staffordshire) I don’t see any common heritage, shared culture, and those places certainly feel distant to me. I’m proud to be from Lichfield, we’re special, we’re unique and great.
My biggest gripe is that these changes mean larger towns & cities will hold all the cards when it comes to the council. At the moment, Lichfield District has a near 50-50 split between people living in Lichfield & Burtnwood vs the villages and rural areas. This means that village and rural voices matter. In Tamworth Borough, 100% of the population lives in Tamworth, and in Cannock Chase borough 99% of people live in Urban Greater Cannock & Rugeley.
Our local voices will be drowned out by our surronding larger towns, but we’ll be the ones footing the bill as our district has the highest proportion of higher council tax band homes in Staffordshire.