Calstock Parish councillors voiced their concerns at the last council meeting over the proposal for a mayor for Cornwall.

Several councillors expressed concerns and were opposed to the idea.

Levelling-up plans announced by the Government last year saw Cornwall Council sign a £360 million Devolution Deal which would give Cornwall more power and control over things such as the adult education budget. The deal mean, however, that in order to transfer the power, Cornwall would also require a mayor.

Following news of the devolution deal and the announcement that Cornwall would need a directly elected mayor, there was campaigning across the Duchy as councillors called for a referendum.

Calstock Parish Council was among those that supported the idea for a referendum. However, in November last year it was then announced that the decision for a referendum on Cornwall having an elected mayor was then deferred until a 10-week public consultation had been completed.

The consulation on the proposed Cornwall Devolution Deal which includes the proposal for a mayor for Cornwall began on December 10 and will run until midnight on February 17.

At the parish council meeting, numerous councillors expressed concern over Cornwall having a mayor and discussed the plan of action in response to the consultation.

Cllr Alastair Tinto said: ‘I’ve got some concerns about this so called ‘big deal’. There’s a lot of pressure from Cornwall Council and the Government to say that we ought to accept it. I’m not sure I’m keen on the idea. It talks about a lot of new powers but I think they’re pretty vague. It’s not really a great amount of devolution and it’s not clear to me why Cornwall needs a mayor in order to do all these things.

‘We’re a single authoity and Bristol is too and has had a mayor, and has just had a referendum to abolish the mayor.’

Cllr Tinto’s views were echoed by other councillors, including Cllr Jim Flashman.

‘I’m against it personally’, said Jim.

‘I think it’s totally wrong that someone should be solely responsible for all this money. I think the council should be in charge of the finances. It sounds like Cornwall Council are basically going to wash their hands once they get a mayor and if anything goes wrong with it they’ll kick the mayor out.’

Parish councillor and Cornwall councillor Dorothy Kirk also questioned the financial benefits of the deal and said: ‘This is the equivalent to about 40p/week for the average Cornish person. No one is very convinced of the advantages of this being shoved on us and we’re being bribed and if you’re going to bribe us at least make it worth our while but 40p/week frankly isn’t worth our conscience.’

Chair, Jim Wakem added: ‘Personally I’m against a mayor. But I do feel that democracy in Cornwall has gone anyway.’

The discussion concluded with the council deciding to gather imput from each councillor before the next meeting and at that meeting to agree on a statement to send as part of the consulation.