COUNCILS across Devon are being urged to “pull together” to avoid the county being divided up by the government, writes Guy Henderson.

Green Party councillors say the current proposals for devolving more powers from Whitehall are “a recipe for disaster”.

Devon’s local authorities have a little over three weeks until the Friday, March 21 deadline to come up with workable proposals.

The government wants to do away with district councils, replacing the current system with a “streamlined” network of larger unitary authorities.

Several Devon councils are understood to have agreed on a so-called “1-5-4” arrangement which would leave the county with three unitaries.

The model suggests that the “1” is Plymouth, which will remain as a unitary authority but may expand its borders slightly into the South Hams.

The “5” in the proposal would be a combination of East Devon, Mid Devon, North Devon, Exeter and Torridge into one large council, while the “4” would be South Hams, Teignbridge, West Devon and Torbay merging into another.

The proposal comes as the government looks to sweep away the two-tier structure of local government where two councils have responsibility for different services within the same area; for example Devon County Council being responsible for roads, but district councils collecting household waste within the same boundary.

Now 21 Green Party councillors from across Devon have penned an open letter to local leaders and MPs urging them to put the needs of communities and the environment first.

They also say reorganisation will do nothing to fix the financial problems faced by councils after a “decade of austerity” and that local communities risk being left out in the cold.

Their letter says: “The government has set a minimum figure of 500,000 people for each new local authority.

“We are concerned this number is not justified by evidence nor does it recognise the challenges of delivering good and financially viable services over large geographical areas such as Devon.

“We believe we should keep services local and reorganisation simple, rather than spending huge amounts of money on complicated reorganisation arrangements.

“We want to ensure our communities, voluntary and community organisations and businesses can be connected to local democracy and decisions taken by local councillors who understand their communities and local environment.

“A mega-council for Devon or vast unitary authorities will be detached from reality and the residents they represent.”

Greens want local leaders to make the case for funding to deliver for local communities and the environment, recognising the the urgent need for more investment in adult social care and children’s services.

The letter goes on: “The leaked 1-5-4 model has only three unitary authorities – too few to create meaningful authorities connected to our local people.

“A model of fewer than six unitary authorities across Devon, Torbay and Plymouth would fail to provide the much-needed democratic accountability to local areas.

“Please pull together so that we are not divided up by Whitehall.”

The letter is signed by Green members of Exeter, Devon, West Devon, South Hams, North Devon, Mid Devon, Torridge and Plymouth councils.