Act now to have your say in the proposed merger between Suffolk Coastal and Waveney District Councils
Suffolk Coastal District Council and Waveney District Council have been working in partnership for some years, and now wish to merge officially into a "super district" covering East Suffolk. The overwhelmingly partisan documentation from the council assures us that this creation of the largest district council in England will save money. But at what cost to localism?
Liberal Democrats believe in decisions being made at the lowest effective level of government and geography. Sharing local administrative functions with a remote location, despite poor transport and communication links between the two, flies in the face of reason.
The proposed new council area is geographically huge, and the corresponding reduction in the number of district councillors will mean that individual councillors will be responsible for larger electoral wards of which they have less local knowledge. Transport costs will sky-rocket as staff and councillors shuffle back and forth between Lowestoft and Melton. Decisions will necessarily be made by people who are not well acquainted with the areas which the decisions will affect. Face-to-face accountability through direct contact with the public will be reduced.
It will be hard for a merged council to set priorities and to allocate money fairly, since there is considerable disparity between the two areas, as shown in the following table (for which the data is taken from the "Key Facts" sections of the Statement of Accounts for 2015-2016 that each council has produced):
The process so far has been undemocratic, and the public consultation has been minimal, at best. Why have residents in Suffolk Coastal and Waveney not been asked to vote on the proposed merger?
However, you are invited to read the proposal document, then submit your views by email to merger@eastsuffolk.gov.uk by the closing date of 12th December. Feedback will be considered during January, before an official decision is made over whether to proceed.
The council reports that "any such merger would require the permission of the Secretary of State and would not take effect until 2019". One could ask, then, why the Suffolk Coastal District Council website was replaced several months ago by an East Suffolk website.
We urge you to respond to the consultation documents, and to send your comments to merger@eastsuffolk.gov.uk by the closing date of 12th December.
Sources:
http://www.eastsuffolk.gov.uk/yourcouncil/new-single-council/ [accessed 30 November 2016]
http://www.eastsuffolk.gov.uk/assets/Your-Council/Merger-summary-FINAL.pdf[accessed 30 November 2016]
http://www.eastsuffolk.gov.uk/assets/Your-Council/WDC-Council-Meetings/2016/July/Simultaneous-Cabinet-25-07-16/Item-04-Transformation-Appendix.pdf[accessed 30 November 2016]
http://www.eastsuffolk.gov.uk/assets/Your-Council/Financial-Information/Statement-of-Accounts/SCDC-Statement-of-Accounts.pdf [accessed 01 December 2016]
http://www.eastsuffolk.gov.uk/assets/Your-Council/Financial-Information/Statement-of-Accounts/WDC-Statement-of-Accounts.pdf [accessed 01 December 2016]