September 2008
Campaign for a Unitary Exeter
Exeter
Labour Party would like to thank everyone who supported the campaign
against the proposal to abolish Exeter City Council and absorb
it in a single unitary authority
covering the whole of Devon except Plymouth and Torbay.
Labour collected a total of 6,318 signatures on a petition opposing the proposal and this, along with all submissions made by Devon residents can be seen on the Boundary Committee website.
The
proposed council - four times the size of Greater London and with a
population exceeded by only Birmingham and Leeds - would result in the
interests of Exeter's citizens taking second place to the majority
rural interests of the rest of Devon. 800 years of self
government would come to an end and Exeter would disappear from the
political map of Devon.
Devon proposes to replace
local
democratic accountability in Exeter with a partly appointed board,
giving our city less powers that a parish council. Councillors would
become remote from the electorate with each representing about 7,500
people (currently it is less than half that).
Thanks to over two decades of
effective management
by Labour, Exeter currently has the lowest Council Tax in Devon (and
fifth lowest in England) and the higest levels of customer satisfaction
(19th highest nationally). Exeter has been rated as
'Excellent'
by the Audit Commission while performance standards in Lib Dem run
Devon has fallen. In a unitary Devon the residents of Exeter
would find themselves paying more Council Tax for poorer local services.