Angry South Hams councillors resist Plymouth 'land grab'

'Plymouth has no experience of delivering rural services'

Plymouth has been accused of ‘over-stretching’ its bid to absorb 13 South Hams parishes in a major local government shake-up.

“What business does Plymouth have, pushing so far out?” Cllr Chris Oram (Lib Dem, Bickleigh and Cornwood) asked a meeting of South Hams Council. “This Plymouth plan should be robustly resisted.”

The government has begun a nationwide move to do away with district councils in favour of larger unitary authorities, and Plymouth plans to absorb part of the South Hams in a bid to hit a population target for setting up one of the new unitary councils.

The move has been condemned as a ‘land grab’ by critics.

South Hams Council says Plymouth has no idea how to provide services in rural areas, and should look west to Saltash and Torpoint instead.

Local councillors also believe the government has underestimated the complexity of restructuring Devon’s complicated council structures.

A meeting of the full South Hams Council endorsed what is dubbed the  ‘1-4-5’ option for re-organising Devon, a strategy favoured by all seven of the county’s district councils.

It would mean Plymouth standing alone, with one new council taking in South Hams, West Devon, Torbay and Teignbridge, and another containing Exeter, East Devon, Mid Devon, North Devon and Torridge.

South Hams leader Julian Brazil (Lib Dem, Stokenham) told members the 1-4-5 option would still create financial uncertainty, but was the best solution for the people of Devon.

Cllr David Hancock (Lib Dem, South Brent) said of the Plymouth strategy: “This clearly is a land grab, and we should make it quite clear that we are opposed to it. It will be to the detriment of our residents who live in the 13 parishes.

“Plymouth City Council is very urban and has no affinity with the rural parts of the South Hams.”

Cllr Nicky Hopwood (Con, Woolwell) agreed, and said: “Plymouth has no experience of delivering rural services. It has no idea about interacting with the farming community.”

Cllr Lee Bonham (Lib Dem, Loddiswell and Aveton Gifford) warned that the costs of the re-organisation would be high.

“Maybe people don’t care too much about who ruins their council,” he said. “But they will care if their costs go up and their services are reduced. We need to be honest and say that those things are likely to happen as a result of this.”

Some councillors had misgivings over the confrontational tone of the motion they were voting on, and questioned the use of the phrase ‘land grab’. They also acknowledged that some people in the 13 parishes might actually want to be part of Plymouth, and should be fully consulted.

Twenty four councillors voted in favour of the motion to back the 1-4-5 solution and resist the Plymouth expansion, with just one abstention.

The 13 parishes which would increase Plymouth’s population to 300,000 are Bickleigh, Shaugh Prior, Sparkwell, Brixton, Wembury, Cornwood, Harford, Ugborough, Ivybridge, Ermington, Yealmpton, Holbeton and Newton and Noss.