Why Torbay wants to be left alone in council shake-up

But councillors warn the bay it won't emerge unscathed

Based on a survey of 150 people who turned up to a meeting about local government reorganisarion, most people in Torbay want the government to leave them alone, it's been claimed.

But councillors have warned that the bay is highly unlikely to emerge unscathed.

The government has asked all councils to come up with plans for reform, with a network of large unitary authorities due to take the place of the current arrangement of district and small unitary councils across the country.

Torbay Council leader David Thomas (Con, Preston) told a cabinet meeting that leaving Torbay alone would not come close to meeting the government’s target for a population of around 500,000 for each of its new unitary authorities.

He said reorganisation is an ‘absolutely huge’ subject. “Most people want Torbay to stay as it is,” he said. “However, with a population of 135,000 it wouldn’t get anywhere close to what the government requires.”

Deputy leader Chris Lewis (Con, Preston) added: “This is a situation we didn’t want. We are very happy in Torbay, and the last thing we want is for Torbay to be done away with.”

The cabinet agreed to put forward four options. The first would leave Torbay as it is, and is the option favoured by the public. The second would create an authority with the same boundary as the one used by the local health trust, including parts of Teignbridge and the South Hams. 

The third is called ‘1-4-5’ which leaves Plymouth alone and combines Torbay, South Hams, Teignbridge and West Devon. The fourth would be a Devon-wide unitary authority including all the current district councils, an option not favoured in Torbay.

The council polled around 150 people who atttended a recent meeting on reorganisation at the Princess Theatre in Torquay. Sixty five of them wanted Torbay left as it is.  Of the other options, 20 had the '1-4-5' deal as their first choice, 16 the NHS trust model and 11 the Devon-wide solution.

Cllr Lewis said that while the first option would be most people’s choice, it would not meet the government’s requirements, meaning it was important to put forward other ideas at the same time. The second option, he said, would be the council’s second choice.

“Torbay is great, and we want it to remain as it is,” he said. “But we have a government that wants larger authorities, and we have difficult decisions to make.”

Cllr Alan Tyerman (Con, Churston with Galmpton) warned: “We can speculate all we like, but it is not going to be our choice - it is going to be the government’s. The most comfortable situation for us is to stay as we are, but it is the least likely option to be accepted.”

Cllr Nick Bye (Con, Wellswood) said he felt a county-wide option would be best for Torbay, allowing it to work with Exeter, the county’s ‘economic powerhouse’.

Opposition councillors urged the authority to back the ‘Torbay First’ option whuch would preserve things like its much-praised integrated healthcare system,  and warned that the ‘1-4-5’ plan favoured by some of the county’s other districts could be damaging to Torbay.

“People feel that they belong to Torbay,” said Cllr Darren Cowell (Independent, Shiphay). “They won’t feel they belong to a new authority that includes parts of West Devon, Exeter and places further to the east.”