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The Bradworthy Wind Turbines
Councillor
Christie's Weblog
From your Torridge District Councillor Peter Christie
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22nd March '09
Government plans to do away with Torridge district and Devon county councils and replace them with a ‘Unitary’ body have gone into a sort of limbo. The result of the laughably feeble ‘consultation’ seems to be ‘no change’ in the structures on offer from last time. Given the costs of reorganisation at a time of cash shortages one must wonder whether it will actually happen but it is interesting to see what is going on in Cornwall. Here a Unitary council is due to be imposed at the end of this month but as a recent report put it ‘rarely can local government reorganisation have been so botched as this hasty exercise.’ Here in Bideford if a Unitary council comes into being there has been some very vague talk of cash windfalls (i.e. bribes) and increased ‘consultation’ though in truth the money is extremely unlikely to materialise and with far fewer councillors then ever before South Devon will inevitably ignore any ‘consultation’ which tries to redress the traditional North-South imbalance. In addition the county council elections in May of this year will see the voting into office of councillors who will, if the Cornwall example is anything to go by, mostly stay in place for the new Unitary – hardly a shining example of democracy in action. In addition, of course, the published plans show Bideford being lumped in with Northam, Westward Ho! and Appledore – yet Torrington and its rural hinterland will be a separate unit. Come the May elections it will be intriguing to see what local candidates have to say about this scheme as there seems to be a split between the Lib-Dem pros and the Tory antis.
Councils have a large variety of things they have to do on behalf of the government and one of these is to ensure ‘Environmental Health’ standards are maintained. In order to do this we employ inspectors who go out and check on all the varied undertakings that fall under the heading of ‘EH’ - and for which we charge a fee. Torridge has just looked at its current fees and decided on the new levels which will operate in 2009 – and very interesting reading they make too. Getting rid of a wasp nest is £38, getting consent for loudspeakers in a street is £169 whilst stray dogs are charged for at £64 for 1 day rising to £262 for 8 days. Licensing a tattoo parlour will set you back £75 whilst running a zoo costs £190 per annum. A proper taxi licence costs £290 and anyone ambitious enough to set up a large casino will see Torridge charging you a very hefty £10,000 every year which is dearer than getting a licence for a ‘Sex Establishment’ - £6950 annually to you. A clutch of large casinos and ‘Sex Establishments’ springing up in town would help solve Torridge’s budgetary problems – but I don’t suppose the electorate would be too amused!
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