Reader letter: Amalgamate the district councils
Cliff Jordan, leader of Norfolk County Council. Pic: Submitted - Credit: Submitted
Cliff Jordan wants Norfolk to be a unitary authority — a proposal already rejected as an over-large and unwieldy attempt to reduce the administrative burdens of having seven different local authorities within the county.
Does it not make much more sense to meet the current duplication problems with a more realistic middle solution?
Looking at the existing electoral map, serious consideration could be given to the following amalgamations:
(i) King's Lynn and West Norfolk and Breckland District Councils to form a new 'Western Norfolk' unitary authority.
(ii) North Norfolk, Broadland, Norwich and South Norfolk District Councils to form a new 'Eastern Norfolk' unitary authority.
(iii) Great Yarmouth and Waveney District Councils to form a new 'Yartoft' unitary authority (clearly requiring co-operation from Suffolk County Council).
Not only would such an arrangement meet the need for money-saving, but it would prevent at least some of the power-seeking political arguments which might otherwise occur, as well as possibly avoiding any over-sized political monopolies.
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Many of our politicians are fluent in their claims to support 'the best for the community', yet somehow reluctant to release their hold on the reins. Now is the time for supporting 'the greater benefit'.
