The people vote on the way foreward for us in Northumberland

Leader readers vote for two councils
One authority or two councils?

By ANTHONY McLEAN
NEWS POST LEADER readers have voted overwhelmingly for the creation of two new councils in Northumberland.
More than 90 per cent of people said they would like to see two unitary authorities created in the county in a rural urban split – a plan proposed by the six district councils and backed by the county's four MPs.Just 7.8 per cent of readers voted for Northumberland County Council's bid to create a single authority covering the whole of Northumberland.Over the last few weeks the News Post Leader, the Morpeth Herald and the Northumberland Gazette have been asking readers to give their opinions on the future of local government in Northumberland.We gave readers a simple choice – would they prefer to have one council or two councils.The poll closed on June 1 and just over 92 per cent of readers voted for the bid to create two councils – Rural Northumberland and South East Northumberland – to replace the current system of county and district authorities.The News Post Leader received just one e-mail from a supporter of the one-council option, as well as six posted response slips and 15 mobile text messages.Some 108 people
replied to the News Post Leader adding their support for the two-council option. A total of 378 people replied to all three newspapers backing the bid.Supporters said that they believe Northumberland is too large and diverse for one authority to serve its constituents, and that the districts are closer to the communities.

One Blyth reader suggested that Northumberland County Council has acted like a "draconian dictatorship" in the way it has closed residential care homes and schools.

Another reader, who did not back a specific bid, said both proposals would create "a few more layers of pen-pushers", while another reader questioned why the current system can not be made better.A total of 410 people responded to the survey, with 378 voting for the two-council bid and 32 voting for the one-council bid.The Government will end its consultation on the issue on June 22.
Last Updated: 07 June 2007