Taken From Northumberland Today 17 November 2007

There is no support in Alnwick for Bill Brooks views on a single unitary

One of the snippets from the debate
We all know the county council couldn't organise a party in a brewery and are £213 million in debt," he said."No wonder Bill Brooks has his beady eye on us

Shake-up could lead to a two-way split
LOCAL government in Alnwick district could undergo a radical shake-up after councillors gave a vote of confidence to proposals to split the county in half.
Members have announced they would like to see a single authority running rural Northumberland (Alnwick, Berwick, Castle Morpeth and Tynedale), with a similar authority managing the south-east of the county (Blyth and Wansbeck).But they expressed serious misgivings about the decision to re-launch a debate it was thought had been quashed after the proposed North East Assembly was rejected in November 2004.A full meeting of Alnwick District Council came to the decision on Monday after hearing a report from chief executive Bill Batey and petitions for and against from fellow councillors.
He called on them to work with other district councils to submit plans for two unitary councils.They were also asked to approve estimated costs of £15,000 to complete the switch-over and agreed for a further £5,000 to be provided if necessary.

A stormy debate on the abolition of county and district has been raging since the release of a Government White Paper on October 26 asking shire councils to take a view on the future structure of local government.Councils were offered the chance to opt for unitary structures, pioneer new two-tier models, or remain within the current system.Within three hours of publication, county council leader Bill Brooks spoke of the "confusing and expensive" current two-tier structure, and gave his backing to a single authority for the whole of Northumberland.

Council leader Heather Cairns opened the debate on Monday by welcoming proposals within the white paper allowing councillors to speak out on planning and licensing issues in their ward.But she also warned: "However excited we get about this, it is about delivery of services to the people." Coun Andrew Duffield, Liberal Democrat member for Rothbury and South Rural, launched a scathing attack on the White Paper, calling it the "latest pig in a poke from the Labour Government.""This is a missed opportunity and a major disappointment.

We all know the county council couldn't organise a party in a brewery and are £213 million in debt," he said."No wonder Bill Brooks has his beady eye on responsible and well-run councils."

Coun Gordon Castle, Independent Alliance member for Alnwick, spoke in support of the proposed unitary authority but harked back to the 2004 referendum on a regional assembly, when voters were also offered the option of a single authority, had the assembly been given the go-ahead.Just 33 per cent came out in favour, with 67 per cent preferring to see the county split into two local councils – Rural Northumberland and South East Northumberland. But a resounding defeat for the regional assembly meant the single-tier plans were also shelved.He said: "Here we are again, two years down the road. Just as we think we are settling down, the hornets' nest is stirred up again, quite unnecessarily I believe. The rug has been pulled from under our feet.
"Coun Heather Cairns said the councillors were all "extremely disappointed" they had not been able to work with the county as they would have preferred."The fact that within hours the county council indicated that they were going to go for a single unitary body meant we were not able to consider partnership working. I feel we have not had that option. We are being forced to put plans forward for two unitary authorities."Both the motion to work towards two unitary authorities and the request for extra funding were passed.The district council now has until January 25 next year to present its new model of working.