Councillors say no to assembly (From Gazette & Herald)

Councillors say no to assembly

A GROUP of North Yorkshire councillors have delivered a resounding "no" to plans for a mini-parliament for the region.

At a full meeting of Ryedale District Council, members overwhelmingly supported a motion, proposed by Coun Linda Cowling and seconded by Coun Richard Murray-Wells, against a regional assembly.

The council wants to send a clear message to the people of Ryedale before the Government holds a referendum in October, to find out if people want an elected regional assembly for Yorkshire and the Humber.

If people vote "yes", then the current "two tier" system in North Yorkshire, with a county council and seven district councils, will disappear, to be replaced by a "single-tier" system. It all rests on residents' votes.

Coun Howard Keal said: "Regional government will be a dog's breakfast. We don't have to eat it.

"These proposals will take the local out of government. It will make it more remote and less accountable. Bureaucracy will blossom and we would all suffer and the ratepayers would suffer with us. Regional government is anti-democratic and a bad idea."

Coun Helen Schroeder said: "I can't support the motion. Personally, I will be voting no, even though I belong to a political party that supports a devolved government. But I actually don't think it's the business of this council to be debating a motion on this issue.

"We all of us have a vested interest. It's in our interest that Ryedale District Council continues, therefore we cannot be unbiased and objective."

But Coun Keith Knaggs said: "Of course we have a vested interest - we have a vested interest in keeping local government local."

There was a distinct lack of public enthusiasm for a regional assembly, said Coun Pam Anderson. She said out of 3.8million people it affected, only about 2,100 people had asked for an information booklet about the proposals.

Coun Val Arnold said: "Most of the public feel that what is in place at the moment works well. If it ain't broke, don't fix it."

Councillors also raised concerns about the uncertainty of the distribution of powers and responsibilities, the cost of the re-organisation process, and the running costs of the proposed assembly.

Updated: 11:09 Friday, May 21, 2004