Councillors have warned of the “dilution of democracy” as new “interim” warding arrangements have been set out for unitary authorities in Devon.
Devon’s 481 councillors will be reduced to 321 as the county and eight district councils are abolished. Devon councils have had just over three weeks to come up with new ward boundaries, which will see some communities being combined and larger populations per councillor.
The authorities will have 86, 64, 68 and 103 members respectively.
Devon County Council is making it clear to government that it does not endorse the arrangements due to the “demographic deficit”. It has been scathing about the government’s choice in how the county should be carved up, following several alternative proposals which it said better met the government’s own criteria.
Devon County Council will decide in September whether to proceed to legally challenge the government over its decision.
Deputy Leader Cllr Paul Arnott said at a meeting of the council to agree its submission for new interim warding arrangements that the Labour-led councils of Plymouth and Exeter had got what they wanted and would expand into neighbouring parishes, whilst rural Devon had been stuck with the “comedy option” covering a population of around 480,000 people.
Ilfracombe councillor Sara Wilson said the current seven councillors for the town, which is one of the most deprived in the county, would decrease to three. The ward will become ‘Ilfracombe and Woolacombe Coast’ and will extend to 10,500 people.
With fewer councillors, there would be less time to do face-to-face work in the communities, she said, leading to more people being “disengaged”.
Others feared that the transition would hamper improvements being made by Devon County Council in children’s services and SEND, and there was concern over a loss of community cohesion in areas where boundaries were changing.
Council leader Julian Brazil said he wanted to make it clear that the current local government shake-up and the warding arrangements were something that was being “done to us”.
“Our officers have a legal duty to carry out this task and have done so to best of their ability and done an excellent job in the timeframe, but this in no way means we support it by any stretch of the imagination.”
He said due to the card that Devon had been dealt by the government, in some areas 1,400 people would be represented by one councillor and in others 4,000.
“I am not opposed to local government reorganisation as I think there are benefits but what we are seeing will deliver none of those benefits.”
He said it would be “cheaper and better” if the changes had been decided locally and not imposed by Whitehall and Westminster.
The work on the new wards has been led by chief executives of North Devon Council and Teignbridge District Council, Ken Miles and Phil Shears, and would normally take 18 months, councillors were told.
Councillors said it had been “extraordinary challenging” as the government had decided not to involve the Boundary Commission in the process.
Members will be elected in all wards for the temporary shadow authorities in May 2027 to oversee the transition before the new councils take over in April 2028.
Councillors Warn ‘Dilution of Democracy’ as Devon Ward Boundaries Shift