DELAYING the decision as to whether to abolish borough and district councils in Devon has been labelled a 'fiasco' by West Devon and Torridge MP Geoffrey Cox.
He recently expressed astonishment at the decision by the Boundary Committee to delay until July the decision whether to create a single 'Unitary' Authority for Devon.
The committee had proposed the abolition of West Devon Borough Council and Torridge District Council, to be replaced by a single authority covering either all of Devon or just the areas outside Exeter and Exmouth.
But the committee asked for more time after councils challenged the process in the High Court.
In a statement, the Boundary Committee said: 'We wrote to the Secretary of State on January 23 explaining that in our view the deadline of February 13 was no longer realistic. We are mindful of the need to end the period of uncertainty for residents and their local authorities. The committee will now consider its next steps.'
Mr Cox said: 'By putting off the decision until the summer, all the Boundary Committee has done is to prolong the agony and to expose local government in Devon to further suspense and uncertainty.
'This ridiculous situation is in nobody's interests. The whole exercise has been a fiasco, undermining morale, draining resources, preventing councils from moving forward with practical measures to improve services and making planning for the future impossible. How can district and borough councils make long-term decisions if they don't even know whether they will exist in a year or two?'
He also noted the lack of public support for the proposals: 'One phrase recurs constantly in the correspondence I have received and the conversations I have had with constituents — it is "if it ain't broke, don't fix it."
'It is time for the Government to say now that this pointless and unwanted idea should be buried where it belongs — on the council compost heap.'