Council shake-up could wipe out Independents

Shaking up the structure of local councils could sound the death knell for independent councillors.

Go-it-alone candidates won’t stand a chance of winning expanded council wards under the new structure, according to Teignbridge independent Liam Mullone (College). Only candidates with big party backing will stand a chance of success.
“This will make independent councillors extinct,” Cllr Mullone told a meeting of the full council. “The larger the catchment area you represent, the harder it is to capture those votes without parties.”
Each councillor in Teignbridge currently represents roughly 1,300 people. Under the authority’s proposed new unitary structure that will rise to around 4,500 people per councillor.
“This is going to be the end for independent councillors, which is going to be a great shame,” said Cllr Mullone. “We will lose people who do this as a passion in favour of people who do it as a career.”
Teignbridge Council has signed off its response to the government’s sweeping reorganisation plans which will see district councils abolished by May 2028. The majority of members voted to back a ‘4-5-1’ model in which Plymouth forms one of three new unitaries in Devon. Teignbridge, Torbay, South Hams and West Devon would create another, while Exeter, East Devon, Mid Devon, North Devon and Torridge would form the other.
All of Devon’s district councils favour the 4-5-1 structure, with some minor variations. Exeter and Plymouth city councils want to see four unitaries covering the county – expanded versions of themselves and Torbay, along with a remaining rural Devon council.
Torbay wants to stay exactly as it is, with Plymouth and Exeter expanding and the rest of Devon going its own way. Devon itself wants an unchanged Torbay, an expanded Plymouth and a third council covering Exeter and the rest of the county, an option dubbed ‘9-1-1’.
Cllr Phil Bullivant (Con, Bradley) warned that the 4-5-1 model would saddle local people with debts from other authorities, and its promised savings would be hard to deliver.
“How do we work for the benefit of local residents?” he said. “What confidence do we have?
“It would be condemning Teignbridge to a future which makes it a rural coastal community only. It is bad for us and bad for our people.”
He urged the council to ditch 4-5-1 and favour the county council’s ‘One Devon’ 9-1-1 approach instead, saying it was the best option for local communities.
And Cllr David Cox (Lib Dem, Teignmouth Central) warned: “We are drawing up plans to rearrange the deck chairs on the Titanic.
“The government will decide what it wants. Plymouth will be treated very favourably for political reasons, and nothing we say in this chamber will change that.”
In a complicated sequence of votes which required the skills of the council’s monitoring officer, the 4-5-1 option was eventually endorsed.
Cllr Andrew MacGregor (Ind, Bishopsteignton) said it was the best outcome for local people. “It’s the best way to make sure resources are properly shared,” he said.
Later in the day the council’s executive committee, which had the final say, endorsed the earlier vote to back the 4-5-1 structure.
But members also added a wish for the boundaries of Dartmoor National Park to be left intact in whichever model the government chooses.
The executive also said the county council’s 9-1-1 remained ‘a viable option’.