West Norfolk Council leader Alistair Beales urges to ‘keep local Government local’ as reorganisation deadline looms

“We’re just not visible from Norwich.” Those are the words of West Norfolk Council leader Alistair Beales, who has expressed his concerns for the borough if a unitary authority were selected for Norfolk.

The decision, which is not up for public vote and is for the Government to decide, will determine how many authorities will run public services in the area.

This comes amid plans for local government reorganisation, which will see existing councils scrapped and replaced with new unitary authorities covering a larger area.

A decision is set to be made by March next year.

West Norfolk Council is backing the idea for three unitaries to be put in place, while Norfolk County Council voted in favour of one unitary system, which would be run from Norwich.

The borough council’s three unitary authority proposal was put together through work with Breckland, Broadland, Norwich, Great Yarmouth and North Norfolk councils under the banner ‘Future Norfolk’.

The group believes the best option is for three new authorities to be created, with Norfolk divided into: West Norfolk, East Norfolk and Greater Norwich.

Plans would also involve Lynn having its own town council.

Norfolk County Council remains at odds with district and borough authorities over the number of new unitary councils which should serve the area.

They argue that a single unitary system would save £39.8million per year and deliver the biggest benefits.

However, Cllr Beales is in total disagreement.

“The demands of West Norfolk and our population are very different to those in Central Norwich or East Norfolk,” he said.

“So, it is right in my view that local expertise informs the allocation of resources. That is the key part of what we have put across in our proposal.

“Is it cost-effective? Yes. We demonstrated that with the numbers we have put forward.

“Does it properly represent our community? Yes. And in my view, it is the best way.”

Cllr Beales believes that West Norfolk could be forgotten about if a single unitary system were run from Norwich.

“We already feel in West Norfolk sometimes that we are not seen prominently as we should be. I think there is no question that local identity and local representation would suffer.

“At the moment, if you live in this area, you are already not far away from Lynn, and you can influence things.

“Keep local Government local. That is what we keep saying.”

Kay Mason Billig, leader of Norfolk County Council, has said that having one council for Norfolk is “the only sensible option”.

In response to this, Cllr Beales said: “Some of the misinformation that Kay Mason Billig says is really not helpful. In my view, she needs to be a bit more mindful.

“It is all about our future now, and transitioning to future arrangements is something I think the county council is struggling with.”

Deputy leader of Norfolk County Council Andrew Jamieson claims that a unitary authority would make services “even more local”.

“That is an oxymoron,” Cllr Beales said.

“I just cannot see how centralising everything in Norwich would make it even more local.”

The council leader urged that residents will see a difference if it is decided that Norfolk will get a unitary authority.

“It matters to them,” he said.

“People should be prepared, not least because of the elections, they want to be voting for people who will represent them and do a good job.

“What does it mean for their bin collections? What does it mean for their planning committee? How are they going to be represented?

“If there is a single authority for Norfolk, West Norfolk is not very visible from Norwich, I’m afraid. We have experienced this many times already.”

The council leader has also highlighted the importance of having a local, present mayor who attends events.

“Nobody would notice if a leader of the council turns up, but with a mayor, everybody notices,” he said.

“The mayor can bring people together, drive charitable work and can really do a huge amount. I think it is very important that the mayor continues to exist.”