'Our Derbyshire town could lose its annual Christmas lights switch-on when the council is scrapped' - claims

At a South Derbyshire District Council meeting last night (February 27), councillors discussed the ongoing plans for local government reorganisation in the county, which will see the authority abolished.

Cllr Amy Wheelton said: “One word of warning, unitary authorities will not have a Swadlincote Christmas light switch on.

“I would urge a community governance review to set up a town council to protect the unparished urban element of South Derbyshire.

“This reorganisation takes the local out of local government.”

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Cllr Stephen Taylor agreed with this concern, saying: “There is the possibility of losing things we enjoy in our community that are not acceptable to us or to our community and a lot of the things in this process will not be palatable for our community or our members.”

He dubbed the local government reorganisation plans “disappointing” and said the meeting was “the starting gun for the destruction of South Derbyshire District Council”.

Councillors at various authorities across the county have also raised the issue of what local responsibilities would likely be scrapped or given far less priority at a much larger council with adult and children’s social care to support. This includes emptying dog poo bins, attending to local parks – and now Christmas festivities.

It also comes as councils across the country have already been reducing or scrapping their Christmas events in recent years due to budget constraints.

Dr Justin Ives, the council’s chief executive, said the announcement about the upcoming deletion of the authority was “one I hoped I never had to make, but we play the cards we have been dealt”.

He said: “This is the third time I have been through this sausage machine so I am a bit of an expert now.”

Cllr Robert Pearson, leader of the council, said it was unfortunate for the authority to be looking at its own deletion in the year it was celebrating its 50th anniversary.

He said it was “disappointing” that Derbyshire County Council had submitted its own reorganisation plan without talking to the districts and had so far not accepted invites to further talks, but said “the door remains open”.

Cllr Pearson said the task was now to ensure that councillors collaborate to get the best outcome for South Derbyshire residents and businesses.

Cllr Neil Tilley said: “This is a successful council. We are solid financially. It is a shame that our success is not being taken into account.”

Current options on the table for local government reorganisation for South Derbyshire are to:

• Merge the council into one authority for Derbyshire, minus Derby
• Merge the council into one authority for Derbyshire, minus Derby, but expand the city boundary to take on parts of South Derbyshire
• Merge the council into a wider South Derbyshire authority, combined with Amber Valley, Derby and Erewash
• Merge the council into a wider South Derbyshire authority, combined with Derby and Erewash
• Merge the council into a wider South Derbyshire authority, combined with Amber Valley and Erewash – encircling Derby
• Merge the council into a wider South Derbyshire authority, combined with Amber Valley and Erewash – encircling Derby – but expand the city boundary to take on parts of South Derbyshire

Central Government told councils in December to come up with plans for new unitary authorities, with a population of at least around 500,000 or higher, with Derbyshire currently having 10 councils and a population of more than one million people.

Derbyshire councils have until March 21 to put forward initial proposals to Government and until November 28 for final submissions.