Battle for Atherstone's civic soul: Why the centre of the universe should not revolve around Stratford

BOROUGH LABOUR GROUP LEADER ADAM FARRELL CONDEMNS APPARENT DIVIDE THAT WOULD LEAVE SOUTH 'BETTER SERVED' THAN NORTH IN UNITARY AUTHORITY

BUT COUNTY COUNCIL WARNS 'STATUS QUO NOT A REALISTIC OPTION GIVEN THE GOVERNMENT'S DESIRE FOR CHANGE'

ATHERSTONE and North Warwickshire are facing a double threat to their civic entity as coronavirus and a reforming central Government threaten to reopen old political war wounds over a "poor relation" status in a north-south county divide.

Westminster is preparing a bombshell White Paper in the autumn to hoover up local authorities into a single unitary bodies while two south Warwickshire district councils – Stratford-upon-Avon and Warwick– are already talking to one another about closer working arrangements and the possibility of a new joint core strategy or local plan for the mutual benefit of their communities.

Borough Labour group leader Adam Farrell says having a unitary authority for the whole of Warwickshire is "madness", in what would be a thoroughly "bad idea" for its people.

Councillor Farrell reacted angrily to what amounts to local government devolution by the front rather than back door – with a declared revolutionary format.

He told Nub News: "Local councils know what's best for local people.

"I fear what sort of service we would get from an authority run by people who don't live here .

"People are better served by councils closer to home who are made up of local people."

Cllr Farrell said he was not against change, or even unitary authority decisions on a smaller scale "when it comes to making economies".

He went on: "My biggest worry is if we let them do everything – then the north would miss out as everything would go to the south.

"It's already the case, and you only have to look at what has happened during Covid-19 lockdown."

The Labour leader cites the examples of the Tory-controlled county council closing more library services in the north than south; more business loan support to southern rather than northern ones; and less capital investment spent in the north.

He added: "Warwickshire County Council does not live in the real world.

"The centre of the universe does not revolve around Stratford.

"They don't care about North Warwickshire, they only care about the south.

"We've been run roughshod over the years."

The reasoning behind the Stratford-Warwick axis poses a second and potentially more damaging threat of seeing an actual north-south split develop in Warwickshire among authorities competing for the same pot of available monies to maintain local services.

As the neighbouring councils make the first steps to what could be forming closer ties, they cite the impact of the coronavirus pandemic as one reason for their direction of travel.

In a statement Warwick District Council leader Andrew Day and Stratford District Council leader Tony Jefferson said: "As we look to the future of our communities across south Warwickshire now is the time to capture the lessons learnt from the current coronavirus crisis and review the way our councils could better meet the needs of our residents, taking advantage of new opportunities that are emerging for our communities and businesses.

"Like so many other organisations at this time, our councils are looking to be more agile and efficient, to address the emerging economic challenges and capitalising on the issues around the climate emergency, all the while providing the best possible services."

Could the second outcome – as county council leader Izzi Seccombe warns the "status quo is not a realistic option given the Government's desire for change" – be two authorities for Warwickshire with North Warwickshire, Nuneaton and Bedworth and Rugby councils being forced into a northern alliance?