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Swept away: County and district staff throughout Cornwall have rallied and are ready to ride out the launch of a new unitary (Pic Mike King) Mention Cornwall to most people, and they will immediately think of surfing, pasties and tin mines. But, the people working on the new unitary authority are hoping to change all that. The county is undergoing something of a renaissance, with a burgeoning green economy, a new university campus in Falmouth, and the development of Newquay Cornwall Airport. And that renaissance is now being extended into the realm of local government, as the One Cornwall team, with staff from both the county and the district councils, based at Truro, get ready for the new authority's start date of 1 April 2009. ‘We all see this as transformation, not transition,' explains Cornwall CC chief executive, Sheila Healy. And county council leader and implementation executive chairman, David Whalley, adds: ‘Even the people who were initially against the proposed unitary can see the excitement about the new structure. ‘There are members of the implementation executive who were vehemently opposed to the unitary, but they are very positive about a different form of local government. ‘We are convinced this is a golden opportunity to do things differently.' One Cornwall programme director, Mark Jones, says the authority now has around 60 staff working full-time on preparing for the new single-tier authority, with many more staff helping out. The team also includes two full-time communication officers, who are keeping councils, stakeholders and the public informed about the changes taking place. A dedicated website for the new authority, www.onecornwall.cornwall.gov.uk, has also been up and running for several months. ‘I would defy you to identify who are the district council staff and who are the county council staff on the One Cornwall team,' says Cllr Whalley. ‘They are all working as a team. The work ethic has permeated throughout the entire team.' Mr Jones says the ‘front face' of the new council will be the community networks, which will be rolled out across the county. He adds that the team is still waiting for the outcome of the Boundary Committee's review into electoral arrangements, which will hold up some of the work on the proposed community networks. The committee is expected to publish its recommendations later in the summer, before making its final decision in the autumn, which will be sent to the Electoral Commission. Cllr Whalley says the community networks will play an important role in devolving decision-making, and giving Cornwall's 209 town and parish councils a voice. ‘The towns and parish councils will have a new relationship with the new council,' says Mary Cooper, external relations lead at One Cornwall. ‘A lot of the parish and town councils had been against the new council, but they are now changing their views. They see it as making things much more local,' she says. ‘Far from being Truro-centric, we are developing the council across the whole of Cornwall.' The move towards unitary local government is being supported by the town and parish councils. Cllr Sue Swift, chairman of the Cornwall Association of Local Councils, is an observer at the implementation executive. ‘The town and parish councils did not know what was going to happen,' admits Cllr Swift. ‘But, after it was explained to them, they became really enthusiastic about One Cornwall.' The new council also gives the opportunity for more joined-up working with other public sector partners. ‘The police have just appointed a chief inspector to work full-time with One Cornwall, particularly looking at localism,' says Ms Cooper. ‘They [the police] want to make sure they link up with our plans for community development and one-stop shops.' Cllr Whalley adds: ‘Cornwall has a strong record of partnership working in the public sector. These proposals will transform the public sector, and not just local government. We are working with the NHS and the voluntary sector. ‘The relationship with the parish and town councils will make sure that while the new council will think large, it will deliver local.' Mr Jones says the district councils and the county council are already working a cross strategy for planning. ‘Early on, all the councils agreed we should develop a single cross strategy for planning in the county,' he adds. ‘We also want to take the same approach to economic development.' And, Mrs Healy says, ‘there has been a lot of debate about how we should make progress on affordable housing', which is a big issue in the county.' Says Cllr Whalley: ‘We have, in Cornwall, some of the most deprived wards in the country, but we also have some very rural areas. A "one-size-fits-all" approach will not work. We took a decision to have an equal number of district and county councillors on the implementation executive. What surprised me was the way those who had been the fiercest opponents of the unitary were rolling up their sleeves and are now prepared to make this the best new council possible. ‘We've had some lively debates at the implementation executive,' he admits. ‘And these have been totally cross-party. It has not been one group against the other. ‘When we came to make a relatively-simple decision about the number of corporate directors we should have, we could not agree on the number. ‘It was virtually 50-50. I was in favour of five and a significant number of my own political party wanted three.' In the end, the implantation executive agreed on five corporate directors for the new authority. ‘We will be the single-biggest unitary council,' adds Mrs Healy. ‘When people think of Cornwall, they don't appreciate the scale because the population is so dispersed.' And Cllr Whalley adds: ‘When I first met with the minister, David Miliband

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WHITEHALL

Riding the wave to unitary status

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