Exeter could dramatically expand from a population of 130,000 to over 300,000 under the city council’s local government reorganisation proposals.
Exeter City Council has published its submission for a new unitary authority ahead of the Government’s 21 March deadline. While the council says it has not drawn an ‘arbitrary map’ for where the unitary’s borders would be, the proposals say it would ‘include the city of Exeter and some areas around’.
If it is approved, the new authority would reportedly include parts of East Devon, Teignbridge and Mid Devon and would serve a population of between 300,000 and 350,000.
The council’s submission rejects the idea of a Devon-wide unitary authority and said a proposal for dividing the region into three unitaries – the 1-5-4 model – was ‘unable to identify benefits for Exeter’s residents.’
Cllr Philip Bialyk, leader of Exeter City Council, said the council was ready to work with neighbouring councils on reorganisation but added they had ruled out the 1-5-4 model favoured by some district councils because it had been developed ‘without input from Exeter.’
