ONE of the new proposed councils in Northern Ireland has voiced concerns about its level of accountability and its new name – and has agreed to lobby the Boundary Commission on the matters.
Armagh City and Bann District Council is to replace the three former individual councils of Craigavon, Armagh and Banbridge under changes proposed for the reorganisation of local government.
The three councils met for the first time recently, and
each of the 15 elected members – five from each area – agreed that they would work proactively together for the new council.
But they also admitted fears for a lack of public accountability, based on the fact that the new council will be the biggest outside of Belfast with a population of about 192,000.
They believe that 45 wards, which would encompass 45 elected members, would give better representation than the proposed 40, and are planning to lobby the Boundary Commissioner for this.
The councillors also said that each individual council should discuss the provisional name of Armagh City and Bann District, claiming it did not reflect the new area.
Thirdly, the councils are to ask the Boundary Commissioner to consider the issue of Borough status for their new body.
Ulster Unionist councillor Ken Twyble said there was a "vast amount of work ahead", but added that the meeting had been "productive".
"We've set up of working teams from all three councils to ensure a seamless transfer of services so that come May 2011 people will not notice any change," he said
The full article contains 257 words and appears in News Letter newspaper.
