County councillor answers critics over plan to scrap Five Villages committee

West Sussex County Council deputy leader Cllr Lionel Barnard said he wanted to make sure local decisions were taken by local people.

This would be best achieved by withdrawing from the three joint area committees '“ downland, western and eastern Arun, he stated.

He wants to replace them with two county local committees for western and eastern Arun to bring the area into line with the rest of the county.

Opponents of the plans say it would leave residents of the villages without any local voice.

Cllr Barnard said: 'I make no apologies at all for being a '˜localist'. That means that local decisions should be taken at a local level.

'The county council has shown its willingness to devolve a wide range of issues away from the centre and down to its CLCs.

'These include taking key decisions on local road and transport schemes, and the appointment of school governors. We have also given them substantial sums of money to spend on badly needed local projects or to support community groups. We also intend to give our CLCs more powers in the future because locally elected people are best placed to make grass roots decisions.'

Cllr Barnard claimed the joint area committee system '“ in which county, district and parish councillors sat around the same table '“ did not work.

They failed to tackle the big issues such as waste, kerbside recycling and licensing applications.

'My challenge is to really engage with local communities and come back to the next round of area committees in January with specific commitments,' he stated.

Cllr Barnard's decision to withdraw from the area committees was put on hold by the county council's governance committee last week.

Members wanted consultation with parish and district councils to be carried out before they discuss his proposals again next February. The county council funds the area committees.