The proposed merger between South Hams District Council and West Devon appears to be totally against the best interests of those of us resident and working in the South Hams.

West Devon has a mountain of debt. West Devon has a funding gap of £ 1.1m, equal to 14 per cent of their budget, whereas SHDC has a nine per cent budget deficit of £0.8m.

We will have to ‘equalise’ the gap of £62.97 per Band D.

Would a Conservative councillor please let me know what the SHDC deficit would be if all Band D and above paid the same as West Devon?

Either their services must be far better than ours or SHDC is actually quite well run… shock horror!

Please may I also know if the co-operation and ‘shared workforce’ has already saved £6m a year, why this cannot continue as independent councils when the cost to merge is an extra £0.5m?

Why would a business with £76m of long-term assets and total reserves of £ 41m join forces with a business that has  £19m of long-term assets and no reserves, instead a deficit of £2.9m? And whose councillors have just decided to borrow lots of cheap money to invest in commercial property at the height of the market with no track record or expertise ? And be asked to pay extra to do it?

The councillors for the Tory Party are being bullied to vote for the merger because all the Lib Dems are against it. It’s become a party issue. This is no longer a joke, this will cost us all a lot of hard earned money. This whole debate should be out in the open – even the online questionnaire presumes the merger will happen.

Please read www.onecouncil.org.uk. Tell me I am wrong.

When we cast our votes last time, did the Tories explain that a vote for them was vote to merge ?

Martin Beck

Thurlestone