Counting the cost of name change
Aug 7 2008 by Neil Mckay, The Journal
To vote for your preferred new name, click here.
WHAT’S in a name? £4m worth of council taxpayers money, it was claimed yesterday.
A raft of public meetings are being held to ask people living in Durham what they would like their new “super council” to be called.
By next April, the county’s seven district and borough councils will join the existing county council to form one unitary or ‘all purpose’ council for the area.
The Association of British Counties says the name Central County Durham and Teesdale Council would be most appropriate as it would recognise areas which were once in North Yorkshire.
Other suggestions put forward included County Durham Unitary Council, Durham Unitary Council, County Durham Council or Durham Council.
But Independent county councillor John Shuttleworth, speaking at a full meeting of the authority currently known as Durham County Council, said yesterday that the name should remain the same.
He said: “The new council should be about providing a better service for people. Changing the name will not achieve that.”
Coun Shuttleworth, a self-employed painter and decorator from Rookhope, Weardale, said the cost of respraying the council’s 517 vehicles would be £1m alone.
He added: “We also own 1,115 buildings which, if they were re-signed, would cost almost £2.25m. Then there would be the inevitable consultants who would charge anything from £1m to £4m.”
The council is holding 17 public meetings to debate how the new authority should work and what it should be called.
At the first, in Durham Town Hall last week, a large majority voted to keep the current name. Coun Simon Hennig, leader of the county council, said he would trust the public to reach a correct decision.
“What we call the council is a very important decision because it signals what the council is about and provides the basis for any corporate branding we might introduce. We want to make the right choice which is why we’re seeking people’s views through the meetings we’ve set up,” he added.
A decision on the new name is likely to be several months away. For details of the council’s public consultation and meetings still to be held, visit www.durham.gov.uk/newera.
To vote for your preferred new name, click here.
