Letter: We asked in 1974 for single Shropshire authority

Councillor Keith Barrow wants a single "unitary authority" for all the historic county of Shropshire! (Star, September 17).

Well fancy that!

I remember well that before the reorganisation of 1974, some of us were proposing exactly that. There should be press records of our recommendations and of the various party bosses and authorities who disagreed.

I still think we were right then.

We proposed that there should be a "unitary" for all Shropshire but recommended that as much as possible should be dealt with at parish or town level, because there are many functions better dealt with as locally as possible (as promised in the Maastricht Treaty).

I use inverted commas round "unitary" because it's not the only unit; town and parish councils are essential to good government. Wellington, Dawley, Oakengates and Madeley found that out to their own cost between 1974 and 1988.

By the way, this system of local government is very similar to the one that was superseded in 1974, of county and urban/rural councils.

But I suppose boundary commissioners need change to keep their jobs.

So go ahead, Keith Barrow but don't forget the towns and parishes or it won't work.

George Evans, Wellington