Last updated 19:46, Thursday, 06 November 2008

THERE has been an air of inevitability about plans to merge Allerdale and Carlisle councils’ senior management teams.

First we learned that Allerdale’s departing chief executive Gillian Bishop would not be replaced, with Carlisle chief Maggie Mooney taking over in an interim part-time role.

Then, before you could utter the word “transparency”, consultants had been hired, and their report recommends a permanent job-share.

The report also argues the case for a single teammanaging both councils.

We shouldn’t be surprised that councils, in the present financial climate, are looking to make more efficient use of resources and to cut costs; in that, there’re like the rest of the world.

There is also a strong case to cut back on bureaucracy.

But we’re concerned at the haste to change the way that Allerdale council works, particularly at this crucial time when the district requires total focus.

With regeneration schemes such as Derwent Forest and the Workington sports stadium to work through, Allerdale more than ever needs strong leadership.

This hasn’t been helped by the shenanigans this week when a vote of no confidence in council leader Joe Milburn, from a member of his own group, was launched and then mysteriously withdrawn.

As money gets tighter, and the Government casts an eye over funding in the provinces, we must not allow Allerdale to be side-tracked.

We want a local council run by local people fighting our corner.