COUNCIL leaders have pledged a new era in open government if voters opt for a single council in Thursday's regional assembly vote.

Ken Manton, the leader of Durham County Council, said new style "community boards" at the heart of his authority's proposals for unitary local government would usher-in more open local politics.

The county council has developed the proposals for one authority for the county, which could be introduced if an assembly is established.

The alternative is for County Durham to be divided into three areas, each with a council.

Under the county council's proposals, community-led decision-making would be introduced through 14 community boards, whose locations would be subject to public consultation.

Coun Manton said: "The boards will give local communities a greater say and will help to make local government much more responsive to local community needs.

"They would be led by the local community, with groups such as local tenants' associations, community groups and voluntary organisations in the majority.

"They would sit down with local councillors and parish councils to decide what should be done, and to agree with the unitary council what services should be provided locally and to what standard."

Under existing arrangements, community groups are represented on seven strategic partnerships based on districts.

Coun Manton said these tended to be dominated by the district councils and that community groups had little influence or power.

He said: "Under our proposals, there would be a greater number of more locally focused community boards to give more opportunities for community groups and local people to have a say.

"With the cost savings that can be achieved if we have one unitary council, we would be able to give community boards the funding to invest in the community facilities and initiatives that matter to people locally.

"As such, they would improve local democracy by encouraging local communities to take the lead in deciding what should be done in their local areas."

Responding to district council criticisms that they would be little more than local quangos controlled from county hall, Coun Manton said: "Community boards would be community-led and would be more open to different influences than traditional party political-controlled local authorities.

"Consequently, they would be more responsive to the diversity of the county than district-based arrangements, which tend not to reflect the natural community geography of County Durham."