RURAL communities would have more localised power and a greater say in North-East affairs if an assembly was set up, a leading councillor said last night.
Terry Batson, 62, vice-chairman of the Durham Association of Parish and Town Councils, urged countryside communities to vote Yes.
Although an assembly would mean the end of districts or the county council in Durham, it would mean more power for parish councils.
Coun Batson, who runs a landscape company employing 30 people and sits on Tow Law Parish Council, said: "The rural community in general feel they are being left out of the assembly, but they are not. It will give more powers to parish and town councils, which often employ local people to carry out their work.
"The countryside is sometimes used and abused, and this is what we want to prevent. Without this assembly, we will not have the voice to do it."
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