THE battle for the future of local government in North Yorkshire was put firmly in the spotlight this week with an announcement by the Boundary Committee.

Senior members of North Yorkshire County Council welcomed the official announcement that their case for a single unitary local authority had been accepted in the run-up to a referendum on the controversial issue of a regional assembly.

Their opposite numbers on district councils insisted, however, that they would continue to argue that the creation of three smaller unitary authorities would represent the better option.

The Boundary Committee is proposing that the single unitary authority option, involving one "super council" running all services in North Yorkshire, should be one of two options on the ballot paper for the forthcoming local government referendum.

This would involve the abolition of all seven district councils, formed after the last local government reorganisation 30 years ago, and the transfer of their responsibilities to a new North Yorkshire Council, omitting the word county from the title. The other option on the ballot paper would involve North Yorkshire being carved up into three new unitary authorities based an amalgamation of Craven district with Harrogate; Hambleton with Richmondshire; and Ryedale with Scarborough.

The Boundary Commission announcement was made in York on Tuesday and county council leader John Weighell, of Bedale, made a 100mph train journey back to Northallerton to chair a meeting at County Hall of the authority's executive.

The meeting was held an hour later than normal to accommodate the commission's announcement.

Coun Weighell said he was delighted that the commission had accepted the idea of a single unitary authority.

"The decision recognises and vindicates the hard work invested by the county council in services over the past 30 years which has made the county one of the best places in the country to live and work.

"The figures stack up. Having just one local authority is £21m cheaper than having three. That is money that should be spent on delivering quality local services, not on establishing three new councils."

Coun Weighell said North Yorkshire was opposed to a regional assembly, which it saw as change for the sake of it.

* John Watson, chairman of the Yorkshire Says No campaign, claimed that the proposed regional assembly would cost the average household more than £65 a year.

Mr Watson said the figure was based on experience in London and Wales and added: "Asking people to pay £65 a year for a glorified talking shop that will have no power to affect people's lives will prove about as popular as toothache."