I met a lot of people on the campaign trail of the May 1st Local Elections – including some of my former colleagues, retired as well as still working for Ryedale District Council. Some wished me well: others were clearly opposition supporters. Some expressed surprise. As one said: “You were lucky – you left Ryedale seven years ago. Why on earth do you want to get back now?”!

When I was a council officer, Ryedale was one of the larger country district councils, and also one of the most dynamic. All the political groups had worked together for the common good, and politics was reserved for council meetings, and did not affect the ordinary business of the council.

The council’s achievements included the drainage of Clifton Moor, the building of sports halls in Pickering and at Monks Cross, the successful defence of the Green Belt in what is now the northern part of the City of York, the installation of the first time sewerage scheme at Rosedale Abbey, the setting up of Ryedale housing Association and the transfer of Ryedale’s housing stock.

Ryedale had helped businesses and built and extended industrial estates. Businessmen with problems were given help and support. The rates were kept low and the whole district got a good deal. It was an energetic, progressive and award winning authority, which liked to take the initiative.

I left just as the 1996 reorganisation took effect, and divided the suburban south from the rural central and northern areas. I believe both members and officers found it difficult to adjust to running a smaller authority with smaller budgets. Above all, only 23 out of the former 42 council seats remained, and this left the remaining councillors with very many responsibilities.

Fortunately, Ryedale has avoided the total politicisation of the council, which would have happened if the old committee system had been replaced by the single party cabinet which the government has imposed on most other larger local authorities. This can only be right, as I am sure many voters would like to see dogmatic party politics kept out of local government.

Luckily too, the Boundary Commission recognised the need for more council seats. The result is that the new council has 30 councillors instead of 23.

I visited the council offices after the election. Seven years ago, the offices had been full and had overflowed into a “temporary” portocabin. Now the portocabin has gone, and part of the top floor of Ryedale house is leased to County Social services. I met a lot of old colleagues, and was glad to see that many of them had been promoted. Those who have stayed have shown their continued commitment to Ryedale in spite of the district’s reduced size.

The atmosphere at the count had been dramatic and exciting. There was the suspense of seeing if my own seat had been won, which led to the climax of seeing if any political party had won control. The result was 11 new councillors, most of them completely new to the council, and no single political group in overall control. Now that the election is over, the public will expect all members and officers to continue to work together for the common good of the district.

It took a long time for Ryedale to absorb and overcome the shock of the 1996 reorganisation, and now there are more challenges ahead. We are now faced with the prospect of a possible future merger with Scarborough and Hambleton. While I can accept that it would be preferable for the government’s huge regional offices in Leeds to become democratically accountable to an elected regional assembly rather than, as now, to Whitehall mandarins in London, I cannot see the need for the council to suffer another shock from a further Local Government Reorganisation, or understand why an expensive reorganisation should have to be part of Labour’s half-baked policies on Regional Government.

If the decision to merge is made, there may be very little the council can do about it. What is important is what happens to the Council’s £7M reserves. In 1996, Ryedale had to transfer £6M of its reserves to York. Not one penny of this money was spent on the part of Ryedale which transferred to York. Ryedale District Council has a duty to Ryedale people to ensure that, if the decision to merge is made, every penny of Ryedale’s remaining £7M is spent on worthwhile projects in Ryedale, before the merger actually takes place.