IF there is a 'yes' vote for a regional assembly in next year's referendum, the county council believes a single unitary council for the whole of North Yorkshire would be the best solution to deliver local services.

Some commentators have suggested that such a council would be too big and too remote. From whom and what would a unitary North Yorkshire County Council be remote?

As just one of many examples, we already provide care for the frail and vulnerable in our society directly into their own homes.

What could be more local than this?

With 400 schools, the county council is at the very heart of every community in the county. We deliver one of the best education services in the country, educating more than 80,000 pupils each day.

We maintain about 6,000 miles of roads in North Yorkshire - including those which link most people's household drives to the national network.

Remote? The county council already delivers services which account for 85 per cent of local government spending in North Yorkshire - and I mean local in every sense of the word.

Developing North Yorkshire as a unitary council is not a barrier to local services and local accountability.

Our proposals for a new unitary authority provide for more delegated decision-making by local area committees and the delivery of some local services by town and parish councils.

There will be a particular focus on our historic market towns.

Coun John Weighell,

North Yorkshire County Council,

County Hall, Northallerton.

...I AGREE with Murray Naylor about the need for a "spirit of co-operation" in drawing up options for local government should a regional assembly come into being, (Letters, August 27).

I have particular concerns about the treatment of Selby District, which is in danger of being treated as a pariah in North Yorkshire.

The primary aim of everyone involved in local government in North Yorkshire should be to prevent Mr Prescott's half-baked plan for a regional assembly which will not enhance the council taxpayers' lives in any way. The only thing this assembly is guaranteed to do is increase taxation.

I recognise the need to prepare alternatives, but I urge all council leaders to put their energies into defending what we have now and get behind the 'no' campaign rather than becoming empire builders. This would be playing into Mr Prescott's hands.

Jonathan F Meehan,

Northfield Terrace,

Church Fenton, Tadcaster.

Updated: 10:16 Thursday, September 25, 2003