Local Government Reorganisation in the Devon, Plymouth and Torbay area

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The government’s public consultation on Local Government Reorganisation (LGR) in Devon has now commenced

The Consultation can be found on the government website: Local government reorganisation in Devon, Plymouth and Torbay - GOV.UK

In response to the invitation from government last year to submit ideas for LGR, a number of proposals were submitted from authorities in Devon.

In total 4 proposals were submitted by Devon County Council, Plymouth City Council/ Exeter City Council, Torbay Council and a collaboration of 7 District Councils.

The proposal that has been submitted by the seven District Councils, which was commonly referred to as the 4-5-1 plan, includes a main case that would see the creation of two new authorities named Exeter and North Devon and Torbay and South Devon alongside Plymouth remaining on existing boundaries. It also contained a modified option, supported by most of the seven authorities, to modestly expand the boundaries of Plymouth into 4 parishes currently in the South Hams area. This has commonly been referred to as the 4-5-1+ plan.

The overarching proposal is branded as “Reimagining Devon” and was drafted as a single proposal. However, you will note that the “Reimagining Devon” branding does not appear on the government website referred to above and that in fact government has split the proposal into two separate proposals. This could cause some confusion - hence this additional explanation:

On the government website, the “main case” Reimaging Devon proposal is the one described as:-

“South Hams District Council, Teignbridge Borough Council, West Devon Borough Council proposed 3 unitary councils. These would comprise the current areas of:

  • Exeter and Northern Devon Unitary: East Devon, Exeter, Mid Devon, North Devon and Torridge
  • Plymouth to remain unchanged
  • Torbay and Southern Devon Unitary: South Hams, Teignbridge, Torbay and West Devon”


The modified version of Reimagining Devon with the option to expand the boundaries of Plymouth is the one described as:-

“East Devon Borough Council, Mid Devon District Council, North Devon Council, Torridge District Council proposed 3 unitary councils. This includes a request to split existing district council areas between the proposed new councils. These would comprise the current areas of:

  • Exeter and Northern Devon Unitary: East Devon, Exeter, Mid Devon, North Devon, and Torridge
  • Plymouth Expanded: parts of the parishes of Bickleigh, Briston, Shaugh Prior and Sparkwell from the neighbouring district of South Hams
  • Torbay and Southern Devon Unitary: South Hams, Teignbridge, Torbay and West Devon”

The government website contains a link through to all of the proposals and this will take you to a joint webpage, the link is Devon LGR.

You will see that this site has the main proposal and modified proposal listed separately. All of the seven District Councils support the main case; it is just that the way in which the government has decided to consult does not make this clear.

You can access all of the full proposal documents from Devon LGR but the full Reimagining Devon document is available online at Home | Reimagining Devon


Once you have had chance to look at the various proposals, the consultation asks you to respond to a series of questions on each proposal and again describes the Reimagining Devon proposal using the wording as above.

In drawing up proposals, all councils were given guidelines to comply with by government,. One of these was that each of the new authorities should serve a minimum of 500,000 population, although government did say that it would consider proposals that contained less than this if there was justification. Like you, the councillors at North Devon Council were very concerned that with that push for bigger authorities, LGR might result in local decision making being lost. It was for that reason that the Reimagining Proposal was drafted with the belief that this provides a balance between scale and local democracy.


Reimagining Devon proposal: Home | Reimagining Devon


Please complete the survey: Local government reorganisation in Devon, Plymouth and Torbay - GOV.UK



The consultation will run from 5 Feb 2026 to 26 March 2026

The results will be collated by the Local Government Oversight and Improvement Directorate of the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government




For further details about what we do in North Devon, please visit our website Who Does What? – Your Guide to Council Responsibilities | North Devon Council. (Please note that Devon County Council are responsible roads - pot holes, education and social care)

The government’s public consultation on Local Government Reorganisation (LGR) in Devon has now commenced

The Consultation can be found on the government website: Local government reorganisation in Devon, Plymouth and Torbay - GOV.UK

In response to the invitation from government last year to submit ideas for LGR, a number of proposals were submitted from authorities in Devon.

In total 4 proposals were submitted by Devon County Council, Plymouth City Council/ Exeter City Council, Torbay Council and a collaboration of 7 District Councils.

The proposal that has been submitted by the seven District Councils, which was commonly referred to as the 4-5-1 plan, includes a main case that would see the creation of two new authorities named Exeter and North Devon and Torbay and South Devon alongside Plymouth remaining on existing boundaries. It also contained a modified option, supported by most of the seven authorities, to modestly expand the boundaries of Plymouth into 4 parishes currently in the South Hams area. This has commonly been referred to as the 4-5-1+ plan.

The overarching proposal is branded as “Reimagining Devon” and was drafted as a single proposal. However, you will note that the “Reimagining Devon” branding does not appear on the government website referred to above and that in fact government has split the proposal into two separate proposals. This could cause some confusion - hence this additional explanation:

On the government website, the “main case” Reimaging Devon proposal is the one described as:-

“South Hams District Council, Teignbridge Borough Council, West Devon Borough Council proposed 3 unitary councils. These would comprise the current areas of:

  • Exeter and Northern Devon Unitary: East Devon, Exeter, Mid Devon, North Devon and Torridge
  • Plymouth to remain unchanged
  • Torbay and Southern Devon Unitary: South Hams, Teignbridge, Torbay and West Devon”


The modified version of Reimagining Devon with the option to expand the boundaries of Plymouth is the one described as:-

“East Devon Borough Council, Mid Devon District Council, North Devon Council, Torridge District Council proposed 3 unitary councils. This includes a request to split existing district council areas between the proposed new councils. These would comprise the current areas of:

  • Exeter and Northern Devon Unitary: East Devon, Exeter, Mid Devon, North Devon, and Torridge
  • Plymouth Expanded: parts of the parishes of Bickleigh, Briston, Shaugh Prior and Sparkwell from the neighbouring district of South Hams
  • Torbay and Southern Devon Unitary: South Hams, Teignbridge, Torbay and West Devon”

The government website contains a link through to all of the proposals and this will take you to a joint webpage, the link is Devon LGR.

You will see that this site has the main proposal and modified proposal listed separately. All of the seven District Councils support the main case; it is just that the way in which the government has decided to consult does not make this clear.

You can access all of the full proposal documents from Devon LGR but the full Reimagining Devon document is available online at Home | Reimagining Devon


Once you have had chance to look at the various proposals, the consultation asks you to respond to a series of questions on each proposal and again describes the Reimagining Devon proposal using the wording as above.

In drawing up proposals, all councils were given guidelines to comply with by government,. One of these was that each of the new authorities should serve a minimum of 500,000 population, although government did say that it would consider proposals that contained less than this if there was justification. Like you, the councillors at North Devon Council were very concerned that with that push for bigger authorities, LGR might result in local decision making being lost. It was for that reason that the Reimagining Proposal was drafted with the belief that this provides a balance between scale and local democracy.


Reimagining Devon proposal: Home | Reimagining Devon


Please complete the survey: Local government reorganisation in Devon, Plymouth and Torbay - GOV.UK



The consultation will run from 5 Feb 2026 to 26 March 2026

The results will be collated by the Local Government Oversight and Improvement Directorate of the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government




For further details about what we do in North Devon, please visit our website Who Does What? – Your Guide to Council Responsibilities | North Devon Council. (Please note that Devon County Council are responsible roads - pot holes, education and social care)

Page published: 09 Feb 2026, 11:43 AM