IT MAY not have been the subject of choice for bar-room conversations last week, but the fact that Dorset could lose its county council in favour of a new South West regional assembly should be stirring up a hornets' nest.

The argument that Dorset should be part of a new central southern region seems to have been lost. It never did hold much water for the west of the county.

We already have a degree of regional government, and now the Deputy Prime Minister wants us to back it up with a democratically-elected regional assembly with powers to raise money through council tax and borrowing.

The idea is of acute interest to business because the assembly would control economic development and regeneration, planning, transport and housing.

Extra powers would be given to the existing Regional Development Agency and the Government Office for the South West.

There is an obvious downside to all this - but also some potential advantages that we should not ignore.

The downside is cost. Rural areas could be paying for half a dozen layers of government from parish council to Brussels.

This sounds like a recipe for expensive and slow decisions and an inefficient bureaucracy.

On the other hand there are some good business reasons for supporting this.

At present much of the real power is not held locally and it is hard to make your voice heard where it counts.

We at the DCCI would like to hear the views of local business. E-mail me at contact@dcci.co.uk

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