Cornwall faces its biggest shake-up since local government reorganisation in 1974 following the Government's green light for the county council's bid for unitary status. The decision, announced by Local Government Minister John Healey on Wednesday spells the end for the six district councils including Caradon. Across the country nine proposals for unitary status will now go ahead towards implementation with the intention that all new authorities are fully up and running in 2009. The current structure of the county council and six district councils will be replaced with a new unified council for Cornwall. Cornwall County Council says the move will save more than £17m of Cornish taxpayers' money a year, deliver improved, more efficient and community-focused services, give local communities more say in decision-making and provide Cornwall with a stronger voice with which to lobby the Government. 'This is a very exciting time for Cornwall,' said David Whalley, Lib-Dem leader of the county council. 'Cornwall has been given a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to shape its own future and create a new system of local government which will better meet the needs of every resident, business and organisation in the county. 'And this is only the beginning. We know that the Government has already set out plans for more powers to be given to cities. We will be asking the Government to consider Cornwall in this process and devolve more powers to the council so that important decisions which affect Cornwall can be made in Cornwall.' Cllr Tony Powell, leader of Caradon District Council, said that now the decision had been made he hoped all sides on the debate would come together to make it work. 'We have robustly and objectively represented the views of the 82 per cent of people who responded to our poll and who voted "no" to the county bid,' he said. 'However, now that the decision has finally been made, it is equally important that we unite and put all our efforts into shaping the county proposal to ensure that we in South East Cornwall continue to receive the very highest levels of services and investment and that our electorate are represented effectively. 'We will be working closely with the county and the other district councils to ensure that the new governance arrangements for Cornwall are a success.' The future of Caradon's existing employees would also be a high priority, he added. But while Mr Powell and his fellow district council leaders were prepared to go along with the decision, there was a challenge from Dick Cole, leader of Mebyon Kernow, who said his party was 'appalled' that central government has supported 'flawed proposals' of the county council. 'To those Liberal Democrat county councillors and MPs who have pushed this through against massive local opposition, I have a message: If you are confident that a single unitary authority is correct for Cornwall, then resign your seats at County Hall and Westminster and stand for re-election on this issue.' An e-petition calling for the decision to be reconsidered has appeared on the 10 Downing Street website.