I often comment that many of us, perhaps even most of us, don’t know one "council" entity in our area from the other.

In far-off days, queens and kings would gather councils of advisors together about some imminent war against a continental foe.

The stakes were high, and bad or unwelcome advice might lead to a baron spending months in the Tower.

All before a mighty roasted hog and flagons of mead.

These days, though, as the leader of East Devon’s district council, a cup of tea is make-your-own, as it should be, and any decisions made by my administration go through officer reports, discussion at Cabinet, or another committee, and confirmation by all 60 members at Full Council.

Moreover, in East Devon, there are two other levels of Council to be considered.

The county does everything from potholes to SEND, Adult Social Care to Health Scrutiny, and much of that is tough under-funded graft.

Town or Parish, if done well, can initiate projects and seek funding and advice of various kinds from the upper tiers, including available government funds for local infrastructure.

In East Devon, Axminster, under the town clerkship of my colleague Paul Hayward, is turning its once-struggling Town Hall into a regional entertainment venue while continuing to serve local community needs.

Paul’s combination of passion for his community with huge experience as an elected councillor and a local government administrator shows what can be done from the lowest tier up.

Of course, and sadly, you need to grow a thick skin doing any of this.

For example, just the other day a restaurant business on Exmouth's seafront failed, hopefully soon to be replaced.

Any kind person’s first thought should be for the potential loss of jobs.

Most clued-up locals know that before my time East Devon council had been involved in closing viable businesses and building an expensive road to facilitate the restaurant site.

So, when I became Leader back in 2020, one of my first actions was to set up an open committee to ensure any future development on the seafront was led by local consent at an open and transparent committee so this couldn’t happen like that again.

Last week, this didn’t stop a member of Labour’s hierarchy blaming the restaurant’s closure on me from the comfort of his keyboard!

As a local councillor, we all have to stomach these inversions of the truth sometimes.

But never mind, there are many things East Devon does well, and I mean all of you because you pay for it.

The weekly work of every household in diligently putting out separate recycling means our area is the 6th best in the country for recycling.

More than 60 per cent of your household waste gets turned into bike frames, new bins, plant pots, glass containers, paper towels and greeting cards.

In a world of negative news, I love this.

Everyone doing their bit, facilitated by the council they vote for.

It’s how it should be.