City chiefs back plans to create a Greater Gloucester council
The proposed overhaul is part of the English Devolution White Paper
City chiefs have backed plans to create a Greater Gloucester council as a proposal for local government reorganisation in the county.
Local government could be radically changed in the coming years as the Government wants to see district authorities merged with county councils.
The proposed overhaul is part of the English Devolution White Paper which ministers say aims to give more power to regions of the country and would see the creation of directly-elected regional mayors.
In Gloucestershire, all six districts, such as Gloucester City Council, have been working on two separate proposals for local government reorganisation with Shire Hall.
These options are for a single unitary across the whole of the Gloucestershire County Council and another with two separate authorities.
This would entail one in the East made up of the Cotswold district and the boroughs of Cheltenham and Tewkesbury while the one in the West would be composed of Gloucester, Stroud and the Forest of Dean.
However, the City Council also developed their own plans. These are for an expanded city area within a Greater Gloucester unitary authority which would include nearby parishes with strong links to the county town and a Gloucestershire unitary council made up of the rest of the county.
All three options were debated at North Warehouse last night (November 20) and the Greater Gloucester proposal received the most votes as the preferred one.
A total of 17 councillors backed the plans, all Liberal Democrats, while ten members backed the single unitary option, these were Conservatives and Community Independents.
All four Labour members present at the time of the vote backed the East-West proposal while one Conservative voted for none of the above.
Council leader Jeremy Hilton (LD, Kingsholm and Wotton), who presented the proposals, said the Greater Gloucester option was the best of the three and would create two complementary councils.
He claimed that speaking recently to people at Eastgate Shopping Centre recently they overwhelmingly wanted the Greater Gloucester proposal – this was met with laughter from the opposition.
“The governance would be aligned with the city’s real footprint"
“We were talking to people from Minsterworth, Longford, Highnam, Tredworth, Hucclecote, Barnwood and they all wanted to support the Greater Gloucester option, which was surprising because there’s a lot of noise suggesting that nobody wants to support it,” Cllr Hilton said.
“The Greater Gloucester option is the best option for booth ourselves and the county as a whole,” he said.
“It would create two complementary councils, the Greater Gloucester council with an extension taking in 21 other parish councils around the city would have an urban focus and be able to concentrate on issues such as homelessness, children’s service, social care and urban regeneration,” he said.
“The governance would be aligned with the city’s real footprint. We know there is social and economic interchange between people of the city and those of Brockworth, Hardwicke or Upton St Leonards.
“They are all part of the great community that is the city of Gloucester though they are not currently within our boundaries.”
Deputy leader Declan Wilson (LD, Hucclecote) said he initially thought the single unitary would be best but he said he did not want a mega council of more than 659,000 people.
“We would lose the ability to make local decisions for the people who live in the city,” he said.
He said the Greater Gloucester council would serve more than 170,000 and would be more representative.
And it would strengthen the city’s heritage and promote more economic growth in Gloucester and a stronger voice, he added.
He called on all members of the council to support the Greater Gloucester option.
“deep, dark abyss”
However, Conservative group leader Stephanie Chambers (C, Quedgeley Fieldcourt) felt it was the most dangerous option on offer.
She said splitting the county would be a recipe for disaster and lead to cuts to council services.
And the Greater Gloucester model has made the council a laughing stock and could turn the city into a “deep, dark abyss”, she added.
“Our local economy will collapse, house prices will fall, and businesses will leave,” she said.
“There is a better way. A single authority offers financial resilience, efficiency, a united voice for growth, and joined up infrastructure.
“This doughnut proposal was not created with residents in mind. It’s about power and clinging to control by officers whose instinct is to protect their jobs.
“The public? Just one per cent support the Greater Gloucester model in the biggest consultation that was done.”
Labour Party councillor Karen James (L, Kingsway) said her group’s preferred option of the East-West option was the only sensible option.
She said it was nothing more than a vanity project.
And Labour group leader Terry Pullen (L, Moreland) said the council leader had driven his own agenda in pursuing the Greater Gloucester proposal and it had been dealt with “shoddily”.
He said Cllr Hilton had failed to work collaboratively across the council.
He said the question was which council could be more community focused and deliver effective services in those areas and deliver growth.
And argued for the East-West option saying how it would serve two areas which would be large enough to be financially sustainable.
“Gloucestershire isn’t one place, it is a collection of places. A single unitary would be too big and Greater Gloucester would purely focus on Gloucester.
“We believe the East and West is the best option serving respectively310,000 and 350,000 people. Large enough to be influencial, large enough to be financially sustainable.
“Small enough to meet the needs and priorities of people. West Gloucestershire is strongly positioned for a sustainable economy and housing growth.”
Elmbridge councillor Anne Radley (LD) said the city’s current boundaries do not work well and areas which functionally are tied to Gloucester should be within the same council area.
And Cllr Sarah Sawyer (LD, Longlevens) said Cheltenham like Gloucester saw the single unitary as a threat to their governance.
She said the single unitary proposal hardly mentions the city.
“How can you parish Gloucester? We are the county town, the city, the engine of the county.”
Cllr Sawyer asked whether the City Council wanted councillors in the Forest of Dean and Cotswolds to make decisions about the future of Gloucester.
But Conservative Sajid Patel (C, Barton and Tredworth) questioned what consultation there had been with the parishes which would be part of Greater Gloucester and claimed Quedgeley Town Council were against the proposals.
And Community Independent group leader Alastair Chambers (Matson, Robinswood and White City) said the Greater Gloucester “doughnut” was “the worst idea baked in the city”.
“The public do not want this,” he said.
Councillor Angela Conder (LD, Kingsholm and Wotton) said other historic cities such as Leicester were considering a unitary authority.
The Cabinet will consider the council’s preferred proposal at their meeting today (November 21) and decide to submit the proposal formally to ministers by November 28.
The Government will then decide the outcome of local government reorganisation and elections to the new council or councils are expected to be in May 2027 with the new authority taking over from the current seven councils from April 2028.