People in Gedling borough are to be given the chance to share their thoughts on a plan which would see our local council scrapped.
Nottinghamshire County Council is working on a plan to scrap all seven district and borough councils in Nottinghamshire, and the county council.
It would then create one or two new ‘super councils’ covering the whole of Nottinghamshire apart from the city.
Supporters, including the Conservative-led county council, say it could help save £20 to £30 million a year, while protecting and streamlining front-line services.
But opponents say it would remove local decision making, and be costly to set up.
The county council has just finished the first of two phases of its own consultation, and results are due imminently.
Now, Gedling Borough Council has announced it plans to hold its own consultation, in order to gauge the views of its residents.
It intends to send a hard copy of its consultation to every household in the borough, asking for people’s specific view on what should happen to Gedling.
It expects to spend £20,000 on the consultation and collating the results, which would be published around the end of January.
A final vote on the plan is expected to happen at the county council in May 2019.
Councillor Michael Payne, deputy leader of the council, said: “We obviously have a view that decisions should be made as locally as possible to the people they affect.
“But ultimately, we want to hear from our residents and businesses who fund the services they rely on.
“They deserve to have a straightforward say on this. The first consultation (run by the county council) didn’t give people a chance to say that they wanted to keep the council local, and a lot of residents have told us they’re annoyed about that.
“So we are saying let’s give the people of Gedling their say in the most straightforward way possible.”
A decision will be made next week at a public meeting of Gedling Borough Council’s Cabinet on Thursday, November 8.
