Stafford Borough councillors have hit out at proposals that could see Stone and surrounding villages split up from the county town as part of local government reorganisation.
The Government is planning to replace the current two-tier council system in counties such as Staffordshire with unitary authorities.
This means Staffordshire County Council and the area’s eight district and borough authorities face the axe, and in the future residents will see services delivered by a single council rather than two separate ones. Councils across England affected by the reorganisation are currently putting together detailed proposals for new local government systems and have been set a November 28 deadline by the Government.
Stafford Borough could form part of a wider “Southern Staffordshire” council, alongside Cannock Chase District, East Staffordshire Borough, Lichfield District, South Staffordshire District and Tamworth Borough. The plans have been backed by the six district and borough authorities and residents are being invited to have their say in a public survey this month.
But a separate proposal for the north of the county could see Stone, Uttoxeter and some villages around each town become part of a North Staffordshire Council covering the Staffordshire Moorlands, Newcastle Borough and Stoke-on-Trent. This option has been backed by members of Staffordshire Moorlands District Council.
A report to a Staffordshire Moorlands District Council assembly meeting last month said:
“The revised boundaries of the parts of the Stafford and East Staffordshire Boroughs that are now included in the North unitary council are now based on four county electoral divisions – Stone Rural North, Stone Urban, Uttoxeter Town and Uttoxeter Rural.
The area included also includes two parish wards of further county division (Stafford Trent Valley) to ensure that the parish council arrangements that are currently within the Stafford Borough area are preserved in the proposed North unitary Council, avoiding the splitting of any parish wards from their principal council.”
Stafford Borough councillors remain opposed to the prospect of the current authority area being split up however. Borough councillor Alec Sandiford, who represents the Fulford ward, said:
“It is completely unacceptable for Staffordshire Moorlands to start recommending changes to communities they don’t represent.
“No one in Fulford, Swynnerton and Oulton, Barlaston, Yarnfield or Stone has asked for this, and no one wants it. The current system works well – our services are delivered locally and our residents know who represents them.”
Stafford Borough Council leader Aidan Godfrey, added:
“I have been absolutely clear from the very start of this reorganisation work that Stafford Borough’s existing boundaries are a red line and not negotiable. Our communities will not be carved up to suit another council’s plans.”
Stafford Borough residents, businesses and organisations can take part in a survey on the future of local goverment in Staffordshire until Monday, September 1. For more information visit https://online1.snapsurveys.com/shapingstaffordshire.
Councillor Sandiford added:
“The decisions made in the coming months will shape how services are delivered for decades to come. It is vital that residents across Stafford Borough make their voices heard and ensure our communities are not treated as pawns on a map by outside councils.”
8 comments
Anonymous
Absolutely no way!!!!!
Stoke on Trent City Council !
– have totally mismanaged, misappropriated and repeatedly wasted funding and resources allocated to them
As for criminality and lawlessness
– it’s prolific there!
as is failure to safeguard!
– Children Women and girls !!
Shambolic governance
Asylum seekers and illegal*migrants – predominantly economic*
prioritised over local peoples needs !
– and the safety of local community !
Large areas of the city mass populated by migrant communities that have no intention of integrating with other local community.
Derelict buildings and cannabis factories ! popping up all over the city –
Fly tips, graffiti , anti social drug paraphernalia! Littering
and pollution have rendered the city like a slum!
It’s an absolute travesty what’s happened to Stoke on Trent !
and I strongly oppose any merger with its poorly performing! council.
Alan Worthington
Please keep Newcastle under lyme well away from Stoke on trent council ⁰
Alan Worthington
Please keep Newcastle under lyme well away from Stoke on trent council
Andrew Martin
The trouble is Stafford borough goes well into North Staffordshire. Trentham Gardens, the Dougie Mac and M6 J15 are all obviously in North Staffs, but Stafford council considers them behind the red line and must be in Southern Staffs.
Sue Bell
Having worked for unitary/one tier authorities, and having lived in a village in Staffordshire, which is administered by both the borough and county councils, it makes sense to me to just have one local authority, not two. On the whole, the general public don’t understand how the two tier system works. It would be a whole lot simpler for them if there was only one local council providing their services. The important thing would be to have local delivery points and to ensure local representation in the design and delivery of services.
Steven Roberts
There’s no doubt that unitary authorities are potentially more effective and efficient, cut down on duplication, improve lines of communication and make it easier for the public to understand service delivery responsibilities and accountability, as everything is under one roof. This was done in Wales 30 years ago, where I worked for 15 years under such an authority, so can testify from personal experience. However, such a root and branch change does involve considerable initial extra costs and very much upheaval in setting up new systems, management structures and processes. For this reason, changes should be kept to a minimum and as much as possible retained within existing structures. Incidentally, I’m a bit bemused as to why anyone would think the proposal to move the boundaries has anything to do with immigration and I’d like to see evidence to support this claim.
Averil
Keep fighting Alec, I certainly don’t want to leave Stafford and I’m sure other residents in others villages don’t either.
Andy
It’s all about paying for immigrants. Unitary authorities need to be 500k plus. By forcing stone or Stafford into Stoke they will then be able to shift the enormous cost of the immigrants onto your rates bill once they are given leave to remain or asylum, as Stamer plans to do. Resist the move.