'Merger with Stoke-on-Trent will be good for Moorlands'

COUNCIL leaders in the Staffordshire Moorlands are set to back new plans for an 'enlarged' North Staffordshire unitary authority.

- By Phil Corrigan

The government has called on councils to come up with proposals for replacing the current two-tier system of counties and districts with a single layer of unitaries.

Staffordshire Moorlands District Council has yet to formally support an option, with some elected members firmly opposed to the area becoming part of a 'Greater Stoke-on-Trent.

But now a cross-party sub-committee has recommended a proposal which would see the Moorlands become part of a North Staffordshire Council, along with Stoke-on-Trent, Newcastle and parts of Stafford and East Staffordshire boroughs. This builds on the North Staffordshire model supported by Stoke-on-Trent City Council, but extends it to include Stone, Uttoxeter and nearby villages.

The rest of Staffordshire would be combined into a Southern and Mid Staffordshire Council.

According to an options appraisal, replacing Staffordshire's 10 existing councils with two unitaries could save up to £18.8 million a year, but the transition could cost up to £27.8 million.