Big change will see one authority run county

THE merging of Gloucestershire County Council with district authorities into one council has been chosen as the preferred option during a meeting in which many councillors felt the Government-imposed reorganisation will harm local democracy.

- CARMELO GARCIA

The county debated the two options for local government which have been worked up with the six district authorities.

These are for one single unitary authority or splitting the county into East and West with one council made up of Gloucester, the Forest of Dean and Stroud and the other composed of Cheltenham, Cotswold and Tewkesbury.

Separate plans for a Greater Gloucester unitary council with another unitary for the rest of the county is being put forward by the City Council but was not debated.

Council leader Lisa Spivey (LD, South Cerney), who opened the debate, said it was a truly historic moment for the county and explained why she would back the single unitary option.

She said councillors would debate the options before them but the final decision would not be made in Shire Hall but by ministers in Whitehall.

"I cannot help but observe that this runs completely contrary to the very principle of local decision making," she said.

She said she has weighed up both options and felt that the single unitary would be the preferred option.