City council ‘land grab’ could cost £3m more than other two options

EXTRA ‘COMPLEXITY* IN SPLITTING BOROUGHS IN TWO

- By OLIVER PRIDMORE

A PLAN to expand Nottingham by splitting surrounding areas in two could be £3 million more expensive than other options on the table in a huge shakeup of boundaries.

Nottingham City Council has been working on a plan that could see sections of Broxtowe, Gedling and Rushcliffe come into the city and the remaining parts left in the county.

A new report has just been published looking into the viability of this plan, previously dubbed a “land grab” by other council leaders.

Although the report says the city council plan would bring the same level of benefit in the long-run, the transition costs could be £3 million more expensive.

The report therefore says the two other options on the table are “more financially efficient”; but the city council is now developing its own plan further ahead of a crucial November deadline.

Councils like Nottingham operate all local authority services in their area, but the rest of Nottinghamshire uses a two-tier system. The larger authority, in this case Nottinghamshire County Council, runs big services like roads and social care.

Smaller district and borough councils, of which Nottinghamshire has seven, then run local services like parks and bin collections.