Ashworth: What we propose will create powerful engines of growth, wealth and jobs

Leader backs north-south split for county

- Phil Corrigan [e-mail]

CONTROVERSIAL plans for new 'super councils' in Staffordshire present a 'generational opportunity' for the county, a new report claims.

Stoke-on-Trent City Council has published its final proposal for a North Staffordshire Unitary Authority, in response to the Government's reorganisation of English councils.

The city’s plan would see the 10 existing councils in Stoke-on-Trent and Staffordshire replaced by two unitaries - one in the north of the county and one covering Southern and Mid-Staffordshire.

Its 278-page report says a North Staffordshire unitary for Stoke-on-Trent, Newcastle and the Staffordshire Moorlands would align with realities 'on the ground' in terms of how people live, work and travel.

It adds an alternative plan to divide Staffordshire into eastern and western unitaries with Stoke-on-Trent merging with the likes of Tamworth and Lichfield - 'defies common sense.