Did fear of a ‘urban’ -v- ‘rural’ unitary council split scupper Conservative plans for a unitary county council?

The Nottinghamshire unitary county consultation report/summary/analysis makes interesting reading, An idea that was obviously gaining ground was that the more urban councils should split from the more rural councils.

There was less support for one county-wide unitary council than two councils. To quote from the report:

‘Overall, there was much more support for two unitary councils than for one (64% favoured two, while 36% favoured one). There was also more support for two in all seven of the districts/boroughs. The views of local authority staff were somewhat more evenly divided: 47% preferred one and 53% preferred two unitary councils.’

Also:

‘A North-South split would be distinctly unpopular with political leaders across the districts. A West-East split would be much more politically acceptable because it would reflect the aspirations of local political leaders and create two ‘harmonious’ unitary authorities. A single UA – though much the best solution in terms of service delivery and financial viability – might have difficulty in achieving effective political majorities or working arrangements between the different parties The east of the county would be fearful that it was ‘subsidising’ the poorer west.’

Broxtowe depends on Nottingham and now the county’s plans are dead Nottingham can happily back off and there will be no more talk of mergers with surrounding councils by the city, although the county’s more urban councils might still like to be free of the county’s more rural councils.

Perhaps a Broxtowe-Ashfield-Gedling (eventually unitary) ‘partnership’ council might emerge from all this, able to work with the city, given they share so many common interests. We shall see.

In the meantime a link to the consultation report:

http://www.nottinghamshire.gov.uk/media/1727147/opinionresearchservicesreport.pdf


The following two tables from the Report may be of interest (click on images to enlarge):

Notice that some of those responding lived in Nottingham. Some Voluntary sector participants were of the view that district and parish councillors were more supportive of their activities than county councillors — hence the opposition to one unitary Nottinghamshire council.

Notice to low level of participation in the survey by younger people. Older folk are cursed for participating and blamed for determining the future of young people. In truth, younger voters hold the future in their own hands. They had every bit the same opportunity as a 70 year old to participate. Maybe we need to wear badges saying 'I'm voting. Will you?