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Politicians representing some of the towns and villages being eyed up for an enlarged Preston say the places in question have no desire to become part of the city.
It comes after Preston City Council leader Matthew Brown wrote to the government calling for the creation of a new local authority covering a patch dubbed “Greater Preston”.
The plan would involve Penwortham, Bamber Bridge, Longton and Samlesbury – in South Ribble – Garstang in Wyre, and Longridge, Mellor and Balderstones in the Ribble Valley all leaving their current council areas and being incorporated into the newly expanded city.
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The leader’s blueprint was prompted by a push from the majority of his party’s Lancashire MPs – including Preston’s Sir Mark Hendrick – for a radical shake-up which would slash the number of councils in the county from 15 down to just three or four.
The suggestions that have come forward so far have involved the formation of new standalone councils forged from the merger of existing local authority areas.
However, Preston’s border-busting proposal to conjure up a so-called ‘unitary’ authority on an entirely new footprint has drawn the ire of two neighbouring council leaders and a councillor who has represented his town for nearly 30 years.
Veteran Penwortham councillor David Howarth said of the idea, which was revealed earlier this week by the Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS): “I think Preston has everything to gain and we have everything to lose.”
The Liberal Democrat added that Penwortham, which lies barely a mile from Preston city centre, has “a vibrant and growing local economy, with a high street that people want to visit”.
“We don’t have the problems of crumbling Guild Halls and boarded-up shops,” he continued.
“So I think the simple answer [to this suggestion] is, ‘No, thank you.’”
Cllr Howarth, a Howick and Priory ward councillor on South Ribble Borough Council, has worked – but never lived – in Preston and came to Penwotham from his native Manchester in the early 1990s.
He says he is taking comfort from the fact he does not believe the Greater Preston pitch will be “taken seriously” by MPs or the government.
South Ribble’s Labour council leader Jacky Alty – who last week proposed her district merges with Chorley and West Lancashire – is keeping her powder dry over Preston’s bid to acquire some key areas on her side of the river.
She told the LDRS she was awaiting the government’s devolution white paper – due to be published this month – which is expected to set out plans for local government reorganisation.
“We will review this, once released, to assess what options we have that are in the best interests of South Ribble residents,” Cllr Alty added.
However, Wyre Council’s Conservative leader Michael Vincent blasted what he described as Cllr Brown’s attempt to “annex part of neighbouring districts without the consent of the people or their elected representatives”.
“The people of Garstang and the rural east areas of Wyre feel no affinity or connection to Preston and I’m confident they want to remain in Wyre as a district council.
“It’s clear that the Labour Party in Lancashire are not speaking to each other about their plans to ruin our great county. West Lancashire want to be in the Liverpool City Region, while the leaders of Chorley and South Ribble want them to be in a unitary together. Now, Cllr Brown wants to split up [the] West [of] Lancashire and have parts of it in Preston.
“They do not have a settled view and them surrendering themselves to this process before the white paper is released risks the future of properly functioning and well thought-out local government in Lancashire,” Cllr Vincent said.
Fellow Tory district leader – Ribble Valley Borough Council’s Stephen Atkinson – was equally scathing of the Greater Preston proposal and the other moves to redraw Lancashire’s local authority map.
“I would ask when any of these Labour politicians are going to ask the residents [about their ideas] – it’s like they don’t exist, even though they pay for the councils with their council tax.
“Local government has grown from local corporations that responded to the needs of their local communities – they are organic, responsive and efficient.
“We now have a new government that talks about devolution of powers to local people, but some of whose MPs are asking for local government reorganisation without even consulting those people.
“Idealism – the belief in ideas – normally does more damage than good. Pragmatism – building on the existing and improving it – is what will deliver the best result.
“Focus on what the residents want – it’s their money and that’s why Ribble Valley will hold a referendum if its existence is threatened,” said Cllr Atkinson.
Wyre has also pledged a local referendum on any formal proposals for council changes, with Cllr Vincent arguing that such a vote should be held in each of Lancashire’s 14 districts and boroughs.
‘Preston is going places’, leader says
Responding to criticism of his Greater Preston plan – and the city itself – Matthew Brown defended both the policy and the place.
“The proposals for a Greater Preston unitary are based upon Preston’s role as the administrative capital of Lancashire,” he said.
“Cllr Howarth’s negativity seems to miss the £120m of public regeneration Preston City Council is investing in, creating hundreds of jobs and [generating] new civic pride.
“If we are moving towards reorganisation of local government, it makes sense that it is done on sensible footprints which take account how our city is connected.
“Preston is a city on the up and talking our local economy down does no favours to anyone,” Cllr Brown added.
What do you think of the proposals to change council areas? What do you think should happen? Let us know in the comments below
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