Merged council for central Eastleigh proposed
Residents urged to have their say on Community Governance Review
A consultation as part of a community governance review on proposals to create a single, merged decision-making body for the centre of Eastleigh and areas to the north has been given the go-ahead by Borough Councillors.
The planned community governance review (CGR) would merge Eastleigh Town Council and Boyatt Wood Parish Council into one larger organisation, representing the first tier of local democracy.
How can residents have their say on the CGR?
Residents can take part in a survey until 25 May. Print copies are being delivered to all properties in Eastleigh Town, Boyatt Wood and Allbrook.
All interested groups and residents are being invited to give their views. Should you wish to submit a representation regarding the review you can:
- complete the online form (see link at thebottom of this page)
- email cgr@eastleigh.gov.uk
- post your written submission to Freepost EBC Electoral Services
- return the consultation flyer to Freepost EBC Electoral Services, or
- deliver in person to Eastleigh House, Upper Market Street, Eastleigh SO50 9YN
House numbers in the online survey - we have asked for residents' postcodes and house numbers in the online version of survey. Please note that non-numerical values can't be accepted by the survey form. So, if your property only has a name, rather than a street number, or if the number of your property has a letter suffix - eg, 24a - then please enter '00' in the House Number field. Alternatively, please respond using the other options, such as the print survey.
Potential benefits
With devolution and local government reorganisation (LGR) set to create much larger unitary local authorities in Hampshire, Eastleigh Town Council and Boyatt Wood Parish Council have identified a number of potential benefits of merging:
- a new unitary authority is likely to devolve more responsibilities to town and parish councils, which would put a larger central Eastleigh council in a better position to take on additional services
- local decision-making would remain as close to the community as possible
- the new council would have a stronger voice when engaging with the new unitary authority on issues like planning, infrastructure and community investment
- there would be greater financial efficiencies and more consistency in the planning and delivery of services.
- There would be greater coordination in the planning process.
Strengthening town and parish councils means that householders are represented by elected councillors who are responsible for more tightly drawn local areas than the much larger local authorities proposed under LGR. They would also have a greater say in how the budget for local services is spent.
If the decision is to merge the two current councils into one larger council, the election for seats on the new council will take place in 2026 which will replace the scheduled elections for the separate councils.
Current council seats and electorate
The current makeup of the three councils is:
Please complete the survey from the link below