Merged council for central Eastleigh proposed
Eastleigh Town and Boyatt Wood Parish Councils could become one larger organisation
A consultation on proposals to create a 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.
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, and there would be greater financial efficiencies and more consistency in the planning and delivery of services.
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.
The area covered by the new council would have the same boundaries as the two current councils. Residents of Allbrook parish, to the north of Boyatt Wood, are also being asked for their views via the online and through-the-door survey across all three town/parish areas.
Leader of Eastleigh Borough Council, Councillor Keith House, said: “The proposals for local government reorganisation in Hampshire, creating a small number of very large unitary councils, could mean a loss of truly local representation and accountability. The planned community governance review for central Eastleigh reflects our commitment to keeping service delivery and decision-making as close to local residents as possible, but we want to know if these proposals are supported by local residents. We will be strongly encouraging everyone in the area to have their say.”
If the decision is taken to merge the two current councils into one larger council, the election for seats on the new authority will take place in 2026, replacing the scheduled elections for the separate councils.
Find out more at www.eastleigh.gov.uk/eastleighcgr