I’m running a survey of what people in the local area think of the boundary changes. There isn’t much time to get submissions back to the Boundary Committee – certainly not enough time to knock on doors. Instead, I’ve asked people to send back a slip or to visit this site. I’m also hoping to do something similar with Pauline Bailey in Roby Mill.
If you want to take part in the survey, please complete the form below. I’ll collate them and put them into a submission for the Boundary Committee.
The government has announced that those regions that vote for a Regional Assembly later this year should have unitary councils. For those of us in the parish of Up Holland and in Skelmersdale it means that the District and County councils would be abolished and replaced by a single council providing all local services.
There are many advantages to unitary authorities, not least that councils become more accountable to local council tax payers.
I am a local, Labour, Parish councillor and would like to know what you think about the proposed boundary changes.
Preliminary proposals from the Boundary Committee that affect us are:
1) A single unitary council for all of Lancashire,
2) Up Holland and Tontine along with Skelmersdale to be merged into Wigan Metropolian Borough Council.
The West Lancashire Labour Party are proposing a merged “Central Lancashire” authority of Chorley, South Ribble and West Lancashire, while the Conservative council is campaigning for a unitary West Lancashire (which has already been rejected once by the Boundary Committee).
There are pros and cons for each of the four proposed changes, but the key thing should be what improves local government and local service delivery without costing the earth.
It is possible that unitary authorities will be introduced even if the regional assembly referendum returns a `no’ vote. So this is an important issue for all of us which is unlikely to “go away”.
I will summarise and pass on any feedback I receive to the Boundary Committee. If you would like a summary of the responses and my submission, please indicate below.
Survey Form – Disabled – do not use
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My preferred option for local government is:
Merge into Wigan Metropolitan Borough Council
Single Lancashire Council
Central Lancashire Council (Chorley, Sth Ribble, West Lancs)
Unitary West Lancashire Council
Other
Other:
Any other comments: