County leaders criticise 'unbalanced' city proposals

Council leaders in Leicestershire have said a recent proposal to expand Leicester city's boundaries would leave "an unbalanced county".

Pip Allnatt, leader of Melton Borough Council, released a statement on Friday on behalf of the leaders of the county's district and borough councils, and Rutland County Council, in response to the city council's plans around local government reorganisation.

The statement said the proposed expanded city boundary "is focused purely on what works for the city".

Revealing the plan on Wednesday, Leicester mayor Sir Peter Soulsby said: "The county and district councils all know that the existing city boundary makes no sense and has to change."

The city's plan would see Leicester's current population of 372,000 increase to 623,000 by 2028, with parts of Charnwood Borough Council, Harborough District Council, Oadby and Wigston Borough Council and Blaby District Council merging with the city to form a new unitary authority.

Soulsby said: "Critically, our almost uniquely constrained boundary means that now - unlike comparable cities - we have no chance of delivering the extra housing that our city so desperately needs within existing confines."

Allnatt's statement said the city council's proposals would be reviewed carefully.

"From our initial assessment, the proposed expanded city boundary leaves an unbalanced county and Rutland doughnut surrounding it, with no sense of place and the challenges it would create operationally over its geography," Allnatt said.

"It seems the options being presented by the county and city councils are focused on serving their own interests, rather than those of their communities, whereas our proposal is the only one which is well-balanced and offers a reset, refresh and reinvigoration of local government."

A city council spokesperson added: "The reorganisation of local government will mean significant changes, and we understand that people will have strong feelings about the various proposals being submitted.

"These are our initial proposals which meet the government's aim of creating fewer, larger unitary councils with populations of more than 500,000 people. This will help deliver more cost-effective services, long-term financial stability and rapid local economic growth – which will benefit all residents."

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