But a vote was carried in majority to send off a proposal for a Greater Nottinghamshire council to central government
Joseph Connolly Local Democracy Reporter
16:47, 24 Nov 2025
Independent councillor Ted Birch said he would be voting with ‘all the joy of a man renewing his car insurance’(Image: Rushcliffe Borough Council)
Rushcliffe Borough Council will agree to send its local government reorganisation (LGR) proposal for a ‘Greater Nottinghamshire’ authority to the Government on Tuesday after councillors voted in favour of supporting the plan.
Almost all of Rushcliffe’s 44 councillors were present at an extraordinary meeting called on Thursday, November 20, to debate the proposal before it goes to the council’s cabinet next week – ahead of the deadline for authorities submitting their preference on Thursday, November 27.
However, in the passionate 80-minute debate, many councillors expressed their disdain for the national overhaul of the system.
Introducing the proposal due to be sent to the government, Conservative council leader Neil Clarke MBE said: “The guidelines are not at all ideal, but these are the cards we’ve been dealt. This process has been instigated by the current Labour government under guidelines which are not favourable and not always logical. But this is a classic case of we are where we are.”
The recommendation to councillors for the meeting was for them to approve the Conservative council’s choice of the 1b) option for reorganisation, now being known as the ‘Greater Nottinghamshire proposal’.
This would see the Rushcliffe area remain part of a ‘county’ council, called Nottinghamshire Council.
The Conservative-led borough council joined forces with Reform-led Nottinghamshire County Council to create the draft proposal that will be submitted to the government.
Rushcliffe Labour councillor Jen Walker accused the Tories of using the process as a “political football”.
She said: “What’s particularly striking about the proposal for us tonight is not simply that the Conservatives have treated LGR as a political football for their own purposes, but they’ve now chosen to align themselves with the Reform party.”
But Conservative councillor Rex Walker hit back at his namesake, saying: “I have to say I was disappointed to hear Councillor Jen Walker in one breath criticise us for using the process as a party political football and in the next breath criticise us for getting into bed with a reform-led authority. It’s one or the other.”
Independent councillor Ted Birch suggested an amendment be made to the proposal to indicate how frustrated the entire council has felt by the process.
He said: “I’d like to begin by stating that I consider this process to be a farce. I think it’s very important that we express what a lot of us feel.
“I will reluctantly vote today with all the joy of a man renewing his car insurance.”
The amendment adds: “This council, although submitting a proposal, feels the LGR process does not have public support and the Government should have been open about this by including it in their election manifesto.”
But Labour Councillor Mike Gaunt suggested the issue had been in the Labour Party ’s election manifesto, while also saying it was “really sad” that there hadn’t been more roundtable discussions about potential options between different parties before they were tabled.
He said: “Devolution of power across England was a manifesto pledge. The intention was to widen devolution to more areas, encouraging local authorities to come together and take on new powers.
“Now that doesn’t specifically say LGR, but that’s basically what it is. There is a democratic mandate for it. So let’s stop this.
“We now have three options, and it’s going up to the minister because we couldn’t get in a room together like adults and talk about it properly.”
Councillors from each of the parties represented on the council agreed to the amendment.
The 1b option suggests an urban ‘Nottingham Council’ looking after the city plus more urban districts such as Gedling and Broxtowe and a rural Nottinghamshire Council looking after the rest of the county.
Smaller ‘neighbourhood committees’ would help make decisions on more localised issues.
However, this idea was denounced by Independent councillor Carys Thomas, who had previously argued for a single, unitary authority covering all of Nottinghamshire.
She said: “I will not be supporting this rehash to preserve our two larger councils. I fundamentally disagree with any proposal that will just morph the two big councils into two new unitary councils. The councils will just lumber on doing what they do.
“New identities are needed, and surely Nottingham is part of Nottinghamshire? The neighbourhoods proposal is tokenistic and badly thought-out. The solution looks very much like vague arm-waving to me.
Agreeing, Labour West Bridgford councillor Penny Gowland said: “The current plan is mad. It’s just mad. I’d want a single authority like Councillor Thomas. I can’t vote for this because it doesn’t make any sense for the people of West Bridgford to move forward.”
Green Party councillor Richard Mallender reiterated other councillors’ concerns that a council covering the entirety of Nottinghamshire could lead to people who live 40 miles away making planning decisions for the people of Rushcliffe.
He said: “This is a bit of a pig’s ear, isn’t it. It’s about an 80-mile round trip if you’ve got someone up in Worksop who wants to know about a planning issue down in Langar.”
And Conservative Councillor David Simms told the chamber it would be pensioners running the new councils, because district and borough councillors like himself work and would not have the time to dedicate to a bigger council role.
He said: “This has always been a process to me that was flawed from the very beginning because of the parameters we were set by the government. I’ve always said make decisions at haste and repent at leisure. This has been too fast.
“But we are where we are. I’m not in it for me, because it doesn’t pay well. I’m here to represent the people of East Bridgford ward. I don’t want it. I think we are a brilliant council. I’m very proud to be a councillor at Rushcliffe.
“I’m not sure I’d have the time if I did get selected to be a councillor of a new super authority because I work for a living. So it would be over to the pensioners to run it. Because they’re the people with the time. It’s as simple as that.”
