THE MERGER of Warwick and Stratford’s district councils has been abandoned.
The leaders of the two councils said there were ‘irreconcilable’ differences between their respective ‘approaches and ambitions’, meaning the proposed merger could not go ahead ‘in the interests of residents and staff’.
It means Alcester and Studley, along with the rest of Stratford District, will not join with Warwick to become a ‘super district’.
It emerged SDC leader Coun Tony Jefferson had written to the Government requesting the decision on the proposed merger – expected at the end of May – be delayed amid fears that due diligence work on a company wholly owned by Warwick District Council (WDC) would not be completed in time.
But WDC leader Coun Andrew Day said asking the Government to delay matters would create further uncertainty for staff, especially those facing redundancy, and residents seeking assurances about local services.
He said requesting a further delay would result in trust being undermined, making it ‘untenable’ for the two authorities to merge.
In a joint statement, the council leaders said: “This is a disappointing outcome, but it should not mean the end for the positives that this process has generated; we have learned a lot and wish to carry on as good partners.
“It is anticipated that some of the joint working arrangements already put in place will continue, such as legal services and business rates collection. However, others including the Joint Management Team and the service integration programme will end.
“Each council will continue to keep residents, councillors, and staff engaged in the process of updating our working arrangements.
“Thank you for the many contributions and the positive commitment made to supporting the future of both councils.”
The councils both voted in favour of the long-standing plan to join forces and form a new single South Warwickshire Council as recently as last December.
The proposed new authority would have combined the two councils’ services such as waste collection, planning, housing, management of parks and sports facilities, licensing, business support and environmental health.
Warwick District Council’s (WDC) Will Roberts of the Green Party – the only WDC party which voted against the proposal – said the merger’s cancellation was good news for residents.
He said: “We voted against this merger because we weren’t convinced that the claims made for change were worth years of cost, chaos and disruption.
“The merger would also have moved decision-making further away from those affected by the decisions. Local democracy has been eroded by successive governments and we need to protect residents’ rights to decide locally on the future of their communities.”
However Stratford District Councillor Mark Cargill (Con, Alcester & Rural) spoke of his regret that the merger would not now go ahead.
“I am extremely disappointed that we were not able to make it work,” he said.
“I was one of the people who proposed the merger, initially through joint working and then we both agreed a full merger would be advantageous to both.
“However there were some insurmountable issues which could not be overcome.”
He added that more details would come out later.
A joint request, subject to the councils’ approval, will now be made to the Government to stop the merger process. Recommendations will be made to an extraordinary meeting of SDC and the AGM at WDC on May 11.
