Source: City of Portsmouth
The people of Portsmouth have delivered a clear directive to Government to leave Portsmouth alone.
In a recent survey, 82% said they’re against Portsmouth being forced into Local Government Reorganisation (LGR) and having to merge with other councils.
Just under 4,000 Portsmouth residents responded to the council-run survey, with over four-fifths voicing their objection. The short survey ran for ten days to capture local opinion ahead of a region-wide LGR survey across Hampshire and the Isle of Wight.
“The result speaks for itself and it’s one of the most decisive answers we’ve ever had to a survey, and by far the biggest response in such a short time,” said Portsmouth City Council Leader Cllr Steve Pitt.
“It was vital that we gave Portsmouth residents a say and the message to Government is clear, we don’t need council reorganisation here, leave Portsmouth alone.
“Portsmouth already has one council that’s financially stable and delivers all of the council services to residents. There’s no evidence that a bigger new council will bring any benefits, but what we know is, the cost of reorganisation will be on tax-paying residents.”
Under its national LGR plans, the Government wants to replace two-tier council areas with single, larger councils that deliver all council services. Portsmouth already has a single council, but because the Government wants new councils to deliver to an average of around 500,000 people, bigger than Portsmouth’s population, it has been told it must take part.
The Government may not listen to Portsmouth residents and could force the city to be part of LGR. Considering this, the survey asked if Portsmouth has to merge, who it should be with. Of those who expressed a preference, 61% agree that, if forced, Portsmouth should merge with Fareham, Gosport and Havant councils.
All other options to merge with other councils received under 10% of support.
Individual councils must submit a final, preferred LGR option for the region to Government by September.
So, Portsmouth City Council is working as part of a group of 12 councils across Hampshire and the Isle of Wight on options that would create four new, larger single councils to cover the mainland, with the Isle of Wight remaining separate. All options propose Portsmouth joins with Fareham, Gosport and Havant.
A region-wide survey on these options is live and closes on Sunday 27 July. Take the survey here: https://ourplaceourfuture.commonplace.is/