'Greater Preston' council area proposal scrapped

Lancashire currently has a population of about 1.5 million

Plans to increase the size of Preston are being dropped by the city's council after it emerged they would be unlikely to be backed by the government.

In December, Preston City Council suggested that parts of neighbouring South Ribble, Wyre and Ribble Valley could be included in a newly redrawn "Greater Preston".

It would have meant the local authority's population increasing by 89,000 to about 250,000, the Local Democracy Reporting Service said.

Councillors will be told later that the plan will no longer be pursued because ministers would probably not support it as part of local government reforms.

The council's blueprint proposed that Penwortham, Longton, Bamber Bridge and Samlesbury move into Preston from South Ribble, along with Garstang from Wyre, and Longridge, Mellor and Balderstone from Ribble Valley.

The plan was initially drawn up in response to a call from the vast majority of Labour's Lancashire MPs – including Preston's Sir Mark Hendrick and South Ribble's Paul Foster – for a radical redrawing of local government boundaries.

'Redrawing boundaries'

The government's devolution white paper revealed places like Lancashire – which boasts 15 councils – would be required to slash their total number to just a handful, covering much larger areas.

The Greater Preston idea followed a suggestion from the leaders of Chorley and South Ribble councils, Alistair Bradley and Jacky Alty, that their authorities should merge with West Lancashire Council, and thereby rule out the possibility of a four-way tie-up with Preston.

However, the white paper stipulated that any new councils should have a population of at least 500,000.

Although the document stated that "exceptions" could be made, the LDRS said it understood Lancashire had received strong indications that the government was not prepared to dip below a 300,000-350,000 threshold.

The new standalone councils would be responsible for delivering all services in their area, ending the current system in which they are split between the county council and district authorities.

'Streamlined local government'

Preston leader Matthew Brown said the Greater Preston concept was still his ruling Labour group's "favoured" idea.

But he acknowledged:  "We obviously need to work with what we have and look positively [towards the new arrangements]."

A paper to be presented to the council later refers to the possibility of a merger between Preston, Lancaster and Ribble Valley councils, although that is not a formal proposal at this stage.

Such a move would create an area with a population of 366,000 residents - above that 300,000 threshold and so potentially be more palatable to the government.

Local Government Minister Jim McMahon has given council leaders until 21 March to come up with initial proposals for a streamlined local government structure, ahead of final submissions deadline of 28 November.