Rutland residents 'favour Lincolnshire merger plan'

Rutland and Stamford MP Alicia Kearns hosted a meeting in Oakham

A proposal to join Rutland's council with authorities in Lincolnshire was the favourite among residents attending a public meeting, an MP has said.

Rutland and Stamford MP Alicia Kearns hosted the event at the Victoria Hall in Oakham on Monday to discuss local government reorganisation.

On Friday, Rutland County Council put forward a proposal to the government declaring a merger with councils in North Leicestershire, Charnwood and Melton as the "best option".

But a series of straw polls at the meeting, attended by more than 180 people, showed "the room was nearly unanimous" on forming a new authority with North Kesteven, South Kesteven and South Holland district councils.

One proposal is for Rutland to form an authority with three councils in Lincolnshire

A third proposal put forward by Leicester City Council would see Rutland fall into a wider single authority with the rest of Leicestershire.

At the meeting on Monday, all but eight attendees voted in favour of the plan, while two preferred the Leicestershire North model.

Six were undecided, Kearns said.

The Local Democracy Reporting Service said Ashley Baxter, leader of South Kesteven District Council, attended the meeting and was delighted his proposal had been popular with residents.

Leicestershire County Council's own plan for a single authority excludes Rutland after the smaller county made it clear in January that it did not want to return to arrangements put in place in 1974, when the council became a district within its larger neighbour.

District proposals feature Leicester city, North Leicestershire and Rutland, and South Leicestershire

An independent Rutland, that reclaimed its status in 1997, looks highly unlikely to survive in this reorganisation process as the government White Paper on devolution, issued in December, set a preferred population of "500,000 or more" for new councils.

However, it added "there may be exceptions to ensure new structures make sense for an area".

Rutland's current population is about 41,000.

Councils now have to work towards final proposals on reorganisation that have to be submitted by November.

The county council proposes one authority for Leicestershire with a separate one for Rutland

Additional reporting by Sarah Ward, Local Democracy Reporting Service