Decisions on boundary changes postponed

Changes in the forthcoming meeting would be in place for the next local election

Final decisions on changes to parish and town council boundaries have been pushed back until the autumn.

Telford and Wrekin councillors agreed to hold a meeting in September, and potentially another in October, if they needed more time to carry out further small consultations.

Conservative councillor for Muxton, Nigel Dugmore, welcomed the decision, after originally having seven days to read through about 1,000 responses in the boundary review committee papers.

Changes agreed at the meeting in September would come into effect at the next local elections in 2027.

A boundary review committee meeting on Wednesday heard that there had been general agreement about the creation of new parish councils for Muxton and Priorslee.

However, there were more controversial changes on the cards, including Dawley Hamlets Parish Council being broken up and its communities divided up and absorbed into surrounding councils.

The chairman of the parish council previously said that merging the area with another would mean large council tax increases for residents.

Dugmore told the meeting that some residents in rural areas told him that they felt their communities were under attack.

"It's not an attack because no-one's actually doing anything yet to anybody. It was actually a consultation on the proposals," said the Labour-run council's deputy leader, Richard Overton.

He added that proposed changes in Wellington, Muxton, and Priorslee had been met positively.

Chair of the meeting, Labour councillor for Ercall, Giles Luter, said: "It was wise of us to have a bit of a break between this meeting and the one in September just to really make sure we give this our proper attention."