Erewash joining Nottinghamshire 'not a viable option'

Bennerley Viaduct sits on the Derbyshire-Nottinghamshire border

A Derbyshire borough switching counties as part of a local government shake-up is not a "viable option", a council leader says.

Erewash, which covers the towns of Long Eaton and Ilkeston, sits on the border with Nottinghamshire.

Leaders in the borough said earlier last week that they were considering joining it with Nottinghamshire as part of central government plans to reorganise local authorities.

Sam Smith, the leader of Nottinghamshire County Council said, however, while he was not personally opposed to the idea, he did not think the government would allow it.

Sam Smith said he would "fight tooth and nail" to maintain the boundary between city and county

Speaking to the BBC, Smith said he has had meetings with ministers where they had been "absolutely clear" proposals could not involve county boundaries being broken up.

"Ministers don't expect external boundaries to change, i.e. parts of Derbyshire or Leicestershire linking in with parts of Nottinghamshire," he said.

"So, although [Erewash joining Nottinghamshire] is being discussed, I don't think that is a viable option at the moment that government would allow."

The government has not confirmed to the BBC whether or not it is opposed to county boundaries changing, but said it would write to council leaders "as soon as possible", setting out the criteria for proposals.

The English Devolution White Paper says ministers will "work with individual areas", and decisions will be made on a case-by-case basis.

Interim plans for how areas could be reorganised are due to be submitted to government by the end of March.

The leaders of all nine Nottinghamshire councils issued a joint statement earlier this month saying they will "work together" to come up with proposals, and that all options are on the table.

Smith said his preferred option would be to turn Nottinghamshire into a unitary council, but with the current boundary with Nottingham city maintained.

This would involve all district and borough councils and the county council being scrapped and replaced with a single-tier authority in charge of all services in the area it covers.

"I wouldn't like to see residents have their districts carved up and find themselves waking up one day in the city of Nottingham," he said.