North Somerset Council bid to join Weca 'kicked into long grass'

The West of England Combined Authority is currently made up of Bath and North East Somerset, Bristol and South Gloucestershire

Bristol city councillors have supported North Somerset's bid to join the West of England Combined Authority (Weca), but say it could face a four-year wait.

The decision removed the date by which a public consultation must be held and has been criticised for "kicking the issue into the long grass".

The government had proposed public consultation should be held by Friday.

The combined authority represents three of the four councils in the greater Bristol area.

Its leaders say the process of allowing North Somerset to join was delayed by Bristol mayor Marvin Rees and "party politics".

Councillor Tim Kent said a unitary authority could not join mid-term, between election cycles, so any changes should be made in the months before an election for the metro mayor.

Members from all parties agreed at an extraordinary meeting of full council that North Somerset’s exclusion from Weca was “nonsensical”

The motion supporting North Somerset's inclusion called for Mr Rees to urgently meet other Weca leaders to agree a deal, but he said a financial package from the government needed to be in place first.

He said Bristol could potentially be "short-changed" by the assumption that Weca's money was split equally between authorities, despite Bristol having a larger population.

"We would be going down that rabbit hole of moving towards an expanded combined authority with no additional money and all the risks," he said.

"I'm not opposed to North Somerset joining the combined authority, but safeguarding Bristol's economy is more important to the West of England's economy than North Somerset joining Weca."

Conservative councillor Geoff Gollop said the decision removed any sense of emergency.

"It kicks this into the long grass and keeps North Somerset out in the cold until 2025. It is absolutely appalling," he said.