Preston City Council left out of bid for new local authority

Leaders in Chorley, South Ribble and West Lancashire want to form a unitary authority without Preston

Preston City Council has been left out of a bid by nearby boroughs to form a new local authority in Lancashire.

Leaders of Chorley, South Ribble and West Lancashire have written to the government to request an invitation to develop their plan.

One day earlier Preston submitted plans for all four councils to merge, the Local Democracy Reporting Service said.

Lancashire County Council leader Geoff Driver has proposed splitting the county into three authorities.

In their letter, the leaders of Chorley, South Ribble and West Lancashire said their proposal represented "a functioning economic area" and features "communities with many commonalities".

Paul Falkner, Local Democracy Service reporter

Lancashire's sprawling geography means if it is going to be divided up into a handful of new council areas, there are only so many ways in which it can be done that make physical and practical sense.

That begs an obvious question - if there were no place for Preston with its nearest neighbours in Central Lancashire, where would it sit under a new set-up?

The most likely sticking point in the reorganisation process is any perception that one area will somehow dominate a new local authority or swallow up resources at the expense of the other areas with which it merges. That could be counting against Preston.

There is an added complication with redrawing the council map in Central Lancashire - Preston already closely co-operates with Chorley and South Ribble over the location and volume of new housing being built across the three districts. The trio are currently drawing up a new "local plan" due to come into force in 2023.

Every council in Lancashire is free to make its own suggestion to the government about its preferred option in the event of a shake-up - and it does not need the agreement of any of the other authorities that would be affected.

Preston's Council Leader Matthew Brown said: "All of four of us have had extensive discussions and there was openness to new structures, but disagreements over the precise footprint."

He said he believed his four-way merger "is the best way to achieve our radical ambitions to build an inclusive economy and society in central Lancashire, in which wealth is shared around more evenly".