East Lindsey District Council and South Holland District Council submit local government reorgansation plans
East Lindsey District Council and South Holland District Council have submitted their interim proposals for Greater Lincolnshire reorganisation, offering a fresh take on the long-standing north/south divide.
The local authorities, which joined alongside Boston Borough Council under the South and East Lincolnshire Councils Partnership, have responded to the first phase of the Local Government Reorganisation (LGR) process with a plan that seeks to create two unitary authorities for the area.
The proposed Northern Lincolnshire Unitary Council would encompass North Lincolnshire Council, North East Lincolnshire Council, West Lindsey District Council, and the City of Lincoln Council. This would have a population of 531,000.
Meanwhile, the Southern Lincolnshire Unitary Council would include North Kesteven District Council, South Kesteven District Council, Boston Borough Council, East Lindsey District Council, and South Holland District Council. This would cover a population of 574,000.
ELDC and SHDC also outlined their support for dividing East Lindsey in line with the parliamentary boundary. If this were to go ahead, the Louth and Horncastle constituency would fall under the Northern unitary, while the Boston and Skegness constituency would be part of the Southern unitary. This would cover populations of 608,000 in the north and 497,000 in the south.
Boston Borough Council has not submitted an interim plan. However, leader Anne Dorrian (Independent) wrote to the government to formally acknowledge the Local Government Reorganisation process, supporting the view that it is important to find a solution that works best for residents.
Councils across England have been invited to submit initial proposals LGR by today (March 21), with final proposals due by November 28.
Government criteria include each unitary serving a population of 500,000, minimizing disruption to services, and ideally not crossing county boundaries.
Lincolnshire County Council's two proposals include: one suggesting merging North Lincolnshire and North East Lincolnshire councils into a single northern authority, with the rest of the county forming another single council; and the second proposing that North Lincolnshire and North East Lincolnshire join West Lindsey and East Lindsey, while Lincoln, North Kesteven, South Kesteven, Boston, and South Holland would be combined into another authority.
