Analysis: What's that leaflet on my bin about?
Attached to your recycling bin after it was emptied this week was a colourful leaflet titled “Our Place, Our Future”. It encourages residents of Test Valley to take a survey on proposed changes to local authorities in Hampshire.
The changes are driven by central government, and involve replacing the current two-tier system of county and district councils with unitary councils across the country. The Government expects that each unitary authority will serve a population of 500,000 or more. Test Valley Borough Council currently serves some 135,000 residents.
Hampshire County Council have put forward a proposal that would include three large-scale councils on the mainland.
Twelve of the fifteen councils serving Hampshire and the Isle of Wight, including TVBC, have come together to make a counter proposal. They believe that there should be four large-scale councils on the mainland. These would be smaller than what Hampshire County Council propose.
The reasoning behind the counter proposal is:
- Larger councils make it harder for residents to influence decisions
- Forming larger councils won’t fix existing pressures on services like social care and special educational needs
They believe that four mainland councils would be “big enough to deliver well, but local enough to understand our communities and their needs”.
They have launched the survey to allow residents to “shape how local councils work in future and do our best to ensure they reflect real places, priorities, and people”.
The survey closes at midnight, 27 Jul 2025.