The Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, Sajid Javid, has made his historic decision:
“I have decided .. to replace the existing nine councils across Dorset .. by two new councils .. a single unitary council for the areas of Bournemouth, Poole, and that part of the county of Dorset currently comprising the Borough of Christchurch, and a single unitary council for the rest of the current county area.”
The Leader of Poole Council Cllr Janet Walton, welcomed the news:
“This will open up exciting opportunities for the entire conurbation including the residents of Poole. It will puts us on a level footing with the larger authorities to unlock funding to deliver our ambitions as well as giving significant economies of scale.”
The Chairman of Poole Conservative Association, Cllr Peter Adams, also welcomed the announcement:
“We are confident that it will produce positive results for all the residents of the new conurbation. It will represent a challenge to be ready for the 2019 local elections but we feel confident that the councillors working with the Conservative associations will meet this deadline.”
The council leaders of Bournemouth (Cllr John Beesley), Dorset County (Cllr Rebecca Knox), North Dorset (Cllr Graham Carr-Jones), Poole (Cllr Janet Walton), West Dorset (Cllr Anthony Alford), Weymouth & Portland (Cllr Jeff Cant), East Dorset (Cllr Spencer Flower), and Purbeck (Cllr Gary Suttle) councils said in a joint statement:
“This is an historic day for public services in Dorset. Now we have received this decision, we can collectively focus our efforts, through the established Joint Committees, on creating two brand new councils. This will be a challenge but we will work hard to ensure our communities receive the services they expect and deserve.”