"A new parish council for Winchester?" What a shame! Is this historic city, with one of the finest cathedrals in the country, to be reduced to the status of a parish council?
This stems from the government plan for new regional "mayors" (governor is the normal word for the chief of a region), and the related abolition of the entire current local government structure. Winchester City Council will cease to exist from May 2028.
Under the proposed mayor for the Hampshire and Solent region, (including Portsmouth, Southampton, and the IOW), in place of the current 15 councils, there will be just four or five.
Winchester will lose control over local planning and development. Mayors will have extensive powers to plan development and overrule councils. Tellingly, senior roles in mayoral regions will be staffed through a secondment scheme with the civil service.
One conclusion seems unavoidable, local government will be far less local. As the columnist Simon Jenkins observed, the government plan is "clearly an extension of the Treasury’s favourite form of local government. It is called central government."
Changes like this would be unthinkable in European countries where properly-funded local councils manage key services, allowing true local democracy, fiscal choice, and community identity.
In our region, only Portsmouth City Council and Gosport Borough Council oppose the plan, citing strong resident support in opinion polls. Gosport BC leader Cllr Peter Chegwyn said: "Decisions about Gosport's future are best taken by elected and accountable Gosport councillors, of any party, not from those who don't live here or know the borough. There is no evidence that reorganisation will lead to better or more efficient services, and it certainly won't save the government, or residents, any money."
Barring a drastic change of approach, time will tell if he is proved right.
Mike Smethurst,
Airlie Road,
Stanmore,
Winchester
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