The leader of the ruling Conservative Group at Rushcliffe Borough Council, Councillor Neil Clarke MBE, has said his group will continue to do all it can to protect Rushcliffe’s high-quality services and low Council Tax, after his Cabinet voted to approve a proposal for Local Government Reorganisation which would keep Rushcliffe out of a new council including the current Nottingham City Council.
Under the Labour Government’s plans, all district and county councils will be scrapped and new ‘super’ councils created to take their place. Nottingham City Council has proposed a new authority which would see the current city boundaries extended into most of Rushcliffe, as well as areas of Broxtowe and Gedling.
The option put forward by Rushcliffe Borough Council, which is also backed by Nottinghamshire County Council, would instead see Gedling and Broxtowe borough councils join with Nottingham City Council to form a new authority, leaving Rushcliffe with the rest of the county.
Councillor Clarke said this approach was about “making the best of a bad job”. He said:
“We did not want to be doing any of this work. We are proud of Rushcliffe Borough Council, the great services we deliver with the lowest Council Tax in Nottinghamshire and one of the lowest in the country. We are debt free, so residents’ money goes on services, not servicing debt.
“The Government are clear that we must put a proposal in. So we can bury our heads in the sand like some councils, or work on a proposal to try and protect our residents and services.
“Nearly 15,000 people have now signed the petition led by Rushcliffe Conservatives stating we do not want to join with Nottingham City Council. This shows the strength of feeling among residents and we have listened.
“While we wait for the Government’s decision, we will continue to do the best for people of Rushcliffe – continuing our investment in our leisure centres, community facilities and services, while supporting businesses and residents as we always have done.”
Councillor Clarke also criticised comments made by Labour councillor Chris Grocock, who referred to what he described as the “I’ll-go-with-anyone-but-Nottingham-city political cesspit with strong hints of classism, racism and other prejudices”.
Councillor Clarke said:
“Thousands of people have made it clear they do not want to join with Nottingham City. Calling them out for classism and racism is completely out of order. We have nothing against the people of Nottingham City; it is the ruling administration of that council and the decisions they have made which have trashed the reputation of that council and our once-great city.
“We will not lower ourselves to the tone Labour councillors are using and will continue to represent our residents’ views.”
There is still time to sign the petition: https://www.change.org/protectrushcliffe
