Rushcliffe Borough Council Leader, Cllr Neil Clarke MBE, says that the Council is taking legal advice from King’s Counsel on launching a Judicial Review against the Labour Government’s decision to expand Nottingham City Council across most of Rushcliffe.
Cllr Clarke says he believes there have been fundamental flaws in the process and wants legal advice on challenging the decision.
“It is utterly bonkers that the Government has chosen an option which we believe goes against the initial criteria we were given for setting up new councils, and an option on which the public were not properly consulted.
“Since the decision was announced, the public reaction in Rushcliffe has been one of immense opposition to joining a new Nottingham City Council, and we will back our residents by doing all we can to oppose this decision.
“We never wanted Rushcliffe Borough Council to be scrapped. We are proud of our excellent workforce, our track record of delivering the lowest council tax in Nottinghamshire, running a debt-free council, and providing excellent, award-winning services.
“I will be writing to other council leaders locally and asking them to join us in this action, as the Government’s proposals will have a huge impact on Broxtowe, Gedling, and Nottinghamshire County Council.
“I am also severely disappointed in our local MP, James Naish. I asked him many months ago to join us in opposing the Government’s plans and received wishy-washy, non-committal responses, saying he wanted to wait to see the data first, rather than supporting Rushcliffe residents. Now that he has seen the political ramifications, he is coming out in opposition, but it is too late. If he had stood with us earlier and lobbied the Government hard alongside us, we may have had a different outcome.”
