Parish councillors threaten to resign if controversial boundary changes go ahead

A Telford & Wrekin Council committee meeting next week is set to be asked to put off a decision on the future of town and parish councils until September to allow more time for detailed plans to be drawn up.

Councillor Dave Cooper, who chairs Little Wenlock Parish Council, has threatened the immediate resignation of parish councillors if the borough council proceeds with merger plans.

One proposal could see Little Wenlock, Wrockwardine and Rodington merging into a new council with a huge surface area.

“As the current councillors for Little Wenlock we gladly give our time and efforts to support the community of which we are so proud,” Councillor Cooper wrote. The council has six councillor seats with one currently vacant.

“It will be with huge regret that if Telford & Wrekin Council insist on proceeding with the proposals as detailed, this being directly against 100 per cent of those residents responding to the survey and that of the councillors of Little Wenlock Parish Council wishes, they will have no choice but to resign with immediate effect.

“Little Wenlock Parish Council strongly believes that the proposals will see a degradation of services within our community and a loss of identity.

“Little Wenlock Parish Council sincerely hope that the Governance review team will listen to residents and parish council on this matter.”

A parish spokesperson added: “It appears the proposals are in direct contravention of the borough’s terms of reference.

“The terms of reference refer to community cohesion. In the case of the proposal for Little Wenlock it has no connection to Wrockwardine or Rodington and vice versa.”

Borough councillors are being invited to defer making contentious decisions on the future of parish and town councils in Telford and Wrekin after concerns were raised during a consultation exercise which closed with 1,000 responses on July 14.

A meeting of the boundary review committee next week is being advised to put off decisions until a meeting in September after ‘some residents’ were concerned about a lack of time to prepare final proposals.

The proposals include the merger of some rural parishes, the creation of others in Priorslee and Muxton, the end of Dawley Hamlets Parish Council, and the enlargement of Newport and Wellington.

A report to a meeting of the committee on Wednesday, July 30, proposes making final decisions in September.

“Some residents across the borough have expressed concern that there was insufficient time following the closure of the consultation to prepare final proposals,” the report states.

“Whilst there was confidence that this work could be completed, it was recognised that these concerns could lead to some thinking that the process had been undermined due to the time constraints;

“As a result, it is now proposed that the committee meets again in September to consider final proposals and reach a decision on the matter.”

The Community Governance Review will see any new arrangements put in place in time for all-out elections in 2027.