Newark and Sherwood District Council leader Paul Peacock speaks of the upcoming restructure of local government in Nottinghamshire

The leader of Newark and Sherwood District Council has described the council’s preferred plan for devolution in Nottinghamshire.

As reported last week, all nine leaders from Nottinghamshire’s councils were shown three possible options as part of the process for the upcoming restructure of local government in Nottinghamshire.

Option 1b would see Nottingham, Broxtowe and Gedling being combined as one unitary authority, with the remaining districts and boroughs forming a second new unitary authority covering the remaining county including Ashfield, Bassetlaw, Mansfield, Newark & Sherwood and Rushcliffe.

Option 1e sees Nottingham, Broxtowe and Rushcliffe combine, with the remaining districts and boroughs forming a second new unitary authority covering the remaining county including Ashfield, Bassetlaw, Gedling, Mansfield, and Newark & Sherwood.

Option 2 sees Nottingham remaining as its own unitary authority, with the rest of the Nottinghamshire boroughs and districts forming the second unitary authority.

The Local Government Reorganisation in Nottingham and Nottinghamshire is set to be discussed at the district council’s extraordinary full council meeting on Wednesday night.

Newark and Sherwood District Council leader Paul Peacock said that it’s quite clear that the option which would see Nottingham, Broxtowe and Rushcliffe combine, with the remaining districts and boroughs forming a new Greater Nottinghamshire unitary authority, is the “most sensible option”.

“We’ve suggested that as the preferred option and it is certainly mine,” he said, “70% of Gedling is a rural area and the government asked for the most sensible option geographically, and looking at the map, that option is the most sensible.”

Mr Peacock said that this option would see the other local authorities similar to ours working alongside each other, which makes sense for the identity and geography of the authorities involved with their coal mining heritage and the importance of the Sherwood Forest, and in terms of the demographic of the residents in those areas.

“They are all rural communities and linked very well together with the A57, A616, and A617 — it’s got a lot of synergy, and we work with Bassetlaw in our crime and safety partnership,” he said.

“There’s lots of market towns in this new authority, and there’s a lot of similarities between these areas. There’s lots of work to be done in the coming years, but geographically, this makes sense.”

Leader of Nottinghamshire County Council, Sam Smith, says it is expected the county council will support the third option, but Mr Peacock said that the nine council leaders want this option to be taken off the table as it “makes no sense” and he feared this option would see the districts lose their local voice.

“What we need to do is look through the eyes of the residents and what is best for them, not what is best for any political party,” he added, “That’s the view of the people sat round the table.”

Neil Clarke, leader of Rushcliffe Borough Council, said that he felt there was a need for a fourth “alternative” option, which would see Nottingham City Council remain in its existing boundaries, with the remainder of the county being split into two unitaries, but Mr Peacock said he didn’t believe this was a viable option either as it would see Bassetlaw divided, and it did not meet the government’s population criteria.

Nottingham City Council declared itself bankrupt in November 2023.

When asked about the impact of Nottingham City’s current financial situation on the Broxtowe and Rushcliffe areas if the city’s boundaries were expanded to include those areas, Mr Peacock said that their latest budget is “more favourable” and the council is in a better financial position.

“We need to get away from the rhetoric around the city council and district councils and borough councils because they are all going to go,” he said, “There’s going to be a whole new authority and people need to understand that.”

Councils have a deadline for interim plans to be sent to the government by Friday (March 21), with full plans due by November 28.

Mr Peacock added that he was “really pleased” at how the authorities had worked together so far:

“It’s not been easy as all the leaders have come into this wanting the best for their residents.

“Here in Newark and Sherwood, our quality of services are higher and I want to use our quality of services as a benchmark to aim for and I’m keen to make sure we’re an influence.”