Council calls summit on future of South Norfolk

South Norfolk Council Leader John Fuller has called a summit meeting of district councillors and parish council chairmen to discuss local government reorganisation.

He is writing to all of South Norfolk's 119 parish council chairman inviting them to attend the special meeting on Thursday 8 November at 7pm in the council's headquarters, at Long Stratton.

He said:

"There now appears to be an unseemly haste to press on with this reorganisation regardless of the state of public opinion, which we know is against.

"The legislation to permit the change has not even been passed into law. Yet the Boundary Committee is already talking about November deadlines and using strong-arm tactics to drive this through before the public have woken-up to what the Government is planning. Perhaps that's their intention.

"This isn't just something for Norwich and the surrounding villages. Over the last week it's become clear that every parish in Norfolk will be affected by the proposed unravelling of our historic county.

"Governance in Norfolk is at stake. That's why we're calling this summit so we can inform our parish councils at the earliest opportunity following the Boundary Committee visit of what it might mean for all local residents, if the Government gets its way."

He added:

"Uncritical endorsement of reorganisation would be like writing a blank cheque on local taxpayers before the true costs of reorganisation are known. We are working to identify those costs so as to get best value for the local taxpayer."

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