Have your say on a merged Eastleigh Town and Boyatt Wood council
The creation of a larger decision-making body for the centre of Eastleigh town and the area to the immediate north has been given the go-ahead by Borough Councillors.
The results of the public consultation on the community governance review (CGR) to merge Eastleigh Town Council and Boyatt Wood Parish Council were reported to the Borough Council’s Administration Committee earlier this week.
A further consultation will now take place on the number of councillors and the boundaries and makeup of electoral wards, which represents the first tier of local democracy. The election for seats will take place in 2026.
Residents of Allbrook, to the north of Boyatt Wood, were also asked for their views and were overwhelmingly opposed to Allbrook parish being included in the merger.
More than 600 residents responded to the consultation, via the online and through-the-door survey across all three town/parish areas.
With devolution and local government reorganisation (LGR) set to create much larger unitary local authorities in Hampshire, Eastleigh Town Council and Boyatt Wood Parish Council identified a number of benefits of merging: a new unitary authority is likely to devolve more responsibilities to town and parish councils, which would put a larger central Eastleigh council in a better position to take on additional services; local decision-making would remain as close to the community as possible; the new council would have a stronger voice when engaging with the new unitary authority on issues like planning, infrastructure and community investment, and there would be greater financial efficiencies and more consistency in the planning and delivery of services.
Strengthening town and parish councils means that householders are represented by elected councillors who are responsible for more tightly drawn local areas than the much larger unitary authorities that will be introduced under LGR. They will also have a greater say in how the budget for local services is spent.
Leader of Eastleigh Borough Council, Councillor Keith House, said: “Thanks to everyone who took part in the community consultation. At Eastleigh, we’re committed to truly local representation and accountability. With the much larger unitary authorities planned under local government reorganisation, it is even more important that Eastleigh and Boyatt Wood have as strong a voice as possible in the decision-making process and how services are delivered.”
Take part in the survey on the makeup of the merged Councils