A top politician in the West of England has suggested the “weird borders” of South Gloucestershire could be changed amid Labour’s devolution plans.
Major changes are set to happen to councils across the country under the government’s plan to turn more county councils, where services are split between two tiers of council, into unitary authorities with a population of at least 500k. South Gloucestershire is already a unitary authority — but now it has been suggested that it too could be changed under the plans.
Dan Norris, the Labour Metro Mayor of the West of England which includes both South Gloucestershire and Bristol, told the Local Democracy Reporting Service: “I have always thought that we have had weird boundaries. […] There’s an opportunity I think to look at a whole lot of organisation and local government and make it fit for purpose.”
READ MORE: Portishead Line ‘very optimistic’ update for disused railway reopening
READ MORE: Bristol emergency incident explained by police
As well as being the Metro Mayor, Mr Norris has — since the 2024 general election — been the local MP for North East Somerset and Hanham, a Bristol suburb located in South Gloucestershire. Mr Norris said: “I’m interested, like the government, in growth. The boundaries of our region are just a line on a map truthfully. We have to look and this gives us an opportunity to do what’s best for our region.”
He added that the region currently contributes more than it gets back from the government. South Gloucestershire was taken out of the rest of Gloucestershire in 1974 to join the County of Avon with Bristol and the northern part of Somerset, and become an independent unitary authority when Avon broke up in 1996. Today, a large part of South Gloucestershire is effectively suburban Bristol; while the rest of the district across the Severn Vale and southern Cotswold Hills has a distinctly different rural character.
His comments come as Gloucestershire Council Council — which accounts for the rest of the ceremonial county — plans to scrap its six second-tier district councils. Now Gloucestershire could become one unitary authority with a population of 652k.
But it has also been suggested that the county could be cut in two: with Cheltenham, the Cotswolds, and Tewkesbury forming East Gloucestershire; and Gloucester, the Forest of Dean, and Stroud forming West Gloucestershire. This suggestion has been controversial over concerns it would “create a poor council and rich one.”