East Cambridgeshire residents are likely to face steep Council Tax rises and their beautiful rural district become a building site, if the district council is absorbed into a new Greater Cambridge unitary authority, according to its leader.

While agreeing with the principle of a new unitary authority to deliver simpler and more efficient services, Councillor Anna Bailey has raised what she is calling 'significant concerns' with the Cambridgeshire County Council led 'Proposal A' for Local Government Reorganisation.

This would see the district merged with the Cambridge City and South Cambridgeshire district areas.

She said that while aligning with Greater Cambridge City may sound like an attractive option, in reality, it could leave East Cambridgeshire residents feeling like a 'spare part'.

Anna explained: 'While we recognise many of our residents would like to see us aligned with more affluent Cambridge areas, we must look at the bigger picture.

'Proposal A would hammer East Cambridgeshire residents with the steepest Council Tax hikes of any option on the table.

'Worse still, it would force us into a 'Greater Cambridge' authority that's earmarked for a staggering 150,00 new homes on top of what's already in the pipeline. That's not growth, that's overdevelopment. 

Cllr Bailey warned that strategic planning powers in Greater Cambridge already rest with the government-owned Cambridge Growth Company, “a body with no democratic accountability,” raising fears East Cambs could lose local control and become an “overflow site” for housing.

She also criticised the prospect of joining two authorities that have adopted a permanent four-day working week for five days’ pay.

“East Cambridgeshire outperformed every other council in the recent public survey by a huge margin. Our communities have given us a mandate to fight for autonomy for our area and protect what’s special about East Cambs.

“Government isn’t going to let East Cambs become a unitary authority in its own right, so I am backing Proposal B as the best chance of retaining as much local decision making as possible. There are three main reasons why this is the right thing to do.

“First, our residents deeply value the rural communities they live in, with 76% saying they feel a sense of belonging to their local area. They expect us to protect that way of life, not surrender it to a distant bureaucracy that doesn’t understand or care about what makes East Cambs special. I do not want East Cambs to play second fiddle to Cambridge.

“Second, “81% of people in the two most rural districts of East Cambs and Fenland shared concerns about being overlooked in the reorganisation process, so by teaming up with Huntingdonshire and Fenland it will ensure rural issues are front and centre and build a powerful rural economy with Peterborough, as an established economic centre that provides an anchor for that growth.

“With each unique area being responsible for their own budgets and service delivery at a grass roots level, this will give real power to local people by empowering communities and reforming how we deliver public services.

“In our survey people praised East Cambridgeshire for consistently outperforming others in areas such as satisfaction, trust and having councillors who know their local areas. This proposal enables us to build on those strengths.

“Third, and most importantly, I will not stand by and let our residents foot the bill for a bad merger.

“East Cambs is one of the few councils in the country that is completely debt-free. We haven’t raised Council Tax in 12 years. Compare that to the southern districts with sky-high tax rates - under Proposal A, our residents would be forced into overpaying for the same services they are currently getting for far less.

“We are working with colleagues on the business case for Proposal B, backed not only by the administration but also by most other councils. Of course, we remain open minded to any curve balls that could come out of that work, but this decision must be based on common sense and financial fairness.”

The council’s Conservative administration will see it put forward a motion at its next Full Council meeting on 18 September.

The motion calls for the development of the Proposal B business case, which will be put forward to government in November. The business case development is being co-developed by Fenland District Council, Cambridge City Council, Huntingdonshire District Council, Peterborough City Council and South Cambridgeshire District Council.

If this proposal is taken forward by national Government, Cambridge City and South Cambridgeshire District will join to create a new unitary authority in the south.

Existing Cambridgeshire County Council functions will be split across the two new unitaries.

National government will ultimately make the final decision on which proposal is chosen and at that stage it will consult members of the public as to whether they are in support of that decision.

More information about local government reorganisation and the proposals being considered is available on our website.