A council bordering Greater Manchester has addressed calls to merge with the city-region amid a major local government shake-up. Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner announced the biggest reorganisation of councils in generations as she unveiled the English Devolution White Paper yesterday (December 16).
Smaller councils that currently sit within counties, such as in Lancashire and Cheshire, are set to merge with others to create new unitary authorities as the two-tier system of local government is scrapped. But the move could also open the door for Greater Manchester to take in areas along its border. And speaking to the Manchester Evening News, High Peak MP Jon Pearce made the case for his borough to join Greater Manchester as part of the council restructure. High Peak Borough Council, which includes the towns of Buxton and Glossop, is currently part of Derbyshire County Council. But as the county council embarks on a major restructure, High Peak could look at merging with Tameside or Stockport councils - or both. The Labour MP said he would prefer for the whole of High Peak to merge with Tameside council, although he would be 'open' to splitting up the borough with some parts joining Stockport council. However, he said joining Greater Manchester is a 'no-brainer'. High Peak Borough Council has now issued a statement on the calls for a merger. Council leader Anthony McKeown said: “Whilst we knew the White Paper was coming we didn’t have any detailed idea of its contents around local government reorganisation. “We therefore need time to study the proposals and consider what is best for the residents and businesses in the High Peak before making any further comment. As a Council we have fully engaged with devolution so far and we are still in the early days of working with, and being represented on, the East Midlands County Combined Authorit