Burnley’s newly elected Labour MP, Oliver Ryan, has sparked a fierce debate by suggesting the postponement of the 2024 county council elections to 2027, paving the way for a new 'super council' that would unite six local authorities under a single banner.
Under Mr. Ryan's plan, Burnley, along with Hyndburn, Pendle, Rossendale, the Ribble Valley, and Blackburn, would merge into one administrative body, with Blackburn, due to its size and population, acting as the central administrative hub.
This isn't the first time such a plan has been floated. In 2019, a similar proposal by the then Labour-run Burnley Council met with significant opposition, leading to the administration's collapse in the subsequent local elections.
But now the debate seems to have re-emerged with the new MP drawing up his own plans for the merging of Burnley Council with other neighbouring authorities.
Commenting on this latest attempt a spokesman for the Burnley Conservatives said:
“When will Labour ever learn that moving things to Blackburn is not an answer to our problems. Burnley’s newest MP may want local services to be run from there, but our group certainly doesn’t".
"This is a rehash of an old proposal put forward by the Labour-run Council five years ago which would see Burnley Council abolished and local services run from Blackburn. It’s an idea for the birds which just shows how out of touch Mr Ryan actually is.
Thankfully this potential merger was rejected by residents at the ballot box which put a halt to the idea then. But this latest political manoeuvre by an out of town MP suggests he might not yet grasp the local dynamics as well as he should. We will of course be standing up for residents who want a competent Burnley Council rather than a proposed super council run from Blackburn.”
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