A merger would reunite our county within its historic borders. It would, some say, save money. Others, me included, think Telford and Shropshire are such different places that we need different councils. What do you think? Vote below.
Shrewsbury and Atcham MP Daniel Kawczynski says the merger could save between £10 million and £20 million a year. I don’t know where he gets that figure from but it is evident that, after restructuring costs are accounted for, savings could be made.
I take the view that we can’t merge politically. Telford is a great place but so different from the rest of Shropshire. It looks east to the West Midlands conurbation and feels more like “Wolverhampton Garden City” than rural Shropshire. It needs a council that can concentrate on expansion and regeneration of brownfield sites. Shropshire is a classic rural county where being small matters. We need to grow our economy but we face a very different set of issues to Telford and Wrekin, which is mostly urban.
We could share more services between Shropshire and Telford and Wrekin, and work together more closely.
So, what is the best way forward for our councils? Vote below…
I disagree that Telford is so different from the rest of Shropshire. It is atmospherically, culturally, geographically and historically linked to the rest of the county. Newport is a typical Shropshire market town, and the Wrekin and surrounding hills fall within the AONB. Perhaps you have to have lived in Shropshire (as I did) before the odious words Telford New Town were thought of (It used to be called Dawley New Town – and before htat simply Wellington, which was once a typical busy Shropshire market town like Ludlow – the only difference being that the surrounding area was a large industrial powerhouse, with coal mines and vast engineering works, but despite that no-one ever thought for a moment that it wasn’t part of Shropshire, which is after all where the industrial revolution started!
Yes, merge. OR join together as a combined authority.