Plans to divide suburb near cheese-rolling hill 'bonkers'

Plans to split a Gloucestershire area overlooked by a famous landmark into different council areas have been branded "bonkers".

Gloucestershire County Council is due to merge with six district authorities in the county, and then one or two unitary authorities, yet to be decided, will be created.

Coopers Edge, a Gloucester suburb that gets its name from the nearby cheese-rolling site at Coopers Hill, would be split in two if the county is divided by East and West, a possibility endorsed by Labour and some Lib Dem councillors.

It is already divided between two districts and three parishes, with Chas Townley, Hucclecote parish councillor, saying a further split would "entrench existing divisions".

Coopers Edge is already divided between the Tewkesbury and Stroud district councils and Brockworth, Hucclecote and Upton St Leonards parish councils.

The parish councils all have voted to express support for a single unitary council for Gloucestershire.

Ben Hill, representing Brockworth, said plans to split the area further were "half-cocked".

The other options for reorganisation are to create a single unitary council for Gloucestershire, or a Greater Gloucester council with another unitary for the rest of Gloucestershire, according to the Local Democracy Reporting Service.

If an East Gloucestershire authority was created, it would comprise of Cheltenham, the Cotswolds, and Tewkesbury, while West Gloucestershire would encompass Gloucester, Stroud and the Forest of Dean.

Some councillors have likened this plan to creating a rich and poor divide for the county but Karen James, deputy Labour group leader at Gloucester City Council, previously said she believed this disparity would level out over time.

Residents of Coopers Edge already have their bins collected on different days to their neighbours due to the area being split between two local authorities.

Hucclecote parish councillor Townley said Coopers Edge needed "to be officially recognised as a single community within a single parish within one unitary authority".

"It would be disastrous for us if the West/East two unitary proposal happens as the proposed boundary would be bonkers and entrench existing divisions," he said.

"The boundary would run straight through the middle of our community and in one case, meaning that neighbours in the same terrace remain in different authorities."

Lib Dem county councillor for Tewkesbury and Brockworth, Ben Evans, agreed with Townley's sentiment on the split being "bonkers".

"People in Coopers Edge, Brockworth and Churchdown want to be connected to the things important to them – like schools, buses and services – and dividing a community for no apparent reason has no democratic mandate here," he said.

A decision from ministers on local government reorganisation in Gloucestershire is expected this summer.