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South and Vale Leaders write to West Berkshire Council on unitary council proposals

Published 24 February 2025

The Leaders of South Oxfordshire and the Vale of White Horse District Council have written to the Leader of West Berkshire Council to support the creation of a joint forum of senior council members from each authority to support the three authorities to work up a proposal for a possible unitary council across the three neighbouring areas. You can read the letter on the councils’ websites here.

The proposal for a unitary council that partners South and Vale with West Berkshire was a topic of conversation when both Councils held public meetings last week, with many members commenting positively about this potential option. The councils both issued press releases on this last week:

Representatives of the two district councils are also continuing discussions with other authorities in Oxfordshire to explore the feasibility of a single unitary council for the whole county.

The Leaders of the South Oxfordshire and Vale councils both believe those are the only two options currently being discussed that would meet the government’s criteria for the creation of new unitary councils and would represent the best options to meet the needs of the districts’ residents and businesses.