Garstang takeover row

A suggestion that Garstang could eventually be merged into a local authority area that includes Preston has been greeted with horror by a councillor representing the town.

Sir Robert Atkins, who sits on Wyre Council, said that he could not “imagine anything worse” than a scenario that bound the two places together.

The theoretical prospect was raised during a meeting of Preston City Council this week at which the authority agreed to back a proposal for it to join up with Lancaster and Ribble Valley to form a single new authority for that wider patch.

Some councillors argued that the opportunity should also be seized to subsume Garstang – which sits exactly halfway between Preston and Lancaster – into the new area.

However, Sir Robert, who, as a Conservative MP, represented the constituency then known as Preston North between 1979 and 1983, balked at the idea of Garstang becoming tethered to the city.

“I cannot imagine anything worse than being amalgamated with Preston,” he told the Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS), adding that he believed most of the townsfolk would share his sentiment.

“[If you think about] the dislike between Blackpool and Preston, there is a similar dislike between Garstang and Preston.

“It would be entirely unacceptable for Garstang residents,” said Sir Robert, who has been a Garstang ward member on Wyre since 2019 and who sat as a Member of the European Parliament for the North West of England between 1999 and 2014.

The government has called for suggestions about the number and shape of the new councils it should create to replace the 15 main local authorities in Lancashire that it intends to axe in 2028 as part of a streamlining programme.

The issue of Garstang’s place within the new arrangements was brought up by several Preston councillors because of its location in the far east of Wyre. alongside the A6, one of the main routes between Preston and Lancaster.

Liberal Democrat member Daniel Guise said that the new Preston/Lancaster/Ribble Valley council configuration – to be known as North Lancashire, if it is approved by the government – would be a “silly horseshoe shape” that had to wrap itself around Garstang, should the town remain part of Wyre.

Each council making a suggestion for a replacement authority also has to indicate how it envisages the rest of the county looking under their blueprint.   The Preston-backed plan suggests that Wyre should merge with Blackpool and Fylde.

Reform UK Preston councillor Stephen Thompson, said that would result in what he described as the “Garstang bulge” protruding out from the eastern extent of Wyre into the North Lancashire authority area, mis-shaping the map.

He said the issue needed “a good looking at”, adding:  “The actual A6 corridor would be split between authorities – and I think we had a real opportunity to bring that [area] back into one authority, because it is going to become more and more important for the economic development of the area.”

Cllr Guise said that it “would make more sense” if the new North Lancashire council included Garstang and the A6 corridor.

“By the time you’ve got that far east [that you are in Garstang], you aren’t talking about the Fylde peninsula anymore.

“I think transferring that area would not just help in practical terms, but also…when it comes to [Garstang’s] sense of place,” he added.

Labour cabinet member for community wealth building Valerie Wise said that after the implementation of the new council areas, “it may be that…we could look at” boundary changes involving places like Garstang and also Penwortham in South Ribble, just over the border from Preston.

The government has said that it expects existing district boundaries to be used as “the building blocks” for new council area proposals, but says “where there is a strong justification, more complex boundary changes will be considered”.

Wyre Council’s own proposal for the forthcoming shake-up suggests that it merge with Lancaster, Blackpool and Fylde – thereby removing the “Garstang bulge” by default.

Blackpool Council is the only authority to have put forward a plan that would break up an exciting Lancashire district – suggesting that northern and eastern Wyre, including Garstang, should join up with Lancaster and most of the Ribble Valley.  Under that scenario, areas to the west of the Wyre estuary – including Thornton-Cleveleys and Fleetwood would merge with Blackpool, Fylde and Preston.

Five different suggestions have been sent by Lancashire to the government for consideration, with ministers expected to draw up a shortlist for public consultation early in the new year before making a final decision next summer.

Late last year, Preston City Council’s leadership suggested the formation of a ‘Greater Preston Council’, which would also have incorporated Garstang, but the idea was ditched as the area would not have covered a large enough population to meet government guidelines for new councils in Lancashire.