Town council petition vows 'loud and clear voice'

Setting up a town council for a Nottinghamshire suburb will give residents "a clear voice", a campaigner has said.

A campaign group wants to establish a town council for West Bridgford after 50 years of being the only local area without any authority below the borough council.

Steve Calvert, Labour councillor for Rushcliffe Borough Council, and a member of the West Bridgford Town Council Group, believes the extra tier would protect the community's "distinctiveness" amid the pending reorganisation of local government.

Rushcliffe Borough Council, which does not support the bid, said consulting on the matter and the running of town council had multiple "cost factors" which would affect taxpayers.

As the borough council is not supporting the bid, the group needs 7.5% of the suburb's electorate - which means 2,500 valid signatures – to begin the legal procedure to create a town council, known as a Community Governance Review (CGR).

The West Bridgford Town Council Group said it was very close to getting the signatures needed to prompt the borough council to start an official consultation on the process.

Until 1974, West Bridgford had an urban district council but while surrounding communities retained their town and parish councils, the creation of Rushcliffe Borough Council saw it abolished.

Calvert, who represents the Abbey ward as a borough councillor, said: "This has always been a bit of a niggle for some West Bridgford residents who felt it was not fair, in a way, that there was not a lower tier for them.

"So it's been bubbling away for a while.

"We strongly feel that when we join this larger organisation we do want to have a voice for West Bridgford and want it to be heard loud and clear.

"And the best way of doing that is to revive the idea of a town council."

The proposed new town council would include West Bridgford, Edwalton, Compton Acres and part of the Gamston estate south of the Grantham canal.

As part of Local Government Reorganisation (LGR) plans - a national overhaul of administration - a new Greater Nottingham Council would cover Nottingham and parts of Broxtowe, Gedling and Rushcliffe.

A second Nottinghamshire Council would serve the remainder of Broxtowe, Gedling and Rushcliffe, alongside Ashfield, Bassetlaw, Mansfield and Newark and Sherwood.

The changes are scheduled to take effect in 2028.

Calvert said: "While West Bridgford has its own distinctiveness, it could be enhanced considerably by having a town council that could pull together the community groups and have a bit more creativity in the services they provide, so there are a lot of positives.

"But the real catalyst is the changes to local government so [the town council] would certain protect and enhance that distinctiveness."

Cards spelling out the case for town council status have been delivered to 15,000 homes and campaigners have had a stall in Central Avenue on several Saturdays.

Calvert said last week the petition had about 1,717 "verified" signatures, claiming a further 1,200 signatures were gathered which would need to be verified. Each signature will have to be checked by the borough council.

Once enough signatures are gathered, Rushcliffe will run the CGR to judge if there is "strong support" for the idea.

"You can't be certain [if it will progress]," Calvert said. "We don't know how the [borough] council will react.

"But if we have a town council, we could have significantly more influence on the decisions made at that area level."

The group have set a 3 September deadline for the petition so it can be discussed at the next full council meeting on 17 September.

And while there are five full council meetings at year, Calvert admits the fact Rushcliffe is set to be abolished on 1 April 2028, and the CGR process takes least 12 months, the group is "cutting it a bit fine".

A Rushcliffe Borough Council spokesperson said the matter was addressed at a full council meeting in March 2025, adding: "It was highlighted that the combination of Local Government Reorganisation, the timing of a CGR for West Bridgford and the resources required to deliver it would make undertaking the review particularly challenging, with additional resources potentially required to support the process."

They said the consultation would also involve two rounds of mailing to all residents, costing taxpayers £80,000.

"Other cost factors include setting up and transfer of bank accounts, suppliers and customers," the spokesperson added.

The borough council said a town council would need to find a premises and appoint a clerk, as well as require resources to value assets and transfer them over to a new council.

The spokesperson added: "New financial and other systems would be required and the potential transfer of council employees to the new town council. Any immediate significant capital spend would need to be funded by either a loan from the Council or the Public Works Loan Board (PWLB).

"If a new town council is created, it would lose some of the cost savings it currently benefits from by being part of a larger council."

The new council would have to manage its own finances, governance and legal compliance, as well as supporting ongoing costs such as staffing, administration, insurance, legal and financial support, the spokesperson added.

Rushcliffe Borough Council said West Bridgford residents could face an increase in their council tax of more than £100 per annum.

It added: "The actual local tax charged will be dependent on the budget and council tax base at the inception of the new town council. "

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