Leicestershire MPs take petition with 40,000 signatures to Downing Street over city expansion plans

Armed with more than 40,000 signatures, MPs Neil O’Brien, Dr Luke Evans, Peter Bedford, Edward Agar, Alicia Kearns and Alberto Costa gave in their petition to stop the plans from going ahead.

For months, politicians, councillors and residents have been fighting against proposals to make the city’s boundary bigger, and include rural areas.

The local government reorganisation could also see the two-tier councils gone, and replaced with a unitary authority doing the work of both district and county councils in the remaining county area.

Simon Whelband, leader of the Harborough District Council, was present in Whitehall yesterday (Monday, September 14).

He told the Harborough Mail: “I am here to support the protest and petition. People of Harborough do not want this at all, and our message has been very, very clear all along and it is about time they listened.”

Harborough MP Neil O'Brien, whose patch also includes Oadby and Wigston, could have half of his constituency moved into the city’s boundary, if plans progress.

He said: “So, in my constituency, half of it is getting sucked into the city. They don’t want that. The other half don’t want to be in a sort of giant, doughnut-shaped county, which is completely bizarre. I don’t think there’s anything like that anywhere else in the country.

“What we’ve seen is a totally chaotic process. It was initially dropped on us out of a clear blue sky and was never mentioned in the Labour manifesto.

“Now they’re being forced to pause or potentially cancel this, with millions of pounds of taxpayers’ money wasted amid really serious accusations of gerrymandering.”

This comes as the government announced it would put plans on pause and review the reorganisation after backlash.

South Leicestershire MP, Alberto Costa MP, secured a meeting with Prime Minister Andy Burnham to talk through the plans and its impact on the county.

He said: “I’m grateful that the new Prime Minister says he’s in listening mode. I put a question to him at Prime Minister’s Questions last Wednesday, and he’s agreed to meet with me and stakeholders from South Leicestershire so they can tell him why it’s the wrong plan.

“It’s a land grab because they want to take the best economic development areas of Leicestershire, and the city will benefit. The villages won’t, because all their money will go into the city. What’s left in Leicestershire and Rutland will be deprived of its better economic development areas, and in the long run people will end up paying more council tax.”

This was echoed by Peter Bedford. The MP for Mid Leicestershire explained: “I want my residents to receive the highest possible quality of services. In addition to that, you look at council tax in the city - it’s far higher than in the county.

“And you look at the state of the city. Everyone knows the city is in decline, and I do not want that inflicted upon my residents in Leicestershire.”