'WE'RE not little stooges - we're here to represent the people.'

That was the message delivered at Christchurch council this week as a motion calling for further debate on council reorganisation was taken.

And those members with concerns were given assurances of further talks on the matter in a unanimous vote on the principles put forward in the motion.

Proposed by councillors David Jones and Lesley Dedman, the original motion said the process was irreparably flawed because the consultation document was not impartial and financial information was "incomplete and misleading".

However, this part was dropped after an amendment proposed by Cllr Peter Hall was accepted unanimously.

Members did agree that the report from the consultation should be forwarded to each member of the council as soon as it is received by the leader and chief executive.

An extraordinary meeting will be held on the report, before the leaders of all nine Dorset councils meet to discuss the options.

And as a result of that meeting, the wishes from members will give the leader and deputy leader a mandate to negotiate the future reorganisation arrangements.

Speaking at the meeting, Cllr Denise Jones said: "We're not little stooges sat here to fill in the spaces, we are 24 people who have been chosen by the people of this borough to take decisions big or small.

"We should have had an input at the beginning.

"It is up to the leader to find out the views of the other 23 members.

"We have not had an opportunity to debate these matters to date and it has taken a private members motion to bring it to council.

"We work for the benefit of the borough and work to make sure that we mandate our leader and tell him what our residents think."

Leader, Cllr Ray Nottage said: "I think it is really encouraging to hear that councillors will be working together to get us through this period of change.

"I don't know what the consultation will say. I am delighted to have a clear mandate when I go into the meetings with the nine councils."

Speaking after the meeting, Cllr David Jones said: "As the proposers of the motion, it was always our prime objective to ensure that the elected council would acquire complete control over the process immediately following receipt of the consultants’ report.

"However we shall be pursuing our concerns over the consultation process through other channels; our only aim is to receive and reflect accurately the views of the people of Christchurch."