A NEW rural super-council has moved one step closer after East Dorset District Council’s cabinet members supported a vital proposal.

At a meeting held in Wimborne yesterday, members of EDDC’s cabinet supported the recommendation to dissolve the county's existing nine authorities in favour of two new unitaries.

In a statement issued immediately after the meeting, Cllr Simon Tong, cabinet member for Change and Transformation, said: “We recognise the realities which are now emerging after the Secretary of State’s ‘minded-to’ decision, and cabinet is keen to move forward in the best interests of the residents of East Dorset.”

He said it was vital the cabinet was seen to be “leading from the front on this important issue” and the recommendation “sets a clear direction for East Dorset District Council.”

Councillors had previously hoped to find an alternative solution after Communities Secretary Sajid Javid announced he was ‘minded to’ implement the Future Dorset proposal, but they have now bowed to what many will see as the inevitable.

A Tweet posted during the meeting quoted Cllr Robin Cook as saying: “The best deal for our residents is what this is all about. It isn't the best deal for the councillors, it's about the residents.”

East Dorset District Council cabinet will now recommend to the full council, which meets on Monday, that they write to the Secretary of State to accept his ‘minded-to’ decision to support local government reorganisation in Dorset.

The decision came after an EDDC cabinet report stated that it would be “very unlikely to make as powerful a case” to improve local government services “as the submission he (Sajid Javid) already has in front of him”.

The report explained that the services of Dorset County Council are “under extreme pressure”, with service reductions and closures, and that since the work to explore Local Government Reorganisation began, “the picture has only worsened”.

“While this is all unpalatable, it is the situation we find ourselves in,” the report said.

Concerns around the planned merger include council tax harmonisation, the relationship with town and parish councils, safeguarding the Green Belt, and protecting local decision making.

If EDDC council agrees to the merger on Monday, attention will now swing to Purbeck District Council which is set to hammer out its official stance at their full meeting on Tuesday.