Cheshire West and Chester Council has declined to comment on a suggestion by the leader of Cheshire East that there should be one council serving the whole of the county.
The statement by Cheshire East leader Cllr Michael Jones comes, he says, after months of talks between the Conservative council and multi-agency partners about how to improve Cheshire’s offer to its residents.
Cllr Jones, who stressed the idea was his own personal view, said: “Cheshire East Council was formed following local government reorganisation in 2009 when Cheshire County Council was effectively carved into two, the other half being Cheshire West. The two authorities were made weaker as a result, yet mirror one another in terms of their people and aspirations.
“It didn’t make much sense then and it still doesn’t!”
Cheshire West and Chester Council, also led by the Conservatives, under his name-sake Cllr Mike Jones, does not wish to comment.
But Chester MP Stephen Mosley, a former city and county councillor, always disagreed with splitting the county in two but was in favour of a unitary authority for Chester alone. However, he believes the decision was taken and there is no going back.
Mr Mosley said: “We have had the upheaval. We have had the problems but I can fully understand it.
“I think what we’ve ended up with – they are too small to be strategic but too large to be local and my preferred option would be Chester on its own as a unitary.
“People in Chester don’t feel a huge amount of affiliation with Northwich or Winsford or even Ellesmere Port and vice versa.
He added: “I can’t see the government supporting more local government reorganisation.”
