"Feelings are running high": Battle over name for new local council escalates

Our local MPs and Lancaster City Council remain at loggerheads over the name of a new local authority for the District - and you've had your say too.

Lancaster City Council wants the new unitary authority to be called 'Lancaster, Preston and Ribble Valley' -  a wish echoed by Preston City Council and Ribble Valley Borough Council.

But Cat Smith, Lancaster & Wyre MP, and Lizzi Collinge, MP for Morecambe and Lunesdale, both prefer 'North Lancashire'.

As we went to press, 54 per cent of Beyond Radio listeners who commented on our Facebook page expressing a preference between the two suggested names, also said they'd rather have 'North Lancashire'.

Fifteen per cent prefer 'Lancaster, Preston and Ribble Valley' and 31 per cent suggested alternative names for the new council. 

A post on the Lancaster City Council Facebook page on Thursday said:

"Our Name. Our Heritage. Our Council.

"You may have seen last week that together with Preston and Ribble Valley councils, we proposed the name ‘Lancaster, Preston & Ribble Valley Council’ as our new unitary name, as we felt that ‘North Lancashire’ loses our identity.

"The names Lancaster, Preston and Ribble Valley reflect where people live, belong and take pride in their communities. That identity should not be lost when council structures change.

"The leaders of Lancaster City Council, Preston City Council and Ribble Valley Borough Council sent an open letter to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government, asking it to give full consideration to Lancaster, Preston and Ribble Valley Council as the permanent name of the new authority.

"We believe this proudly reflects our identity."

But Ms Smith, in her own statement on social media, said: "I appreciate that reorganising our local councils is a big deal, and there are a lot of people for whom feelings are running high. But this isn’t the battle I want to see council leaders having.

Cat Smith

"The name, North Lancashire, is sensible. It does what it says on the tin.

"I’d rather see the focus on fixing the ridiculous boundary around North Lancashire and lobbying Government to bring the eastern part of Wyre into North Lancashire rather than leaving it in the Fylde Coast.

"Lancaster, Garstang, Catterall, Wyresdale and the surrounding communities are closely connected. The council boundaries should reflect how people actually live, work and travel.

"Let’s get the geography right and create a sensible footprint for the council, rather than spending our time arguing over who gets to come up with the longest name for it. At this rate the new council’s business cards will end up bigger than a greetings card!"

Lizzi Collinge agreed, saying of the Lancaster, Preston and Ribble Valley suggestion: "What about the rest of the district?

"This name doesn't reflect our area and is overly complicated.

"Last week I wrote to the City Council to express my view that their preferred name excluded huge swaths of the district and that North Lancashire is a simple solution that is both geographically accurate, and inclusive of every area."

HERE'S WHAT YOU SAID (Comments from the Beyond Radio Facebook page).

Ragnar said: "North Lancashire is the better name."

Darren said: "In the absence of anything better, North Lancashire is the preferable of a bad pair."

Chris said: "North Lancashire."

Ali said: "North Lancashire, I want Lancashire to continue to exist, if we remove the word Lancashire from the title of the authority then what and where is Lancashire."

David said: "North Lancashire. Keep it simple."

Richard said: "North Lancashire would be best. Far fewer syllables, less typing, more efficient."

Jackie W said: "North Lancashire if have to pick between two."

Jackie P said: "Definitely North Lancashire. The other names leaves out so many areas, like Lune Valley, Morecambe, Heysham etc etc yes I know that Lancaster thinks it owns Morecambe and Heysham but the tax payers of the said areas don't!!! And it looks silly having Ribble Valley in the names of two areas."

Steven said: "North Lancashire."

Barbara M said: "Lancaster all the way, we will be grouped as Northerners if they use that one, not saying anything wrong with Northerners. But Lancaster Preston and Ribble Valley sounds so much better, and we keep our city names."

Sarah said: "North Lancashire - imagine trying to type in Lancaster, Ribble and Preston when either trying to find their website or send an email. What if you have forgotten what the third place was."

Linda said: "Lancaster is a city. Should keep name in."

Barbara P said: "Because we are being forced in to this unitarian then I say Lancaster, Ribble Valley and Preston."

Julie said: "As long as it saves the public money they can call it what they want!"

Alison said: "Leave well alone, a unitary authority is not going to benefit us."

Rowanne said: "None, I don't want a new one."

(NOTE - from comments on our page, 14 people preferred 'North Lancashire', four preferred 'Lancaster, Preston and Ribble Valley' and eight people suggested alternative names)

It was announced in July that the Government had confirmed its preferred option for LGR (Local Government Reorganisation) with the existing Lancaster City Council area joining forces with Preston and Ribble Valley.

A map of the proposed new unitary authority areas

This is part of Lancashire-wide changes creating four new council areas and abolishing the county's 15 existing local authorities in less than two years’ time - subject to Parliamentary approval.

This will effectively merge large areas of the county that were previously covered by separate councils.

The current Lancashire councils will continue to operate until March 31 2028 when all of them – including Lancaster City Council and Lancashire County Council – will cease to exist.

The new unitary authorities across the county will provide all council services in their area.

They will formally come into being on April 1 2028, but will exist in shadow form from May 2027 when their first elections will be held.

This change is part of the Government’s plan set out in its 2024 White Paper to abolish two-tier (county and district) councils and replace them with unitary authorities to deliver all local services.

The Government said this was to devolve more powers to regions and streamline local governance by delivering all services in one place.

Currently Lancashire County Council provides services like social care, education, roads, and libraries; and District councils (e.g. Lancaster City Council) manage bin collections, planning, housing, and leisure.

The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government is provisionally using the name 'North Lancashire' for the new unitary authority.

The proposed names for the other three unitary councils in Lancashire are:

· South Lancashire – Chorley, South Ribble and West Lancashire

· Fylde Coast – Blackpool, Fylde and Wyre

· Pennine Lancashire – Blackburn with Darwen, Burnley, Hyndburn, Pendle and Rossendale.

The names of the new councils will be included in a legal document called the Structural Changes Order.