A plan for West Berkshire to merge with councils in Oxfordshire, reuniting towns that used to be in the Royal County, is set to be put forward.
Oxfordshire County Council will be abolished as the Labour government has ordered the elimination of two-tier local authorities through the local government reorganisation process.
Soon, the five lower-tier councils in Oxfordshire will be deciding whether to divide the county into two, with Oxford and Shires Council covering the north and 'Ridgeway Council' covering the south.
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If given the go-ahead, the Ridgeway Council would reunite towns that were historically part of Berkshire, such as Abingdon, Didcot, and Wallingford, into the Royal County.
The Uffington White Horse, a historic symbol of Berkshire, would also be reunited with West Berkshire, which contains Newbury, Thatcham, Hungerford and suburbs of Reading.
The proposals for the division of Oxfordshire have been justified as it could tackle inefficiencies and improve services.
Jeff Brooks (Liberal Democrats), the leader of West Berkshire Council, said: “It’s important that through Local Government reorganisation we deliver the best option for our residents.
This proposal is about creating councils that are big enough to cope, but small enough to care. It could save the most money of all the proposals and take a modern and innovative approach to service delivery, learning from our good work locally but also from other areas.
“It will help us proactively tackle the financial challenges facing West Berkshire as a small unitary authority whilst preserving the character and communities we hold dear.”
The decision to divide Oxfordshire into two must be submitted to the ministry of local government by the deadline of November 28.
The news comes as villages near Reading could become part of a Greater Reading Council.
Earlier this year, the Labour leadership of Reading Borough Council launched a separate proposal that would absorb Tilehurst Parish, Calcot, Theale, Purley and Pangbourne into Reading Borough.
It has been stressed that these areas would retain their parish councils, even though areas of Reading, such as Caversham and Whitley, do not have them.
Micky Leng (Labour), the deputy leader of Reading Borough Council, said: We have made clear that all seven of the existing parishes in the area would remain and would be welcomed into Reading as an integral part of our community governance arrangements, and I repeat that commitment."
He said that while responding to a question at a policy committee meeting on October 20.
Reading Borough has held a series of face-to-face consultation events into the Greater Reading proposal, which would assume Tilehurst, Theale, Pangbourne, Holybrook, Sulhamstead, Tidmarsh with Sulham and Purley parish councils into the borough.
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