A bid has been made for Southport and Ainsdale to leave Sefton and Merseyside in what would be a historic change.
Southport MP Damien Moore and West Lancashire MP Rosie Cooper have joined forces in hopes of pushing through a border change that would see Southport, Ormskirk and Skelmersdale combine. The recommendations have been submitted to the Secretary of State for Levels, Housing and Communities, Michael Gove, MP.
In their letter to the Minister, the two MPs wrote that the two communities are “better served by being in the same local authority area”. The letter said: “We are writing to ask you to meet to discuss local government arrangements for the town of Southport, including its communities of Ainsdale, Birkdale, Cambridge, Dukes, Kew, Meols and Norwood, and the West Lancashire Borough Council.
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“We strongly believe that our two communities are better served by being in the same local authority area, and we are working more closely to achieve this. As you said in your speech to Parliament on February 2, 2022, when you unveiled the leveling plan In the white paper, “we must empower neglected and undervalued communities to take charge of their destiny”.
“It is with this very clear and firm commitment that we are asking that the necessary arrangements be made to ensure that we can achieve this for Southport and West Lancashire, by changing the local authority catchment area. We understand that this requires a primary legislation, and As communities across the country wish to harness this new opportunity for self-determination, we need to ensure provisions are in place to allow us to do so.
“Thank you for considering these points. We look forward to meeting you soon.”
The topic is one that has been debated by townspeople for years, ever since boundary changes in 1974 saw Southport leave Lancashire. MP Rosie Cooper commented on the letter, saying her constituency is stuck in “no man’s land”.
She said: “In West Lancashire we are stuck in no man’s land between Liverpool, Manchester and Preston. We need to be treated more fairly as these huge metropolitan areas use up so much of the available resources, leaving so little for the cities rural areas and villages that we must fight for their remains.
“I support this campaign because small towns like Ormskirk, Skelmersdale and Southport and our villages need to join forces, act together so that our voice can be as loud and loud as possible and heard by our metropolitan neighbours.”
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