As we’ve mentioned several times before, the current favoured option for the Vale, South Oxfordshire and West Berkshire councils is that they all form a menage à trois under the new married name of Ridgeway. The first two have been effectively living together for several years anyway, which would make the union less complex than it might be. There will therefore be only two, not three, comms departments, housing registers, CEOs, local plans, HQs and other similar matters to fuse together.

Still a great deal of work to do, however, not the least of which will merging the work of the unitary WBC – which has experience at running social care and children’s services but, as a result, no money – with two comparatively cash-rich districts which has previously had these services provided by Oxfordshire. (One thing that won’t be needed is a logo as someone’s already come up with that.)

Taking all this into account, and the uncertian deadline, WBC’s claim in it’s latest communiqué that “we’re ready for Ridgeway” seems optimistic almost to the point of hyperbole. “We’re as ready as we can be given how little time we’ve had to reflect on this and that we don’t know what Angela will think about its” night be more accurate: though, of course, a lot less snappy.

I think the plan has much to recommend it. There are other competing visions, including mucking in with Swindon to the west or with Reading and Wokingham to the east. Both of these would involve WBC being dominated by a large settlement. The same fate would overtake the Vale and SOx if the proposal, which has also been mooted, for a single unitary comprising the whole of Oxfordshire, including the city, goes ahead.

The Ridgeway plan preserves some level of independence from such over-bearing influences as all three districts are predominantly rural with a handful of large-ish towns. If Ridgeway did come into being, Newbury would be the largest settlement. That wouldn’t, however, automatically mean that HQ would be set up there: another thing that needs to be agreed.

Nor would this new authority quite meet the 500,000 population threshold the government has set, being about 25,000 shy of this. However, there are signs that Whitehall is prepared to regard this as an aspiration, not a fixed rule. If – and it’s a big if – the government can really get 300,000 net new dwellings created each year then the allocations in these three districts would see the population reach half a million fairly quickly in any case.

This recent special email from WBC on the subject explains its take on these and other issues. It includes a map on how the area might look, information about forthcoming public events and a link to a consultation which gives local residents the opportunity to have their say by 16 July.

I’m not sure what, if any, legal force this consultation will have. It might just be something that the councils have to do. I’m not convinced that this will accomplish much more than provide a range of conflicting views which may well cancel out; nor whether WBC will act on any of the suggestions. It’s quite clear what its preference is (correctly so, in my view) and it’s hard to see it changing its mind.

The most important opinion, and which is currently unknown, is Angela Rayner’s. She might be swayed by evidence of overwhelming support for the proposal: so, if you agree with it, it would be worth taking part. If you don’t agree, she might take that into account as well.

Brian Quinn