We have decided to complete a Community Governance Review (CGR) to ensure that all our residents and stakeholders continue to be represented effectively.
A CGR looks at the community governance arrangements in the area to decide whether they are working for the residents, or if they should change. They deal with very local forms of governance, like parish-tier councils or community and neighbourhood associations.
Why we are carrying out a CGR.
The announcement of Local Government Reorganisation (LGR) will see the abolition of Rochford District Council, as well as all of the other district tier councils and Essex County Council. They will be replaced by fewer, larger authorities that combine the services that are currently delivered by the two tiers of local government. Rochford will merge with some of our neighbouring councils to form one large council. Find out more about LGR.
We want to make sure that local voices and community identities continue to be heard or represented in larger and more diverse authorities.
There are currently 14 parish councils covering the whole of the Rochford District Council area. During this review, we will also welcome alternative suggestions as to how the town and parish councils could be arranged to serve residents of the area most effectively, or, indeed, whether some other form of community governance such as neighbourhood area committees or forums, residents associations, etc, would better serve an area, or part of it.
About the consultation process
The CGR will have two stages of consultation.
The first stage, which runs from November to January, is a broader consultation where we want to hear your suggestions about what would work for your area.
Based on your feedback, we will then come up with some proposals for what we might do.
In the second stage in mid-2026, you can feed back specifically on those proposals, before we make any decisions.
Useful documents and information
There are also some things that are outside the scope of this review.
The CGR can't:
- change the number of councillors on, or boundaries of, Brentwood Borough or Essex County Councils, which are decided by the Local Government Boundary Commission for England. · can’t change parliamentary boundaries, which are decided by the Boundary Commission for England.
- influence or change the outcome of local government reorganisation (merging councils). Central government will decide this, but they will be consulting residents to hear their views.
- influence or change the amount of money any existing or future councils raise through Council Tax. These are set by the individual authorities.
- choose what powers or responsibilities the new unitary council delegates to parish-tier councils. This will be negotiated between the new unitary authority and parish-tier councils.
- 17 November 2025: First consultation period opens
- 2 January 2026: First consultation period closes
- January to March 2026: Review comments and draft recommendations
- March to May 2026: Second consultation period
- October to November 2026: Final recommendations made
- March 2027: Community Governance Order takes effect. Any new parish-tier councils will now exist
- May 2027: Elections for those councils