Rochford District Council will be consulting local residents and business to find out how local representation can be improved in light of the Government’s Local Government Reorganisation (LGR)
The Community Governance Review (CGR) will ensure that all residents and stakeholders continue to be represented effectively by looking 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.
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.
Cllr Danielle Belton, Leader of Rochford District Council, said: “Local government reorganisation means that Rochford will be merged with other councils. We want to make sure that local voices and community identities continue to be heard or represented in larger and more diverse authorities.
“I am pleased that we have parish or town councils in all parts of our district but we want people’s views on how they are working and how they could be improved. So, I urge everyone to take part.”
In Rochford, there are currently 14 parish councils covering the whole of the Rochford District Council area.
The Council 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.
People will be able to give their views by completing an electronic survey or filling out a paper questionnaire.
The first stage consultation will take place between 17 November 2025 and 12 January 2026. The representations received during the first stage consultation will help us to form the proposal direction and recommendations for Full Council (due in March 2026).
For further information and to complete the survey, visit our Community Governance Review page.
To request a paper survey, please email customer.comments@rochford.gov.uk or visit our reception hub in Rochford Library, Roche Close, Rochford