THE LEADER of Monmouthshire council has said he is "absolutely against" a merger with Newport City Council, but is in support of the four 'super councils' model.
Cllr Peter Fox submitted his formal response last week to the Welsh Government's white paper bill 'Devolution, Democracy and Delivery - Reforming Local Government' and full council will have the opportunity to discuss the report on October 22.
The Williams report recommended that the current 22 councils in Wales be reduced to 10 or 12 by 2017/18. Cllr Fox said: "I am absolutely against the merger with Newport. It is not in the interest of Monmouthshire.
"We are a rural county and we don't want to be sucked into an urban county and have to address urban problems. There would be no synergy there."
An alternative model put forward by the Welsh Local Government Association would see four combined authorities, with Monmouthshire under South East Wales. Cllr Fox said: "I would prefer a South East Wales region with 10 authorities working together all sitting in that region."
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