Gravesham Borough Council has voted unanimously to support the proposal it has developed jointly with Dartford Borough Council for Local Government Reorganisation in Kent and Medway.
An extraordinary meeting of the council voted to support option 5a, a decision ratified by the council’s Cabinet.
Further work will now take place on finalising the proposal before it is submitted to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government for consideration alongside the options supported by other councils in the county.
Under the current system of local government, Kent County Council (KCC) delivers some services like education, social services and roads, and district or borough councils deliver others like emptying bins and providing housing services.
In the proposed system, unitary councils would deliver all council services in one area. Medway Council operates in that way today.
Five differing options were put forward earlier this year and business cases for each developed. All were considered by Gravesham council members before they voted to support option 5a, which would see the creation of five unitary authorities for Kent.
Under 5a, the north Kent council would consist of the current boroughs of Gravesham and Dartford, Swanley, which currently sits under Sevenoaks District Council, the parts of the current Medway Council west of the River Medway and would reach as far south as Snodland.
Welcoming the vote to support option 5a, Cllr John Burden, Leader of Gravesham Borough Council, said: “This is a model that provides the greatest level of democracy, maintaining the closest relationship between residents and elected councillors.
“It will increase transparency to hold council services to account, create strong voices to speak up for our area at a regional and national level, and is a model that secures the level of local intelligence needed to design services that continuously evolve to deliver the best possible outcomes for our residents.
“It will put structures in place that are big enough to work well and generate the efficiencies required of this process.
“However, our model has the unique additional benefit of creating smaller councils than other proposals. This would mean we would retain the ability to be agile and flexible to respond to future local and national demands.
“These proposed five authorities - including the one we plan for North Kent - will be able to grow and adapt to what our communities need over time, to make the most of new opportunities, and create a sustainable platform for the future.”
All business cases can be viewed at Councils Reveal Draft Business Cases for New Councils - Kent Council Leaders and will be submitted to the government by Friday 28 November.
In the new year, the government is expected to carry out public consultation with all Kent residents on the preferred options.
A decision by the government on the final structure of unitary councils is expected in the summer.