Only four per cent of residents living in north Herts including Hitchin strongly support the proposal for a single unitary council for Hertfordshire, according to a poll.

People living in every part of our country are opposed to the creation of a large county wide 'unitary' council according to an opinion poll of more than 2,000 people in Herts, carried out by national polling company, Survation.

The polling shows that an overwhelming 80 per cent of residents in Hertfordshire believe the county unitary proposal is the wrong approach at the wrong time.

In further results, specifically relating to north Herts, 76 per cent of north Herts residents believe that now is not the right time to make any changes, given the impact of the coronavirus pandemic.

The same percentage of north Herts residents also think their local needs would be better served by a local council as currently, rather than a 'super unitary' council.

The survey was commissioned by North Herts District Council as well as other district and borough councils in our county, who insist local people should be consulted before there are changes to long established local government structures

In addition, when asked about services currently provided by district councils, such as refuse collection and housing, 75 per cent of residents said these would be better delivered by their local council, than a single county wide unitary body.

The findings have further solidified opinion from a cross-party group of local district and borough council leaders, uniting to call for a rethink over Hertfordshire County Council's plan for one single authority for its 1.2 million residents.

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Commenting on the results, councillor Martin Stears-Handscomb, leader of North Herts District Council said: "These results clearly show that the people of north Herts do not support a super unitary council for the whole of Hertfordshire.

"Residents want localised services, supporting our belief that democratic decisions are best made at a local level, not by an arbitrary 'super council'.

"Now is the time to listen to our residents - the proposal for a super unitary is too big, too remote and comes at the wrong time, when all of our priorities should be on supporting our residents and businesses through the coronavirus pandemic.

"Rest assured, we will continue to work collaboratively with our colleagues across Herts, to ensure we can continue to support our communities and are best placed to ensure rapid economic recovery."