Proposals

All the councils in Essex are working together to propose changes to how they are run. Each council – whether district, borough, city or county councils – might have their own ideas to share with the government. 

These proposals are based on: 

  • making sure decision making is as close to communities as possible 
  • delivering value for money and efficient local services  
  • what’s good for local businesses and voluntary sector organisations

 Some ideas will be the same, but some will be different. 

In this section, you can read the four proposals that councils in Greater Essex will be sending to the government at the end of September. They will be added to this page as soon as the final documents are ready.  We expect this to be from September 2025. 

So far, the following are available: 

  • Five unitary council proposal  
  • Three unitary council proposal
  • Four unitary council proposal (led by Rochford)
  • Four unitary council proposal (led by Thurrock)

A proposal for a five unitary structure

Several councils are working together to propose five new unitary councils in Greater Essex, with each new unitary council serving somewhere between 326,000 and 510,000 residents. Five new councils would be set up by joining two or three nearby councils together, along with the services currently run by the county council, to form one single council for the area

Read the five unitary proposal executive summary

Read the five unitary proposal in full

 

Map showing Greater Essex divided into five unitary authorities: one, Epping Forest, Harlow and Uttlesford. two: Braintree, Colchester and Tendring. Three: Chelmsford, Brentwood and Maldon. Four: Basildon and Thurrock UA. Five: Rochford, Castle Point and Southend UA.

This map shows what Greater Essex could look like under the five unitary council proposal. 

A proposal for a three unitary structure

Some councils are working together to propose three new unitary councils in Greater Essex, with each new unitary council serving somewhere between 564,000 and 729,000 residents. Three new councils would be set up by joining four or five nearby councils together, along with the services currently run by the county council, to form one single council for the area.

Read the three unitary proposal executive summary

Read the three unitary proposal in full

Read the three unitary proposal appendix

 

A map showing a proposed division of Greater Essex into three unitary authorities (UAs). The first UA includes Uttlesford, Braintree, Colchester and Tendring. The second UA comprises Epping Forest, Harlow, Chelmsford, Brentwood and Maldon. The third UA includes Basildon, Rochford, Castle Point, Thurrock UA and Southend UA.

This map shows what Greater Essex could look like under the three unitary council proposal. 

A proposal for a four unitary structure (led by Rochford)

Rochford Council is proposing four new unitary councils in Greater Essex, with each new unitary council serving somewhere between 325,000 and 640,000 residents. Four new councils would be set up by joining three or four nearby councils together, along with the services currently run by the county council, to form one single council for the area.

Read the four unitary proposal (led by Rochford) executive summary

Read the four unitary proposal (led by Rochford) in full

 

 

Map showing Greater Essex divided into four unitary authorities: one, Rochford, Chelmsford, Brentwood and Maldon. Two: Braintree, Colchester and Tendring. Three: Thurrock, Basildon, Castle Point and Southend. Four: Epping Forest, Harlow and Uttlesford.

This map shows what Greater Essex could look like under the four unitary council proposal led by Rochford. 

A proposal for a four unitary structure (led by Thurrock)

Thurrock Council is proposing four new unitary councils in Greater Essex, with each new unitary council serving somewhere between 419,000 and 551,000 residents. Four new councils would be set up by joining three or four nearby councils together, along with the services currently run by the county council, to form one single council for the area.

Read the four unitary proposal (led by Thurrock) executive summary

Read the four unitary proposal (led by Thurrock) in full

 

 

Map showing Greater Essex divided into four unitary authorities: one, Uttlesford, Chelmsford, and Braintree. Two: Colchester, Tendring and Maldon. Three: Basildon, Rochford, Castle Point and Southend. Four: Epping Forest, Harlow, Brentwood and Thurrock

This map shows what Greater Essex could look like under the four unitary council proposal led by Thurrock.