Options change over boundary plan

One option was to amalgamate Norwich, Great Yarmouth and Lowestoft

Plans to bring a Suffolk town under the the control of a new Norfolk unitary authority have been jettisoned.

The revised proposals for Norfolk by the Boundary Committee no longer include Lowestoft.

Instead the committee is now asking people in Norfolk which of two options they would like to see.

It suggests either one "super" council for Norfolk or a two tier system with two unitary councils - one for Norwich, the other for the rest of Norfolk.

Previously the boundary committee was suggesting Lowestoft could be included under the jurisdiction of a new single unitary authority for the whole of Norfolk - an idea that was widely criticised.

One council leader has described the latest boundary proposals as "extraordinary"

The two other options were to amalgamate Norwich, Great Yarmouth and Lowestoft or have a Norwich unitary council with Lowestoft joining the rest of Norfolk.

The two new proposals would still see the abolition of Kings Lynn, Breckland, Broadland, South Norfolk and North Norfolk Councils who challenged the boundary committee in the High Court and lost.

Parish and town councils would remain unaffected by the new plans.