WEST Oxfordshire District Council is opposing proposals to move to unitary status which it says would see residents paying higher council tax.

The council has written a letter to Ruth Kelly, the Minister for Communities and Local Government, outlining its objections to the proposals, supported by Oxford City Council, for future government arrangements in the county.

The submission by Oxford City Council proposes the removal of the current county and district tiers of government, replacing them with three new unitary councils. This could see the joining of West Oxfordshire with Cherwell; the Vale of White Horse with South Oxfordshire and Oxford City Council as a single unitary authority.

Oxford City Council has estimated the costs of setting up a unitary system to be in the region of £27.1m. But Oxfordshire County Council has calculated the cost of setting up three new unitary authorities at more than £53.8m, with ongoing costs of £18.5m.

Barry Norton, leader of West Oxfordshire District Council, said: "This would be bad news for West Oxfordshire residents. Council tax is very low, currently the second lowest in England and we are concerned that our residents would have to pay much higher district council tax under the proposal put forward by Oxford city."

The council's cabinet believes that the best way to achieve improvements in local government would be through enhanced two-tier working, and West Oxfordshire is already looking at ways of working more closely with the county council and the other district councils in the county.

Mr Norton said: "There are other ways of achieving savings without the huge transitional costs of setting up new authorities and the disruption this would involve. Enhanced two-tier working would lower costs and build on the strengths and partnerships of the current structure.

"Local accountability and democracy is also at stake. The proposed unitary status, merging West Oxfordshire with Cherwell, covers a huge geographical area. The identity of the district we know and love would disappear. There would inevitably be fewer councillors supporting more than 160 local town and parish councils. This, again, is not good news for our residents."