Aldershot and Farnborough will become part of a unitary council for northern Hampshire from 2028.
A new unitary council for northern Hampshire
The government announced its final decision on Wednesday 25 March on the future structure of councils in Hampshire and the Isle of Wight.
From 1 April 2028, the current 15 councils will be replaced by 4 unitary councils in mainland Hampshire, with the continuation of the Isle of Wight as a separate council.
Aldershot and Farnborough will be served by a new unitary council for northern Hampshire. This will provide all the services currently provided by Rushmoor Borough Council, Hart District Council, Basingstoke and Deane Borough Council and Hampshire County Council.
Shadow elections will be held in May 2027 to elect councillors to oversee the establishment of the new council.
Rushmoor Borough Council and Hampshire County Council will continue to provide services locally until 2028 and borough and county elections due to take place this May will continue as planned.
(Map based on Google Maps)
Background to local government reorganisation
The government announced in late 2024 that it wanted to replace the current system of councils in Hampshire and the Isle of Wight with new unitary councils, each covering a population of approximately 500,000 that would be responsible for all services in their area.
It invited councils to put forward proposals, which it consulted on in late 2025.
We were part of a group of 12 of the 15 councils in Hampshire, which worked closely together on options for this major reform of local government and published our joint proposal for the government, Close enough to be local, big enough to stay strong, for local government reorganisation in September. This followed a vote by an extraordinary meeting of the council to do so.
This set out the case for 4 new unitary councils in Hampshire, replacing Hampshire Council, the 11 district and borough councils, and Portsmouth and Southampton city councils, with the Isle of Wight remaining an independent unitary council.
Proposals for parish or town councils
Because any new unitary council would be bigger than Rushmoor, we have also considered what, if any, local arrangements could be put in place to make sure residents' voices are heard on local decisions.
At an extraordinary meeting of the council on 29 January, it was agreed not to pursue this option for the moment.
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