COUNCIL bosses in Wyre Forest are expected to rubber stamp proposals to create a separate authority for Kidderminster.

Wyre Forest District Council will meet on Wednesday (September 30) to approve the creation of a parish council for the town.

The new authority, which residents voted overwhelmingly in favour of, will give people in the town greater control over facilities and services currently run by Wyre Forest District Council.

In the Local Advisory Poll in May, a total of 18,264 residents voted in favour with 4,668 rejecting the idea, representing a turnout of 53.3 per cent.

Kidderminster Parish Council is set to be in place by December 1 with the existing charter trustees for the town abolished at the same time.

One of the first roles for the new authority will be to set the new rate of council tax for Kidderminster residents, in time for the 2016/17 financial year.

The rate is expected to go up and will be similar to Stourport and Bewdley, which already has established town councils. The precept will be linked to the budget adopted by the new council.

A host of assets, including Kidderminster Town Hall, Market Street toilets and the war memorial, currently run and maintained by Wyre Forest will also be transferred to the new authority.

The current sitting councillors in each Kidderminster ward will move on to the newly formed council, while Mayor of Kidderminster Rose Bishop will continue as the town’s civic leader until May.

In a report going to Wednesday’s full council meeting, Wyre Forest leader Councillor Marcus Hart said: “The consultation has demonstrated generally strong support for the proposals that the Council endorsed in July.

“This will mark an historic step in the advancement of localism in Wyre Forest and in the governance of Kidderminster, its principal town.

“Once the order has been formally sealed, which would be expected to happen within a matter of days after the meeting, the process to create a new council for Kidderminster will move forward to implementation.”