Merger talks dropped

The headline in this weeks News and Crier is:

Good. But a merger hasn't been ruled out. Cllr Bates, Leader of HDC, said merger was a "long, long, long away". This means the merger could still go ahead. Whilst there is a commitment to "consultation" there is no reference to a referendum. It looks as though the Conservatives want this on the back burner so they don't want to have to talk about the costs to the HDC council taxpayers especially with the local election looming.