It was announced late on Tuesday that the Government had agreed a proposed devolution deal with eight Hampshire councils.
The clincher was that East Hampshire, Portsmouth, Southampton, Gosport, Fareham Eastleigh, Havant, and Isle of Wight residents will elect a joint mayor.
Before the deal is signed in June, residents will be asked their views, and each council will hold a vote to accept the new authoity.
Then government cash will go straight to a Solent Combined Authority (SCA) led by an elected mayor, supported by a cabinet of the eight council leaders.
It’s thought the mayor will be based in either Portsmouth or Southampton, rather than in, or near, Petersfield.
East Hampshire District Council (EHDC) leader Ferris Cowper said: “I’m certain that the Solent CA is overwhelmingly the best for everyone in East Hampshire.”
He added that the deal wouldn’t force the council to accept more houses.
Portsmouth City Council leader Donna Jones revealed news of the government agreement, saying it was “great” for the area.
It will secure tens of millions of pounds for roads and infrastructure; an investment described as ‘one of the biggest the government has made in the area in years.’
There will also be more money for economic growth and housing, and the councils will keep business rate money, rather than give it to the Government.
But government grants to the councils will continue to dwindle.
The Solent deal surfaced after a joint devolution bid by all the district councils in Hampshire led by Hampshire County Council effectively collapsed.
It failed because many councillors, including a significant number from EHDC, refused to accept an elected mayor and more houses.
County council leader Roy Perry said: “Government’s insistence (on an elected mayor) has had the effect of splitting the county on the whole subject. That caused the Solent authorities to develop a separate proposal.”
He added that most of the SCA area was urban, while East Hampshire was rural, and that the combination made “little sense.”