East Kent will learn today whether its four local authorities will begin the process to merge into a single super council.

Councillors in Canterbury, Thanet, Dover and Shepway are due to decide whether to hold a public consultation ahead of a formal merger timed to coincide with the 2019 local elections.

But many scrutinising the proposals complain there are too many unanswered questions and uncertainties about how an authority which stretches from Whitstable in the north to Romney Marsh in the south will function.

There are also fears the council would become remote from its population and would reduce democratic representation.

Canterbury City Council’s three-member Lib Dem group has blasted the proposals as a cost-cutting exercise, calling for a formal referendum ahead of any merger.

Few concrete details about the way the super council would function have emerged.

One idea to ensure people are properly represented is to have town and parish councils operating below the main authority.

Cllr David Hirst, one of Canterbury City Council’s two Ukip members, said: “The proposed council merger removes all individuality from each district and will no doubt spread grey and drab repetition, a form of dreariness draped evenly over each and every district.

“Will the council merger bring more money into Kent? It will not. Will the council merger produce better management and budgeting, enhancing each district? It will not.

"Will the council merger improve services for the old and frail? It will not.”

At present, the super council proposal poses no threat to Kent’s two-tier local authority system of district councils operating alongside the county council.

But Cllr Neil Baker, a senior member of Canterbury’s ruling Conservative group, and Kentish Gazette columnist and business expert Richard Scase are among those who believe a single unitary authority would better serve east Kent.

Prof Scase said: “We need a structure of local government in Kent that is fit for purpose.

"This means the break-up of Kent County Council and the creation of three or four unitary authorities.

“They would be responsible for everything from refuse collection to roads and highways through to planning and housing development.”

Thanet council leader Cllr Chris Wells said: "The decision being made at these meetings is a very simple one: as the business case seems to make sense, we are going to talk to the public to see what they think."

He sensed most people were interested in whether their bins were emptied and their streets were clean rather than who was doing the job.

“It is all about getting the services right and getting a stronger voice for east Kent.

"We will save £6.8 million a year by stopping the duplication of services and would not have four management teams.”

The government was forcing the councils’ hands, he added.

“When you are looking at the financial projections for when the government takes away all our revenue grant support, we are looking at these councils having to save £13m a year between them up to 2025.”

He said there had been a lot of scare-mongering about council tax rises and the four districts accounted for just 14 pence in every pound of the council tax raised.

The four councils meet separately today to decide whether to move towards the public consultation phase, which would run from March 24 to May 19.