Earlier this month The Boundary Committee for England recommended plans for a new super authority in Norfolk following a massive review of local government in the county.

The move was criticised by figures such as West Norfolk Council leader Nick Daubney and North West Norfolk MP Henry Bellingham but in Hunstanton the announcement has been met with a positive response.

As part of the reorganisation, 21 community partnership boards will be created outside of Norwich which will be responsible for scrutinising public services and spending a delegated budget on local priorities.

Hunstanton has been included on the list of community partnership boards.

Town mayor Richard Bird said: "It is not about bashing Lynn and borough council officers.

"What we are saying is 'you have your own challenges so let us worry about our regeneration programmes and what we want to achieve'.

"We want to be sending a positive view to The Boundary Committee, we do not want it to be negative all the time.

"All we have seen is how bad it will be and how much it costs but no-one has thought of the savings which could be made."

Maxine Thorne, who recently moved to Hunstanton, has seen first-hand how effective unitary authorities can be having worked as a chief officer with councils in the London Borough of Redbridge and Thurrock.

She said: "One of the problems with local government is the level of filtering which goes on.

"But working for a unitary authority local communities can self determine.

"People can be heard, they get a response quickly and can take responsibility for local opportunities in their community and work from within.

"In Hunstanton everyone is pro-active about getting information and getting things done. The unitary authority will set that free."

Hunstanton Civic Society chairman Roy Clark believes the current system of local government is too confusing for the general public.

He said: "We have the county council and borough council, then the town or parish councils who have very little responsibility and little to spend but they are the ones who are local and know what the score is.

"The general population has no idea who is responsible for what. To some extent this will become a two-tier system and a very direct affair."

Support for the new system has also been offered by Jon Bolam, of Hunstanton Chamber of Trade.

He said: "From a traders' point of view we are trying a number of initiatives to boost economic prosperity for ourselves and the town as a whole.

"If we could deal with a council in the town that had a wider remit of responsibility we feel we could tackle some of those initiatives a lot quicker.

"We are a very pro-active chamber and I think we could prosper greatly with a unitary authority."