Political foes are at odds over the way their council is run.
The Stroud District Council Labour, Liberal Democrat and Green administration is set to ditch the cabinet system for committees.
The committee system was dumped in favour of the cabinet model when Labour was last in power at Ebley Mill more than 10 years ago. Now the out-of-power Conservatives - who fought the introduction of a cabinet in the early 2000s - are calling for the cabinet system to be retained.
The council makes decisions through its leader and cabinet, but from May next year it will move to a system, where groups of councillors from all parties make major decisions on committees.
"The new system we have introduced will engage more councillors in decision making and ensure that all 51 of them are able to contribute their talents," said council leader Geoff Wheeler (L, Dursley).
"It will lead to more considered, balanced and higher quality decision making which will benefit the district as a whole.
"The current arrangements, which will continue until May next year, mean that a council leader and a small number of councillors who make up an executive drawn from the Labour, Lib Dem and Green groups, are responsible for a large number of important decisions. This means that many councillors from all political parties are unable to make valuable contributions on important issues."
New Tory group leader Keith Pearson (Upton St Leonards) said: "What is most worrying is that we have had no details about the cost implications of this move.
"The cabinet style operation, which has worked well locally for over 10 years, was introduced into local government to enable more decisive decision making.
"It should be up to the public to decide on what works best in Stroud.
"They were quite clear as in a recent resident's survey which showed a 76% satisfaction rating at the way the council was run. This change is unnecessary."
The Stroud District Council Labour, Liberal Democrat and Green administration is set to ditch the cabinet system for committees.
The committee system was dumped in favour of the cabinet model when Labour was last in power at Ebley Mill more than 10 years ago. Now the out-of-power Conservatives - who fought the introduction of a cabinet in the early 2000s - are calling for the cabinet system to be retained.
The council makes decisions through its leader and cabinet, but from May next year it will move to a system, where groups of councillors from all parties make major decisions on committees.
"The new system we have introduced will engage more councillors in decision making and ensure that all 51 of them are able to contribute their talents," said council leader Geoff Wheeler (L, Dursley).
"It will lead to more considered, balanced and higher quality decision making which will benefit the district as a whole.
"The current arrangements, which will continue until May next year, mean that a council leader and a small number of councillors who make up an executive drawn from the Labour, Lib Dem and Green groups, are responsible for a large number of important decisions. This means that many councillors from all political parties are unable to make valuable contributions on important issues."
New Tory group leader Keith Pearson (Upton St Leonards) said: "What is most worrying is that we have had no details about the cost implications of this move.
"The cabinet style operation, which has worked well locally for over 10 years, was introduced into local government to enable more decisive decision making.
"It should be up to the public to decide on what works best in Stroud.
"They were quite clear as in a recent resident's survey which showed a 76% satisfaction rating at the way the council was run. This change is unnecessary."