TOWN councillors have abandoned a long-standing campaign to increase their numbers by 50 per cent, deciding instead to find ways of streamlining how they work.
Since 1998, the council had been pressing to raise its numbers from 18 to 27 for when the number of town wards goes up from seven to nine at the next town council election in May 2003.
Councillors felt the increased number of wards would leave them over stretched thinly spread. They also argued that the cost to the taxpayer of nine extra councillors would be nominal.
The council first took its case to the Boundary Commission and Department of the Environment and the Regions two years ago.
It was told by the DETR that it will first have to carry out a widespread consultation to see if there is much support for the idea.
Waverley council, whose backing would have been crucial to the plans, last year invited the town council to "provide more justification" for its bid.
But now the council has dropped the plans on the advice of its working party.
In a report to the council's finance and general purposes committee, the working party recommended the number of councillors stay at 18 and that a review of the council's committee structure be carried out to "achieve a more efficient framework."
The report said that views had been expressed for and against the increase.
Some councillors felt an increase to three members per ward would reduce workloads.
But others felt there would be more paperwork and that it would be better to streamline the committee structure.