That's the proposal being put foward by some local politicians in the light of powers being proposed through Parliament to allow the Secretary of State to push through boundary changes even if some local authorities resisted.
The plan for a Greater Southampton to include Eastleigh, Hamble, Totton, the Waterside, much of the New Forest and Romsey was outlined in Saturday's Southern Daily Echo.
A similar proposal would see Portsmouth merge with Fareham and Gosport.
Supporting such a scheme, Southampton City Council's Conservative deputy group leader Cllr Royston Smith said: "I am quite relaxed about a super authority.
"In my opinion there are far too many tiers in local government."
However the plans were dismissed in other quarters. Cllr Keith House, Lib Dem leader of Eastleigh Council said bolting Eastleigh onto Southampton would be most unsatisfactory. The residents of Eastleigh would feel they had been taken over, he added.
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