Proposed changes to the corporations for Hamilton and St George were overwhelmingly turned down in public consultation, according to the Bermuda Government’s online forum.

The site, which closed on Friday after ten days of soliciting views, logged four in favour of turning the governance of the municipalities into quangos, with 164 against.

Meanwhile, the proposal to dissolve the corporations and absorb them into the Bermuda Government’s administration got four in favour, with 172 against.

The two options were presented after the Ministry of Home Affairs convened town hall meetings last year for input on municipal governance.

Modernising both corporations was also among pledges in the Progressive Labour Party government’s Throne Speech of November 2018.

The two options were presented by Walter Roban, the home affairs minister, when the policy document was posted online on February 11.

The forum was also open for comments, which included present and former councillors as well as Charles Gosling, the Mayor of Hamilton.

There were 66 remarks posted for the quango proposal, while 89 comments were registered on dissolving the corporations.

For the former, Mr Gosling called the quango option “a little bit of chintz window dressing” compared with removing the corporations altogether.

He added: “The overall concerns are still the same: ability, accountability, ethics, an asset grab.”

Quinell Francis, the Mayor of St George, said earlier this month that she was “saddened and disappointed” by the proposals, and both mayors decried a lack of consultation.