Four councils have launched a legal challenge against Norfolk County Council's handling of the £620m devolution deal - branding the process as "undemocratic".
On the eve of a crunch meeting, where Norfolk County Council's Conservative-controlled cabinet is due to ratify the deal, which includes an elected leader, the councils - three of them Tory-controlled - are seeking to stop that decision being made.
But County Hall leaders insist the meetings will go ahead as planned and appealed to councillors not to "throw away" the deal.
South Norfolk, Broadland, Breckland and Liberal Deomcrat-controlled North Norfolk councils have sent County Hall a letter threatening legal action over the way the process is being conducted.
They want the matter to go to judicial review, so the High Court can decide whether the process has been lawful or not.
John Fuller, leader of Conservative-controlled South Norfolk Council, said it was not democratic for the decision to rest with the 10 members of the county council's cabinet.
While all 84 councillors will discuss the deal at a full council meeting tomorrow morning, they can only note the deal.
Only the cabinet can ratify the 'in-principle' deal agreed with the government and decide to press ahead - a state of affairs which opposition parties had already criticised.
Mr Fuller said: "The county council has misunderstood that this is not just a deal for Norfolk County Council, but a deal for Norfolk.
"They have not correctly engaged with all of the other councils and they have not followed their own constitution.
"It should obviously be a decision for the full council, but they have, wrongly, tried to put it through cabinet."
Mr Fuller, who has previously criticised the deal, said the council did not have evidence of a broad cross-section of support for the proposals.
He said: "We have made these points to them privately, but they have not been accepted, so, reluctantly, district councils are having to engage with a more formal, legalistic approach, to be the voice of residents and businesses."
Under the deal, announced by levelling up secretary Michael Gove, Norfolk will receive £620m funding over the next 30 years, while powers will be transferred from Whitehall to a directly-elected leader of Norfolk County Council.
The council was offered the deal in December after months of negotiations with central government.
Tim Adams, leader of North Norfolk District Council, said: "We are not against devolution, but we want a package which is good for Norfolk.
"We do not like the way this is being railroaded through and it should be a matter for the full council, not just the county council's cabinet."
The Conservative group at County Hall met last Friday to talk about the matter, with some concerns expressed over the process.
And it is understood MPs met council leader Andrew Proctor later that day to quiz him about the approach being taken.
Mr Proctor said: "It is disappointing that after all the time that’s been spent discussing the merits of a county deal for Norfolk, four of my fellow council leaders are resorting to a legal challenge against a county deal that is set to bring significant powers and funding to Norfolk.
"I am clear the council has adopted a lawful and appropriate process to move towards its stated aims and makes a clear commitment to engagement and public consultation through that process.
"We have worked closely with the Department of Levelling Up, Housing and Communities on our approach to this deal and the steps we are taking.
"We will, therefore, proceed with the full council and cabinet meetings and I look forward to a full discussion of the proposed deal.
"I would encourage all councillors, whatever their local authority, to put the people first and look at the bigger picture.
"We simply cannot afford to throw away a £600m-plus deal to make decisions in Norfolk, for Norfolk."
If cabinet decides to proceed, a six-week public consultation would be launched on February 6.
If the deal is agreed, the first election for a directly-elected council leader would be in May 2024.
What does the deal mean?
The council says the deal would mean that, from 2024 onwards, County Hall could:
- Target funding and resources to Norfolk’s own priorities, with a new investment fund of £20m per year for 30 years;
- Unlock housing and employment sites with an initial injection of £12.9m and new powers to drive regeneration, housing and development priorities;
- Invest in skills, with devolution of the adult education budget;
- Invest in local transport planning and consolidate transport budgets to direct funding to local needs;
- Strengthen the local business voice through the future integration of New Anglia Local Enterprise Partnership;
- Enable the council's voice to be better heard by government.
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