Perth and Kinross councillors have unanimously rejected plans to cut their number.
The Local Government Boundary Commission for Scotland has proposed reducing councillor numbers in the area by one to 40 as part of an ongoing review.
All 32 councils in Scotland have taken part in a consultation period and almost half have been advised that they have too many members.
Perth and Kinross Council has since responded to the commission, stating that it intends to retain the “status quo”.
Council leader Ian Miller told his colleagues that there was “no basis” for a reduction.
He said: “I met with the commission, along with other group leaders, and they were able to explain the methods used in reaching their initial proposals.
“What became clear to me is that they have very limited scope to be flexible with their proposals, but they do have some.
“I want to ask them to take account of the growing population in our area of Scotland to retain the status quo on councillor numbers.
“I do think that this request has some chance of success. I also think that to ask for anything more would almost certainly fail, given the lack of flexibility available to the commission.”
He was backed by fellow councillors, who raised fears about increased workloads and the negative impact it could have on local representation.
Councillor Mac Roberts also questioned the point of losing a member at this stage.
“When we look at the projected population growth, we could be sitting here in five years’ time looking at reinstating a member, or even adding an extra one,” he added.
“I don’t see any point in going down the route of accepting the loss of one councillor and then having to go through the motions again.”
Councillor Peter Barrett urged his colleagues to take a more proactive approach to the proposals.
Although his plan to engage with MPs and MSPs was dismissed by members, he told The Courier he would still take the fight to them.
“We need to make a compelling case that rural deprivation in our community has been largely overlook by the approach the Boundary Commission has adopted and that rurality, sparseness of population, geography and sheer size of our authoritymust also be acknowledged by the commission,” he said.
“A fully all-party and cross-party approach would have been the strongest way forward.
“In the absence of a council decision to adopt that approach, I will be writing to all Perth and Kinross parliamentarians, seeking their support for retaining 41 councillors.”
While Perth and Kinross Council has made its stance clear to the commission, the proposals will now be opened to public consultation on May 29.
A final report will be submitted to Scottish ministers in May 2016, with a view to revised boundaries being in place for the scheduled local government elections the following year.