Liberal Democrat Group submission for proposed electoral divisions for

The Liberal Democrat group have engaged with Northamptonshire County Council’s boundary review process throughout the last 6 months. In some areas of the County it has been a constructive exercise, where some measure of agreement of proposed new boundaries has been achieved.

As a result the Liberal Democrat group are supportive of the County Council’s submission on Corby, which we feels correctly balances the statutory requirements of reducing electoral variance, respecting communities and natural barriers and ensuring effective and convenient local government.

Unfortunately it has not been able to reach agreement on or . The Liberal Democrat group views the submission put forwards by the County Council in these areas as flawed. In particular the proposals from the majority group on the Council for these two areas (which have not received support from the other parties) pay little attention to communities, natural boundaries and co- terminosity with District & Borough boundaries.

In respect of South Northamptonshire the placing of the village of Roade with is both illogical and unpopular locally. The communities are separate, without natural links, and we have outlined a proposed solution that ensures electoral variance is reduced and within range, and community ties and links are naturally reflected.

In respect of Northampton it is clear that the majority group have pushed through a submission that completely ignores several statutory criteria. There is an almost complete lack of co-terminosity with Borough wards, and natural boundaries and major trunk roads are repeatedly breached. The County Council submission quotes the Leader of Northampton Borough Council in their document supporting various divisions. The Leader of Northampton Borough Council is also the majority party Councillor who presented the proposals at the County Council’s workshop on Northampton.

The Liberal Democrat group are proposing a different solution, improving electoral equality, based on natural communities as identified in the Northampton Borough Council community mapping exercise carried out for their recent boundary review and accepted as an important building block by the Northamptonshire County Council workshop on Northampton, and respecting natural boundaries and key trunk roads. We believe the divisions we outline are the best fit for all the statutory criteria that are set out in the relevant legislation. South Northamptonshire

The NCC submission has one major weakness in that it places the village of Roade in the same Division as Towcester, the second largest town in the District. The two communities have little in common with no direct social or transport links. Roade relates to other settlements adjoining the A508 trunk road such as Ashton and Hartwell. It has its own secondary school, Elizabeth Woodville, which is linked to the campus in Deanshanger and the community naturally looks towards Northampton or Stony Stratford rather than Towcester.

Towcester naturally relates to the villages of Greens Norton and Paulerspury as they share Towcester’s secondary school, church benefice and both villages use Towcester as their main shopping, leisure and cultural resource.

Where communities must be joined together to achieve electoral balance, we believe that it is far better to join communities that share transport and social links than placing completely disparate communities with no links together.

Key to Liberal Democrat group proposal for new County Council electoral divisions in South Northants

Where possible, existing borough or district wards (and/or parishes or polling districts) have been used as building blocks for new divisions. The Local Government Boundary Commission for (LGBCE) has instructed the Council that the new divisions must meet their requirements for electoral equality, although a tolerance of 10% either way can be taken into account. The target numbers for optimum electoral equality are:

2011 2017 10% below average (minimum electors per division) 8,239 8,689 Average (optimum electors per division) 9,154 9,654 10% above average (maximum electors per division) 10,069 10,619

The tables below set out the proposals for each new division. The colour used in the ‘total’ box indicates whether the proposal meet the LGBCE requirements for electoral equality (green) or not (red).

Division Name: Hackleton Colour used on map:

Polling Description/District Ward Electorate Electorate district 2011 2017 BM Cogenhoe - Cogenhoe Ward 1168 1188 BN Cogenhoe - Whiston Ward 43 51 BE Castle Ashby 91 92 AU Brafield On The Green 562 567 CA Denton 627 635 GY Grange Park 3058 3496 CX Hackleton – Hackleton 973 1006 CY Hackleton – Piddington 656 686 DD Hartwell 1527 1677 DQ Little Houghton 332 339 EV Quinton 167 169 GO Yardley Hastings 622 639 Total 9826 10545

No change to NCC proposal

Division Name: Deanshanger & Roade Colour used on map:

Polling Description/District Ward Electorate Electorate district 2011 2017 AF Ashton 311 344 BR Cosgrove 432 475 BZ Deanshanger 2963 3152 CS Grafton Regis 91 92 EN Old Stratford 1561 1661 ET Potterspury 1201 1378 EZ Roade 1866 2077 GH Wicken 261 275 GN Yardley Gobion 1082 1097 Total 9768 10551

The proposal combines settlements linked by the main A508 trunk road which forms a natural communication link. The main communities of Roade and Deanshanger have strong links evidenced by the single secondary school that serves the two villages on two campuses, one located in each village.

Division Name: Brackley Colour used on map:

Polling Description/District Ward Electorate Electorate district 2011 2017 GQ Brackley East 3332 3399 GR Brackley West 3348 3415 GX Brackley South 3339 3399 Total 10019 10213

No change to NCC proposal

Division Name: Middleton Cheney Colour used on map:

Polling Description/District Ward Electorate Electorate district 2011 2017 AH Aynho 552 563 BG Chacombe 536 545 BW Croughton 573 610 CJ Evenley 497 503 CM Farthinghoe – Farthinghoe 307 312 CN Farthinghoe – Steane 48 48 CT Greatworth – Greatworth 594 605 CU Greatworth – Halse 94 100 DK Hinton in the Hedges 144 145 DT Kings Sutton 1693 1815 EB Marston St Lawrence 166 169 ED Middleton Cheney 2889 2965 EJ Newbottle 385 388 GS Overthorpe 144 145 FP Thenford 76 77 FR Thorpe Mandeville 152 153 FN Sulgrave 308 313 FX Warkworth 30 30 Total 9188 9486

No change to NCC proposal

Division Name: Silverstone Colour used on map:

Polling Description/District Ward Electorat Electorate district e 2011 2017 AA Abthorpe 257 261 AB Adstone 81 84 AG Aston Le Walls 258 264 AN Blakesley 414 429 AP Boddington - Lower Ward 213 215 AQ Boddington – Upper Ward 391 395 AT Braddon 131 132 BJ Chipping Warden & Edgcote 479 487 BP Cold Higham 235 237 CL Eydon 366 373 DG Helmdon 717 744 DW Litchborough 261 267 DZ Maidford 149 156 EF Moreton Pinkney 300 325 EQ Patishall 1216 1261 FE Silverstone 1725 1953 FF Slapton 76 80 FO Syresham 664 687 EW Radstone 38 40 FW Wappenham 226 235 GD Weston & Weedon 292 298 GF Whitfield 177 180 GG Whittlebury 496 500 GK Woodend 157 160 BX Culworth 384 393 Total 9703 10156

The proposal retains the district boundary that places Patishall with the settlements of Litchborough and Maidford. Greens Norton is a major settlement that naturally looks towards Towcester with children feeding into Towcester’s secondary school and it has, therefore, been removed from this Division and placed in the Towcester division. Whittlebury has strong links to Silverstone as both surround the major landmark of Silverstone Race Circuit.

Division Name: Colour used on map:

Polling Description/District Ward Electorate Electorate district 2011 2017 AO 1527 1617 BB Bugbrooke 2192 2290 BT Courteenhall 80 81 CR Gayton 463 473 DC Harpole 1288 1305 DU Kislingbury 961 1072 DH Nether Heyford 1259 1328 EE 622 635 FA 396 400 FS Tiffield 284 287 DJ Upper Heyford 65 66 Total 9137 9554

As described above, Patishall is repositioned to the Bugbroke division. Tiffield is included as it has links to Gayton and to balance electoral numbers.

Division Name: Towcester Colour used on map:

Polling Description/District Ward Electorate Electorate district 2011 2017 CF Easton Neston 50 54 CV Greens Norton 1267 1390 ER Paulerspury 828 850 FC Shutlanger 227 231 FK Stoke Bruerne 350 353 FTB Towcester - Brook 4540 4700 FTM Towcester - Mill 2718 2862 AL Alderton 107 108 Total 10087 10548

Towcester is the major settlement that serves surrounding communities. Greens Norton and Paulerspury naturally look towards Towcester with both primary schools feeding into the town’s secondary school. Greens Norton is further linked to Towcester through the Tove Benefice that covers both churches. Alderton is included to balance electoral numbers

Northampton

The Liberal Democrat Group’s submission for Northampton is based on the following criteria:

1) Less than 10% electoral variance in 2011 and 2017, moving towards reduced variance in 2017, as required by the boundary commission.

2) The recognition of strongly identified communities.

3) The importance of links between communities, and facilities that communities share.

4) The importance of natural boundaries that divide communities.

5) The achievement of co-terminosity with NBC wards

We have sought to balance these criteria and build divisions that are within the electoral variance, but reflect communities, respect natural barriers and achieve co- terminosity as much as is possible. We believe the following submission is a much more coherent plan for new County Divisions in Northampton.

Variance

Improved electoral variance is at the centre of this submission. We understand the importance of ensuring that electors’ votes are of a similar value. By 2017 all 17 proposed divisions, bar one, are within the +/- 10% variance.

The one division () that is slightly under in 2017 is marked by clear boundaries. We have, however, put forwards an option for the Boundary Commission to consider should they feel that the variance is more important than the breaching of a key boundary.

In regard to 2011 figures, the crucial element is that the electoral variance improves at the next election. Three of these (Abington, Castle, Nene Valley) are divisions where there is little growth in the County Council’s figures. The populations remain broadly numerically static, and as such are highly likely to be within range at the 2013 election due to the natural growth throughout the County. By 2017 all are within the accepted range. In regard to the Nene Valley division a knock-on effect of changing the East Hunsbury division is that it is also brought into variance on the 2011 figures. There remains the community boundary issue however.

The final division that is under in 2011 is the Old & St Crispins Division. There is a large amount of development already going ahead in this area and we are confident that this division will be brought into range rapidly as housing is built and occupied.

Communities & natural boundaries

The Northamptonshire County Council boundary review follows the ward boundary review for Northampton Borough Council completed in 2011. That boundary review resulted in a cross party consensus in the Borough Council’s submission, that was largely accepted by the boundary commission as their draft for consultation. It followed a lengthy community mapping exercise in which councillors of all parties engaged. That work has not been repeated by the County Council, and it was agreed that such recent work should be a good starting point for proposals for County Council divisions at the workshop held by NCC for the Northampton area.

Sadly the community maps appear to have been ignored in the official NCC submission. For example the proposals for Delapre cross the into Cliftonville, breaching a clear natural barrier and joining communities with no links. Similarly the NCC proposal for a “” division spans across the Duston Mill resevoir and the Storton’s Pits nature reserve to join Duston and Briar Hill despite the lack of transport links between these two disparate communities.

The Liberal Democrat proposals use the community mapping exercise to achieve divisions which respect community links, boundaries and natural barriers. This submission names those identified communities and the barriers that divide them. Where possible we have solved problems created in the Borough Council’s review, such as the splitting of the defined community of Blackthorn.

Our proposals therefore seek to group communities together where they share something in common, such as the shared use of shops and community facilities, and have good transport links, and create divisions around natural geographical features such as rivers, or major roads. We believe that this is a stronger method of building new divisions than simple geographic blobs on a map. In particular we identify the following key boundaries:

 A508 from Junction 15 on the M1

 Harborough Road (A508 North)

 Harlestone Road

 Lings Way

 Mereway

 Weedon Road

Road

 Brampton Valley

 River Nene Whilst it is not always possible to maintain every boundary or community due to the need for electoral variance to be reduced, we have, where possible ensured that boundaries and communities are respected.

Co-terminosity

The issue of co-terminosity has been completely ignored in the County Council’s submission. This is especially unfortunate as “effective and convenient local Government” is a statutory criteria. Further to this the Borough wards are based on the community mapping exercise carried out. An example of this is the proposed “ South” division in NCC’s proposal which contains parts of 6 NBC wards, completely unnecessarily.

We have maintained 18 Borough wards in their entirety (represented by 21 NBC Cllrs), and the other 15 that have been split in order to achieve variance have only been split once.

Key to Liberal Democrat group proposal for new County Council electoral divisions in Northampton

Where possible, existing borough or district wards (and/or parishes or polling districts) have been used as building blocks for new divisions. The Local Government Boundary Commission for England (LGBCE) has instructed the Council that the new divisions must meet their requirements for electoral equality, although a tolerance of 10% either way can be taken into account. The target numbers for optimum electoral equality are:

2011 2017 10% below average (minimum electors per division) 8,239 8,689 Average (optimum electors per division) 9,154 9,654 10% above average (maximum electors per division) 10,069 10,619

The tables below set out the proposals for each new division. The colour used in the ‘total’ box indicates whether the proposal meet the LGBCE requirements for electoral equality (green) or not (red).

Division Name: Kingsthorpe West Colour used on map:

Polling Description/District Ward Electorate Electorate district 2011 2017 NSPA Spring Park 2007 2030 NSPB Spring Park 1791 1811 NSMA Semilong 367 374 NSMB Semilong 395 401 NTRB Trinity 1561 1593 NKTA Kingsthorpe 1617 1635 NKTB Kingsthorpe 2041 2063 Total 9779 9907

The western half of Kingsthorpe includes the communities of Kingsthorpe Village, Spring Park, Brampton Park, Kingsthorpe Hollow and Queens Park.

These communities all view themselves as part of Kingsthorpe (a large suburb identified by the boundaries of Brampton Valley, , Kingsthorpe Golf Course and Kingsthorpe Hollow, and surrounding the old village of Kingsthorpe).

They share the community facilities of Kingsthorpe shopping centre but are separated from the western half of Kingsthorpe by the main arterial road of Harborough Rd. Brampton Park and Spring Park share use of the Pastures community centre. Kingsthorpe Village, Kingsthorpe Hollow and Queens Park share use of Thornton Park..

The Harborough Rd and Kingsthorpe Grove provide a strong boundary to the east and Brampton valley and the railway provide a strong boundary to the west. There is good coterminosity with the NBC wards as the division includes the entirety of Kingsthorpe and Spring Park Borough wards, as well as with the existing Kingsthorpe County division.

Division Name: Kingsthorpe East Colour used on map:

Polling Description/District Ward Electorate Electorate district 2011 2017 NSDA St Davids 921 934 NSDB St Davids 875 885 NSDC St Davids 1617 1633 NOLA Obelisk 2240 2307 NSUA Sunnyside 1465 1490 NSUB Sunnyside 575 591 NSUC Sunnyside 910 927 NSUD Sunnyside 292 303 Total 8895 9070

Comprises of the communities of St. Davids, Bective, Sunnyside and Obelisk.

These communities all view themselves as part of Kingsthorpe (a large suburb identified by the boundaries of Brampton valley, Bradlaugh Fields, Kingsthorpe Golf Course and Kingsthorpe Hollow and surrounding the old village of Kingsthorpe). They share the community facilities of Kingsthorpe shopping centre but are separated by the main arterial road of Harborough Rd. They are linked to each other by Boughton Green Rd and Eastern Avenue. There are common issues of social housing in St. Davids and Sunnyside and shared use of Kingsthorpe Community College, All Saints, Sunnyside, Kingsthorpe Grove and Green Oaks primary schools. Kingsthorpe Grove also encompasses the children’s centre. There is good coterminosity with NBC wards as the proposed division includes the entirety of Sunnyside and St. Davids, as well as the residential part of Obelisk.

Option 2: If the Boundary Commission were to view that it was better in relation to communities for the University to be part of a Kingsthorpe division we would suggest that this would be the correct division. Those effects from the university on residential areas are felt most keenly in Obelisk and Sunnyside, and there is some student housing in St Davids. This would achieve complete co-terminosity with the 3 NBC wards in the division. However, if this approach were adopted the variance would be slightly over the 10% in 2011 as the respective electorate numbers for a Kingsthorpe East division including the University would be 10150 in 2011 and 10381 in 2017.

Division Name: Parklands Colour used on map:

Polling Description/District Ward Electorate Electorate district 2011 2017 NBVA Boothville 993 1069 NBVB Boothville 1197 1270 NOLB Obelisk 1255 1311 NEFA Eastfield 1031 1041 NEFB Eastfield 1497 1512 NPLA Parklands 1038 1052 NPLB Parklands 1184 1198 NPLC Parklands 1057 1068 NPLD Parklands 437 441 Total 9689 9962

Comprises of the communities of Spinney Hill, Parklands, Moulton Leys, the University and Eastfield.

These Communities are linked by the Kettering Rd and Broadmead Avenue/Grange Rd. Built around the NBC ward of Parklands, retained in its entirety. Moulton Leys is looks naturally to Parklands and the top of the Kettering Rd creates a barrier between Moulton Leys and the rest of Boothville ward. The distributor roads of Grange Road and Broadmead avenue link directly into Parklands, with Eastfield Park separating these parts of Eastfield from Lakeview, which looks more towards to Boothville.

The University, with a largely transient population of students who mostly change every year has no natural affinity with other communities. There are clear boundaries of the highly congested roundabout to the east, the borough boundary to the north and Bradlaugh Fields to the west.

Option 2: If the Boundary Commission were to view that it was better in relation to communities for the University to be part of a Kingsthorpe division the University would be removed from this division. However, if this approach were adopted the variance would be slightly under the 10% in 2017 as the respective electorate numbers for a Parklands division without the University would be 8434 in 2011 and 8651 in 2017.

Division Name: Headlands Colour used on map:

Polling Description/District Ward Electorate Electorate district 2011 2017 NHDA Headlands 1881 1901 NHDB Headlands 1804 1824 NBVC Boothville 1203 1275 NEFC Eastfield 1047 1057 NWTA Westone 844 852 NWTB Westone 1683 1700 NWTC Westone 818 826 Total 9280 9435

Comprises of the communities of Boothville, Lakeview, The Arbours, Westone and Headlands.

These small but distinct communities are joined together by the arterial road of Booth Lane. Lakeview and Boothville share Boothville community centre and Booth Lane Lower school (actually in Lakeview). Westone and Headlands share Westone community centre and Headlands primary school. There are the clear natural boundaries of Lumbertubs way to the east, Wellingborough Rd and to the south and Eastfield Park to the west. Good co-terminosity as it includes all of the NBC wards of Headlands and Westone.

Division Name: Kingsley Colour used on map:

Polling Description/District Ward Electorate Electorate district 2011 2017 NPHA Phippsville 1133 1146 NPHB Phippsville 673 681 NPHC Phippsville 920 931 NPHD Phippsville 520 525 NTRA Trinity 1725 1757 NKGA Kingsley 847 860 NKGB Kingsley 1151 1167 NKGC Kingsley 2052 2078 NKGD Kingsley 0 0 Total 9021 9145

Comprises of the communities of Kingsley, Poets corner, Links View, Phippsville and Trinity.

These communities share community facilities (shops, churches etc.) on Kingsley Park Terrace. They have a shared interest in the Racecourse, one of Northampton’s premier parks and the largest open air sports facility in the town. There are clear natural boundaries of Bradlaugh Fields to the north, Kingsthorpe Golf Course and Barrack Rd to the west, and the Racecourse to the south. This proposal produces good coterminosity with the NBC wards of Phippsville and Kingsley retained.

Division Name: Thorplands Colour used on map:

Polling Description/District Ward Electorate Electorate district 2011 2017 NTVA Talavera 2015 2035 NTVB Talavera 2025 2045 NTVC Talavera 777 785 NTVD Talavera 894 903 NBRA Brookside 1270 1288 NBRB Brookside 1758 1779 NBRC Lingswood Park from Brookside 185 185 Total 8924 9020

Comprises of the communities of Thorplands, Lumbertubs, Lings, Southfields, Goldings and Lingswood Park

This is an area with a high proportion of social housing built by the former development corporation between the 1960’s and ‘80’s. There are good links between communities via arterial roads (Billing Brook Way, Talavera way, Lings Way) and shared community facilities at shopping centre. There are very clear boundaries of Lumbertubs way to the west, Wellingborough Rd to the south and the borough boundary to the north. This proposal produces the best possible coterminosity with the NBC wards of Talavera and Brookside, whilst solving the splitting of the indentified community of Blackthorn between 3 NBC wards.

Division Name: Great Billing & Rectory Farm Colour used on map:

Polling Description/District Ward Electorate Electorate district 2011 2017 SRFA Rectory Farm 1284 1299 SRFB Rectory Farm 854 864 SRFC Rectory Farm 1034 1044 NRFD Rectory Farm 561 568 NTVE Talavera 1691 1708 STVF Talavera 310 313 Blackthorn part of Brookside (-185 from NBRC Lingswood Park in Thorplands) 532 542 SBLB Billing 1160 1177 SBLC Billing 1041 1146 SBLA Billing 1590 1812 Total 10057 10473

Comprises of the communities of Great Billing, Ecton Brook, Rectory Farm and Blackthorn.

There are clear natural boundaries of the borough boundary to the east and Lings Wood to the north west. The proposal brings together the Blackthorn community, and area of predominantly modern social housing with a clearly identified centre. This community is currently badly split between 3 Borough Council wards.

Division Name: Weston Colour used on map:

Polling Description/District Ward Electorate Electorate district 2011 2017 SRVA Riverside 1129 1140 SBLD Billing 1021 1036 SBLE Billing 1517 1535 SRVB Riverside 2345 2368 SPKA Park 1641 1666 SPKB Park 1277 1295 SPKC Park 728 740 Total 9658 9780

Comprises of the villages of Weston Favell and Little Billing plus the communities of Abington Vale and Standens Barn.

There are strong natural boundaries of the River Nene and Billing Rd East to the south, Wellingborough Rd to the North and Abington Park to the west. These communities share Abington Vale Lower School and community facilities in Weston Favell. Both Park and Riverside NBC wards are retained in their entirety.

Division Name: Abington Colour used on map:

Polling Description/District Ward Electorate Electorate district 2011 2017 SRMD Rushmills 659 666 SCTE Castle 1254 1311 SCTG Castle 1184 1236 NABA Abington 2227 2261 NABB Abington 1676 1701 NABC Abington 1263 1282 NABD Abington 859 874 NABF Abington 222 231 SABE Abington 774 788 Total 10118 10350

Comprises of the communities of Abington, Bouverie and Cliftonville.

Abington is a densely populated area of predominantly Victorian terraced housing linked by the Wellingborough and Billing roads to Bouverie Estate and Cliftonville. Communities share shops and leisure facilities on the Wellingborough and Kettering Roads. There is good coterminosity with existing Abington NBC division with the addition of the distinct communities of Cliftonville and Exeter Place. The densely packed nature of the area means that significant development and population increase is highly unlikely and therefore the electoral variance will be improved by the time of next election.

Division Name: Nene Valley Colour used on map:

Polling Description/District Ward Electorate Electorate district 2011 2017 SNRMA Rushmills 523 528 SRMB Rushmills 1307 1322 SRMC Rushmills 901 910 SNRME Rushmills 0 7 SNNVA Nene Valley 0 0 SNNVB Nene Valley 1645 1661 SNNVC Nene Valley 1677 1694 SNNVD Nene Valley 1158 1170 SNNVE Nene Valley 1272 1318 SNNVF Nene Valley 1620 1636 Total 10103 10246

Comprises of the parishes of Wootton, and Great Houghton.

There are natural boundaries of A508 Rd to the south west, the A45 to the west, Billing Rd East to the north. Includes nearly all of Nene valley NBC ward plus most of Rushmills NBC ward. There is limited population growth forecast and therefore electoral variance will be improved by the next election.

Option 2: If the Boundary Commission wished to ensure maximum electoral variance we would suggest that the only place where the A508 could reasonably be crossed is at Wooldale Rd, where there is a road and pavements across. By taking Walkers Way and the surrounding closes of Villagers Close, Farmers Close, Brookend, Stradlers Close and Cowbeck Close (407 electors currently from SNNVF polling district), into East Hunsbury both Nene Valley and East Hunsbury would be within range. However this means breaching the boundary provided by the A508.

Division Name: East Hunsbury Colour used on map:

Polling Description/District Ward Electorate Electorate district 2011 2017 SNNVG Nene Valley 511 516 SNEHA East Hunsbury 404 408 SNEHB East Hunsbury 1349 1362 SNEHC East Hunsbury 2161 2183 SNEHD East Hunsbury 645 651 SNEHE East Hunsbury 816 824 SNEHF East Hunsbury 1788 1806 SNEHG East Hunsbury 832 840 Total 8506 8590

Comprises of the communities of East Hunsbury and .

The division includes the whole of Collingtree parish. There is the strong natural boundary of Mereway in the north, A508 London Rd in the east and Towcester Rd in the west. This division has strong coterminosity with East Hunsbury NBC ward and Collingtree parish. The strong community identity and clear boundaries mean that electoral variance is slightly lower than the 10% required in 2017.

Option 2: If the Boundary Commission wished to ensure maximum electoral variance we would suggest that the only place where the A508 could reasonably be crossed is at Wooldale Rd, where there is a road and pavements across. By taking Walkers Way and the surrounding closes of Villagers Close, Farmers Close, Brookend, Stradlers Close and Cowbeck Close (407 electors from SNNVF polling district), into East Hunsbury both Nene Valley and East Hunsbury would be within range. However this means breaching the clear boundary provided by the A508.

Division Name: Delapre Colour used on map:

Polling Description/District Ward Electorate Electorate district 2011 2017 Delapre & Briar Hill SDBB (minus Floribunda Drive & Piccadilly) 1012 1034 SDBC Delapre & Briar Hill 1102 1121 SDBD Delapre & Briar Hill 810 1250 SDBE Delapre & Briar Hill 1636 1661 SDBF Delapre & Briar Hill 1277 1296 SDBG Delapre & Briar Hill 1198 1215 SDBH Delapre & Briar Hill 1208 1225 Total 8243 8802

Comprises of the communities of Delapre and plus Briar Hill 1.

The residents of Far Cotton, Delapre and Briar Hill 1 have family, community, employment, and historic links going back over many hundreds of years. Many people in Briar Hill moved there from Far Cotton when the development was constructed in the 1970’s.

Most roads and footpath from these communities follow naturally down hill to the communities heart, its main open public space, Far Cotton Rec, which fronts the Towcester Road. The local community centre is situated here, “The Rec Centre”, and Far Cotton library is located in the same building along with the local chemist and a local NHS health suite. There is a multi use games area here, along with football and cricket pitches.

The communities share schools (Briar Hill Primary, Delapre Primary, Queen Eleanor Primary, Abbeyfields Primary, Abbeyfields Upper School and Gloucester Ave Nursery School. The Community has two Post Offices one at Gloucester Avenue within a parade of shops, chemist, supermarket, hairdressers take a way food outlet, and a Doctors surgery. The other Post office, Delapre is on the Towcester Road opposite the Co-op supermarket..There are a number of cafes, restaurants, take a ways, wine shops and supermarkets along St Leonards Road shopping parade, as well as accountants, dentists, newsagents and hairdressers.

The Division has clear natural boundaries of the river Nene in the north, A45 in the east, with the large green space of Delapre Park and the river valley east of Ransome Rd means that there is no crossing point to the valley between London Rd and the interchange of the A45. This is the best possible coterminosity with NBC boundaries while achieving electoral balance.

Division Name: West Hunsbury & Upton Colour used on map:

Polling Description/District Ward Electorate Electorate district 2011 2017 SNWHA West Hunsbury 1572 1588 SNWHB West Hunsbury 477 482 SNWHC West Hunsbury 1494 1509 SDBA Delapre & Briar Hill 1604 1628 SNUPA Upton 653 728 SNUPB Upton 625 698 SNUPC Upton 815 924 SNUPD Upton 636 898 Delapre & Briar Hill SDBB (Floribunda Drive & Piccadilly) 383 383 Total 8259 8838

Comprises of the communities of Upton, West Hunsbury, Banbury Lane, Camp Hill and Briar Hill 2.

Briar Hill 2 was built later than Briar Hill 1 in the 1980s and was inhabited mainly by residents originally from London. There are links to West Hunsbury, in particular shared use of park, church and shops.

West Hunsbury as a community is distinct from East Hunsbury. Unlike East Hunsbury, it is not part of Wootton parish. There are clear natural boundaries of the Old Towcester Rd in the east, which the bus services use as a dividing line and do not cross between East and West Hunsbury, and the borough boundary in the south.

Division Name: New Duston Colour used on map:

Polling Description/District Ward Electorate Electorate district 2011 2017 SNDE New Duston 2141 2196 SNDG New Duston 0 0 SNDA New Duston 1177 1189 SNDB New Duston 941 950 SNDD New Duston 1286 1299 SNDC New Duston 1424 1470 SNDF New Duston 855 864 SODA Old Duston 1396 1442 Total 9220 9410

Comprises of the community of New Duston comprising the existing NBC ward of New Duston plus SODA polling distict.

Natural boundary of Harlestone Rd to the east and the borough boundary to the north. This achieves good coterminosity with the NBC ward.

Division Name: Old Duston & St Crispins Colour used on map:

Polling Description/District Ward Electorate Electorate district 2011 2017 SNUPE Upton 1225 2832 SODB Old Duston 1501 1548 SODC Old Duston 1709 2276 SODD Old Duston 1516 1551 SSJA St James (minus Scottish Streets (644) ) 1692 1734 Total 7643 9941

Comprises of the village of Old Duston plus Timken estate, Bants Lane area and the new development at St Crispins.

The proposal includes the St Crispins area, where the bulk of the new development is taking place. This is covered by the polling district SNUPE (from Upton NBC ward) and has better road links with Duston than with Upton and shares community facilities and shops in Duston village. There is a clear natural boundary of the river Nene to the south. The development is well under way and as a result electoral variance will almost certainly be achieved very quickly.

Division Name: Spencer Colour used on map:

Polling Description/District Ward Electorate Electorate district 2011 2017 SSPA Spencer 1650 1670 SSPB Spencer 1030 1044 SSPC Spencer 890 899 SSPD Spencer 283 286 SKHA Kings Heath 564 571 SKHB Kings Heath 0 0 SKHC Kings Heath 1418 1434 SKHD Kings Heath 1330 1345 SSJB St James 1351 1399 SSJA St James (Scottish Streets) 644 644 Total 9160 9292

Comprises of the communities of Spencer, Kings Heath, Rye Hill and St. James.

Spencer and King Heath now form two NBC divisions but have for many years been combined as both an NCC division and an NBC ward. There are shared facilities in St James district centre (shops and library). The “Scottish Streets” have previously been part of Spencer division and are a natural addition to the division in order to achieve electoral balance and respect the Weedon Rd as a barrier.

The natural boundaries of the Brampton valley and railway to the east (crossed by only 2 roads) and Harlestone Rd to the west define the area. The Weedon Rd at the South provides a strong barrier. There is good coterminosity with Spencer and Kings Heath NBC wards.

Division Name: Castle Colour used on map:

Polling Description/District Ward Electorate Electorate district 2011 2017 SSMC Semilong 1401 1448 SSMD Semilong 1566 1615 SCTA Castle 1729 1811 SCTB Castle 1695 1753 SCTC Castle 377 426 SCTD Castle 1641 1704 SCTF Castle 710 757 SCTH Castle 1001 1046 Total 10120 10560

Comprises of the communities of the Mounts, Spring Boroughs, Semilong and the town centre.

This division if focussed on the town centre and shares the issues of high density inner urban communities. There are the clear boundaries of the River Nene to the south, Brampton valley and the railway to the west and the Racecourse to the north. The densely packed nature of the town centre area means that significant development and population increase above that forecast by NCC is highly unlikely and therefore the electoral variance will be improved by the time of the next election.