Alternative Proposals for the Future Boundaries of Bletchley
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The Review Officer (Milton Keynes) Layden House 76-86 Turnmill Street London EC1M 5LG 12 October 2012. Sent by e mail to [email protected] Dear Sir/Madam, Alternative proposals for the future Boundaries of Bletchley. We write to you as chair and vice chair of We st Bletchley parish council. We are writing in a personal capacity as the parish council was not able to discuss the boundaries. We are concerned that the proposals agreed by Milton Keynes Council will undermine the long term viability and cohesion of the Bletchley area and the two parish councils that serve the area. We note that Bletchley & F enny Town Council has taken a v iew that it wants to see its boundaries respected in any war ding proposal. We share that view and believe that both Bletchley parish council areas should be retained with no par ish wards divided off. We are aware that what the B&F town council seek cannot be secured within paris h boundaries. Both its objective and our approach can be secured within the two parish boundaries. Aims We would like to see ward boundaries that: . Respect the existing collective boundaries of the two parish councils . Keep communities together whilst achieving electoral parity. Retain long standing community relationships . Address the linking of areas that are a long way apart. 1 Our objections to the Council proposals. Milton Key nes Counc il agreed it s submission on the 9 October. Their pro posals from Milton Keynes Council remove a ke y area within West Bletchley, the Scot s estate. This area, polling dist rict EA is an integral part of West Bletchley. Its schools draw from children across our community and a ll feed int o the local secondary school Lord Grey. Its residents attend the Catholic and other local churches. The local shops and medical pr actices serve this estate along with the rest of West Bletchley. There is strong com munity co hesion with residents attending the loc al clubs; the Denbigh club, Brit ish Legion and the local nurse ries and Pre Sc hool at Coldharbour and Frank Moran centre. Y oung parents also use the Sure Start Centre at Abbeys school. By removing this area of 1985 voters the opportunity to establish three balance d wards within the collective boundaries of both Bletchley parish councils is lost. We are aware that Mil ton Keynes Council argues that some voters need to transfer to the wards on the w est of the city. The C ouncil says that the number of voters in the west, is 47,699. I f the Scots stays within the Wes t Bletchley parish boundar y and is not transferred to the west then the number remaining on the west flank area would be 45,714. This equals fiv e wards of 9143. (All within the 10% target set by the LGBC.) . We would suggest that if voters have to be moved over to the east, two polling districts in the north, which are alr eady proposed for moving under the Council proposals, could be transferred to the west. These are Stacey Bushes, (821 voters) and Hodge Lea (808 voters). This woul d reduce Stantonbury from 10,988 down to 9359, well within the target set. These polling districts could be included in the Stony Stratford seat. That seat would then have 9334+ 821 + 808 voters. A total of 10,963 voters. We are also concerned t hat the Counc il proposals conti nue to link Ashlands and Simpson Village to West Bletchley. The old Bletchley and Fenny seat was a bizarre seat. We believe the largest in terms of length of any urban seat in the country. Whilst the MKC proposals sh orten the distance from one end to the other of the seat (Simpson village) to the other Poets estate (Selbourne Avenue). It is still 3 to 4 miles across. It cuts across three parish councils. We would suggest that link ing the ex isting Denbigh ward to parts of the geographically large old Blet chley and Fenny seat creat es a more integ rated, compact and cohesive seat especially if Simpson parish is moved. 2 . Once the West Bletchley seat is realigned it becomes w holly contained within West Bletchley parish council. It is a tight compact ward with common schools, shops, facilities, shared open space . We further consider that there is a st rong case for Manor North to be linked to Fenny Stratford. (Bletchley East) It is the natural connection in community and transport terms. There is strong cohesion ar ound the Catholic Church. It is the current position. Alternative 1 : The Whole parish. We would suggest a unified Bletchley could look like the following: PC SEAT 1 BLETCHLEY SOUTH FA Eaton N 1483 BF FB Eaton S 1513 BF FC Manor S 2061 BF FD Eaton N 489 BF FE Newton Leys 1089 BF Central Bletchley 2367 BF AC Poets 1338 WB 10,340 SEAT 2 BLETCHLEY EAST EA Scots 1985 WB EC Abbeys 2165 WB AF Fenny Stratford 2181 BF AA Church Green 2032 WB AG Granby 207 BF AI Ashland 626 SIM AE Simpson Village 479 SIM AH Manor North 828 BF 10,503 SEAT 3 WEST BLETCHLEY UA Castles 1428 WB UB Fairways 1675 WB UC Rivers 1971 WB UD Racecourses 1414 WB AB Saints 1297 WB EC Counties 1618 WB 9403 3 Alternative 2 (With removal of Ashlands and Simpson Village) The second alternative without the Simpson parish area would look like: SEAT 1 BLETCHLEY SOUTH FA Eaton N 1483 BF FB Eaton S 1513 BF FC Manor S 2061 BF FD Eaton N 489 BF FE Newton Leys 1089 BF AA Central Bletchley 2367 BF AC Poets 1338 BF 10,340 SEAT 2 BLETCHLEY EAST EA Scots 1985 WB EC Abbeys 2165 WB AF Fenny Stratford 2181 BF AA Church Green 2032 WB AG Granby 207 BF AH Manor North 828 BF 9398 SEAT 3 WEST BLETCHLEY UA Castles 1428 WB UB Fairways 1675 WB UC Rivers 1971 WB UD Racecourses 1414 WB AB Saints 1297 WB EB Counties 1618 WB 9403 Key PC Parish or Town Council BF Bletchley & Fenny Town Council WB West Bletchley parish council. 4 Conclusions. We are concerned that the proposals from MKC separate a key polling district o r community out of West Bletchle y. They fail to create cohesive wards within the collectiv e two parish council areas. We also c onsider that an urban ward that runs for around 3 to 4 miles cannot have cohesion and suggest that the Simpson par ish council area should be removed and the three Bletchley wards should be re-aligned wholly within the parish council boundaries. We lastly c onsider that Manor North would sit better with Fenny Stratford in a Bletchley East ward that no longer had the Simpson pa rish area distorting the boundar y by creating that 3 to 4 mile long ward. Yours sincerely, Cllr Veronica Belcher. Cllr Ernie Thomas. Chair West Bletchley West Bletchley Parish Council. Parish Council. 5.