Local Government Boundary Commission For Report No.365 LOCAL COVERKMiSIJT SOUND/iKY COMMISGIOn FOk EXJLAilD

CHAIRMAN Sir Nicholas Morrison KCB

DEPUTY CHAIRMAN

Mr J M Rankin QC

MEMBERS

Lady Bowden

Mr J T Brockbank

Mr R R Thornton CB DL

Mr D P Harrison Professor G E Cherry To the Rt Hon William .Whitela^ CH, MC, HP, Secretary of State for the Home Department

PROPOSALS FOR FUTURE ELECTORAL ARRANGEMENTS FOR THE COASTAL DISTRICT OF SUFFOLK

1. We, the Local Government Boundary Commission for England, having carried out our initial review of the electoral arrangements for the district of

Suffolk Coastal, in accordance with the requirements of section 63 of, and

Schedule 9 to, the Local Government Act 1972, present our proposals for the future electoral arrangements for .that district.

2. In accordance with the procedure laid down in Section 60(1) and (2) of the 1972 Act, notice was given on 31 December 197^ that we were to undertake this review. This was incorporated in a consultation letter addressed to

Suffolk Coastal District Council, copies of which were circulated to Suffolk

County Council, parish councils and parish meetings in the district, the

Members of Parliament for the constituencies concerned and the headquarters of the main political parties. Copies were also sent to the editors of the local newspapers circulating in the area and of the local government press. Notices inserted in the local press announced the start of the review and invited comments from members of the public and from interested bodies.

3- The Suffolk Coastal District Council were invited to prepare a draft scheme of representation for our consideration. When doing so, they were asked to observe the rules laid down in Schedule 11 to the Local Government Act 1972, and the guidelines set out in our Report No 6 about the proposed size of the

Council and the proposed number of councillors for each ward. They were also asked to take into account any views expressed to them following their consultation with local interests. We therefore asked that they should publish details of their provisional proposals about a month before they submitted their draft scheme to us, thus allowing an opportunity for local comment. 4. The District Council have not passed a resolution under Section ?(**•) of the Local Government Act 1972, The provisions of Section 7(6) will therefore apply and the election of all district councillors will be held simultaneously.

5. On 29 May 1975, Suffolk Coastal District Council presented their draft scheme of representation. They proposed to divide the area of the district into ^0 wards each returning 1, 2 or 3 members to form a council of 55»

6. We considered the draft scheme submitted by the District Council, the comments which had been made on it and the alternative proposals which had been submitted for the Parish of by Felixstowe Town Council. We noted that a number of the proposed wards in the District Council's draft scheme failed to comply with the rules set out in Schedule 11 to the Local Government Act 1972, and.we decided to make modifications to it in order to achieve a more even standard of representation. We transferred the parish of from the

Otley ward to the ward and, eliminating the proposed Tunstall ward, we added the component parishes to adjacent wards which were over-represented.

This resulted in a reduction in the proposed size of the Council from 55 to 5^". Subject to these modifications, we adopted the District Council's draft scheme as our draft proposals.

7. On 21 June 1976 we issued our draft proposals and these were sent to all who had received our consultation letter or had commented on the Council's draft scheme. The Council were asked to make the draft proposals^and the accompanying map which defined the proposed ward boundaries, available for inspection at their main offices. Representationson our draft proposals were invited from those to whom they were circulated and, by public notices, from members of the public and interested bodies. We asked for comments to reach us by 16 August 19?6. 8. Representations against our draft proposals were received from the District

Council, Felixstowe Town Council, six parish councils, a district councillor, a local organisation and a number of local residents. The main objections were to the abolition of the Tunstall ward and the consequent reduction in the represent- ation of the rural area. Alternative arrangements were suggested for the town of Felixstowe and alternative names were suggested for two wards. Two of the letters requesting an alternative name contained 300 signatures.

9. In view of these comments, we felt we needed more information to enable us to reach a conclusion. Therefore, in accordance with Section 65(2) of the Local Government Act 1972, and at our request, Mr J C Nelson was appointed as Assistant Commissioner to hold a local meeting and report to us.

10. Notice of the meeting was sent to all who had received our draft proposals or had commented on them, and was published locally.

11. The Assistant Commissioner held the meeting at the Council Offices, Woodbridge on 10 May 1977 and visited the areas which were the subject of comment. A copy of his report to us is at Schedule 1.

12. In the light of the discussion at the meeting and his inspection of the area, the Assistant Commissioner recommended that the ward comprising the parishes of , and -cum-Thorpe should be renamed Buxlow. Subject to this modification he recommended that our draft proposals should be confirmed.

13- We reviewed our draft proposals in the light of the comments which we had received and of the Assistant Commissioner's report. We concluded that the recommendations made by the Assistant Commissioner should be accepted.

Accordingly, we invited"the District Council to make warding orders for the parishes of Felixstowe and Woodbridge. ]A. Subsequently, the District Council forwarded to us an alternative scheme for warding Felixstowe, which had been suggested by Felixstowe Town Council.

This provided for the parish to be divided into 6 two-member wards, in place of the *f three-member wards proposed by us. We recognized the strong opposition to our proposals for the Felixstowe area expressed by Felixstowe Town Council, and noted that their new scheme secured a better standard of representation than that achieved by our own draft proposals..-\7e therefore'decided to modify our draft proposals accordingly.

15. The warding orders for Felixstowe and Woodbridge have now been made and, subject to the modifications referred to in paragraphs 12 and 14 above, we have confirmed our draft proposals as our final proposals.

16. Details of these proposals are set out in Schedule 2 to this report and on the attached map. Schedule 2 gives the names of the wards and the number of councillors to be returned by each. The boundaries of the new wards are defined on the attached map.

PUBLICATION

17. In accordance with Section 60(5)(b) of the Local Government Act"l972( a copy of this report and a copy of the map are being sent to Suffolk Coastal District Council and will be available for public inspection at the Council's main offices. Copies of this report (without map) are being sent to those who received the consultation letter and to those who made comments. A detailed description of the proposed ward boundaries as shown on the map is set out in Schedule 3 to this report.

L.S.

Signed:

NICHOLAS MORRISON (CHAIRMAN)

JOHN M RANKIN (DEPUTY CHAIRMAN)

PHYLLIS BOWDEN

TYRRELL BROCKBANK

G E CHERRY

D P HARRISON

R R THORNTON

LESLIE GRIMSHAW (SECRETARY)

25 October 1979 I/ - SCHEDULE 1

To the Chairman and members of the Local Boundary Commission for England.

Suffolk Coastal District

A meeting was held in the Council Chamber at the Suffolk District Council's office at Melton Hill, Woodbridge, Suffolk on the 10th May 1977. A list of the names of the persons present is set out at Appendix A.

There were seven matters on which representations were made, namely :-

1. The parishes of , Campsey Ash, , and Tuns tall. 2. The parish of . 3. The wards at Felixstowe. 4. Representation of the Trimley ward. 5. Representation of the ward. 6. The proposed name of the ward comprising the parishes of Aldringham-cum-Thorpe, Friston, and Knodishall. 7. The proposed name of the ward comprising the parishes of -cum-Carlton and . 2/

The parishes of Blaxhall, Campsey Ash, Chillesford. Rendlesham, and Tunstall.

In the District Council's proposals these five parishes comprised the Tunstall ward with an electorate in 1980 of 851 which was substantially below the average and the Commission suggested that Blaxhall should go into the Snape ward giving an electorate for that ward of 1150 in 1980, Campsey Ash should go into the Glemham ward giving an electorate of 1063, that Chillesford and Tunstall should go into the Orford ward giving an electorate of 1159 and that Rendlesham should go into the Ufford ward giving that ward 1292 electors. All these revised electorates were still below the average.

The District Council accept that the Commission's proposals achieve a better equality of electorate but they say that this solution does not take proper account of the difficulties of the area.

They point out that the proposed Orford ward would comprise some 17, 000 acres and that this is too large to be administered as one ward. They say, too, that the proposal to put the parishes of Tunstall and Chillesford into the Orford ward disregards the fact that they have no affinity with that area but look to Blaxhall and . Tunstall forest also acts as a barrier between Tunstall and Orford. Similarly Blaxhall has no community of interest with Snape and is separated from it by the River Aide - although there seems to be three crossings of that river between the sea and the A12 at . The Campsey Ash parish is separated from the Glemham ward, to which it is proposed to be transferred, by the dual carriage, ways of the A12 at this point. Prior to the re-organisation of local government Campsey Ash was in a different Rural District to the remaining parishes in the Glemham ward. It was also said that Rendlesham has little community of interest with Ufford.

These objections were re-enforced by those present at the meeting and Marlesford Parish Council had written objecting to the proposal to abandon the suggested Tunstall ward.

I considered that these matters carried considerable weight but I did not take the view that they were so insuperable as to displace the primary duty to have regard to equality of representation. It was stressed that even that duty was qualified by the words "as nearly as may be" and that in a district like Suffolk Coastal where there were thickly populated areas and very sparcely populated ones there was bound to be a considerable variation in the electors per member. 3/

However, I had to have regard to the fact that the 1980 electorates for the five wards in the original proposals were Glemham 847, Tunstall 851, Snape 973, Orford 796 and Ufford 1197 and the figures for the revised four wards were Glemham 1063, Snape 1150, Orford 1159 and Ufford 1292.

As I have mentioned before I have considerable sympathy with the points put forward but because the need to avoid breaking local ties is clearly made subject to the requirement to provide equality of representation and because I do not consider that the objections raised are insuperable I recommend that the Commission's proposals be accepted.

The parish of Wantisden

A proposal was advanced that this parish should be united with Tunstall in the proposed Orford ward or with Rendlesham in the Ufford ward instead of being put in the ward. This would avoid the parish being in one area for municipal elections and another for parliamentary election purposes. It was conceded that this was not the only case in the District where this occured.

The District Council said they had taken account of wishes expressed by the parishes in their combination for parish purposes. Wantisden had expressed the desire to be united with Butley and Capel St.Andrew in the Hollesley ward and this demonstrated a community of interest with them. The population of the parish is only 30 so that it makes no significant alteration to the equality of representation.

In view of the matters referred to by the District Council I recommend that the parish of .Wantisden remain part of the Hollesley iiard*

Felixstowe.

The Commission adopted the District Council's suggestion that there should be four wards each returning three members for the area of the Felixtowe Town Council.

The Town Council desire five wards, three returning three members each ancLthe remaining two each returning two members. They also desire a revision of one of the boundaries of one of the wards. 4/

They contend that the estimated electorate for 1980 provided by the District Council (originally 16430 but subsequently amended to 16200) is too low but they appreciate the difficulty of submitting an amended figure and agree that they would accept the figure as a minimum. On this figure 12 members would produce an average electorate per member of 1350 and with 13 members the figure would be 1246 against an average for the whole district of 1302 and the difference is insignificant. Putting it the other way - dividing the proposed electorate by the average - the entitlement is 12.4 members. If 55 members were the total for the whole district - as Felixstowe propose - the average would be 1278 and the entitlement for Felixstowe as a whole would be 12.7.

The District Council pointed out that the requirement in the Act is that the ratio of the number of local government electors to the number of councillors to the elected shall be, as nearly as may be, the same in every ward of the district. It is therefore essential to look at each ward not at any group of wards however understandable that may be in the care of an area like Felixstowe. On this basis there are already thirteen wards which exceed the average by more than those proposed for Felixstowe. On this basis also a comparison of the two alternatives produces the following figures :-

The Commission's proposals: East TJ&rd electorate per member 1373 71 over the average North TOird electorate per member 1316 14 over the average South "Wferd electorate per member 1314 12 over the average West Ward electorate per member 1396 94 over the average

Felixstowe Town Council's proposals: East Ward electorate per member 1214 88 below the average North Ward electorate per member 1207 96 below the average South Ward electorate per member 1272 30 below the average South East Ward electorate per member 1356 54 above the average West Ward electorate per member 1955 653 above the average

It was stressed on behalf of the Town Council that five wards would give better boundaries and could preserve local ties and that it would give greater flexibility - in dealing with arrangements for County Council elections.

In my view it is right to look at each of the wards in the district rather than to a combination of wards even though they may comprise a close knit urban area and on this basis, looking at 5/ the figures, the Commission's proposals clearly provide for greater equality of representation than do those in the Town Council's proposals and I accordingly recommend that the Commission's proposals be adopted.

The Town Council also felt strongly that an area of land in the southern part of the "area having an electorate of some 500 should not be included in the West ward because access between the two areas was very difficult. There was some pedestrian access but the journey by vehicle involved a distance of some two miles.

If this electorate was included in the South ward the electorate of that ward would be 4394 in 1975 and would become 4424 in 1980 whilst the electorate in the West ward would diminish correspondingly giving a figure of 2707 in 1975 and 3688 in 1980.

The entitlements would then be:-

On the Commission's proposals: 1975 1980 Felixstowe South 3.25 electorate 3894 3.03 electorate 3942 Felixstowe West 2.68 electorate 3207 3.22 electorate 4188

On the Town Council's proposals:

Felixstowe South 3.7 electorate 4394 3.41 electorate 4442 Felixstowe West 2.25 electorate 2707 2.83 electorate 3688

The District Council said that the problems of this area were insignificant by comparison with those experienced in the more rural areas. This may well be so but it is difficult to see why the problems which electors in a rural setting have to encounter by the very nature of their situation should be inflicted on electors living in an urban environment unless this is necessary .

However, the District Council did say that they would provide a polling station in the area in question so that the electors would not have to make the journey into the remainder of the West ward to vote. The elected members would have to deal with both parts of the area but it seems likely that they will treat the whole ward as a part of the town area. 6/

With some hesitation because I appreciate the difficulties of access which have been mentioned, I recommend that the Commission's proposals be approved because I consider that in the circumstances the disparity in the voting figures is not outweighed by the physical problems on the ground..

Mr. Morgan suggested that there should be single member wards in Felixstowe. This proposition did not receive support from any other quarter and the difficulties of having a large number of small wards - particularly where considerable development was anticipated - were stressed as were the problems associated with fixing their boundaries and in the circumstances I recommend that no further action be taken on this suggestion.

The Trimleys

Mr. Morgan had also suggested that the Trimleys ward should have two members but he indicated at the meeting that he did not wish to pursue this objection.

Martlesham

Martlesham Parish Council said that, in view of the development likely to take place in the area, the ward should have two members.

It is true that a former aerodrome in this parish is being developed for commercial, industrial and residential purposes but, in the period up to 1980 the District Council had • ., estimated that the present electorate of 1367 would rise to 1928 and they had some doubts now whether this figure would be achieved. They had considered warding Martlesham with another parish but to do so would either lead to under representation in the neighbouring wards or overwhelm the added parish or be against the wishes of the parishes concerned.

The representative from Martlesham indicated that they wished to have two members for Martlesham alone. He agreed the figure of 1928 for the 1980 electorate but said that this would lead to under-representation by the end of the period. He also pointed out that the Trimleys had two members with a present electorate of 2109.

In this latter connection it should be borne in mind that the electorate of the Trimleys is expected to rise to 2278 by 1980 so that this latter figure would be a fairer one for comparitive purposes. 7/

The anticipated electorate of 1928 gives an entitlement of 1.48 members based on a council of 54. I do not consider that an additional member can be justified particularly having regard to the doubts as to whether this electorate will be reached - bearing in mind the rate of progress of development up to date - and also bearing in mind that there is one other ward having an even higher entitlement but with only one member.

I therefore recommend that the proposal that : the Martlesham Ward be represented by one member be approved.

The proposed name for the ward comprising the parishes of Aldringham-cum-Thorpe, Friston and Knodishall.

The Commission had adopted the District Council's suggestion that the name should be "Aldringham". This was in conformity with the general principle that the name should be ' that of the largest parish.

Strong objections were raised to this proposal by the Friston Parish Council, the Knodishall Parish Council and by the Friston Womens Institute and petitions signed by some 300 people were submitted objecting to the proposed name. The proposals were however supported by the Aldringham-cum-Thorpe Parish Council and by the District Council.

All the objectors suggested the name "Buxlow11 - which is said to be well known in the area and to have historical connections with it - should be that for the new ward.

The District Council said that they had considered old names but had decided to use modern ones because they were more easily recognisable. They said that anyone in the district could stand for election in the ward and no-one, apart from the local inhabitants, would know where "Buxlow" was.

Apart from one circumstance, on this information, I would have recommended acceptance of the Commission's proposal but there was a general agreement that, on a revision of parish boundaries, Aldringham-cum-Thorpe would no longer have the largest electorate. This being the case and, in view of the fairly wide support for the new proposal, I consider that there is a case for a change of name.

Whether "Buxlow" is a suitable alternative namei found it difficult to judge but as there appeared to be a substantial support for it I recommend that the ward comprising the parishes 8/ of Aldringham-cmn-Thorpe, Friston and Knodlshall be named the "Buxlow Ward".

The proposed name for the ward comprising the parishes of Kelsale-cum-Carlton and Theberton.

The Theberton and Parish Council objected to the proposal to name this ward "Kelsale" and indicated that they thought it should be called "Kelsale and Theberton".

The parish council -were not represented at the meeting but the District Council explained that •.. they had only used double names where the electorate was much more equal than was the case in this ward.

Kelsale has substantially the greater electorate and I recommend that the Commission's proposals be adopted.

The Commission's proposals as a whole are set out at Appendix B.

J. C. Nelson APPENDIX A

A.Biddle Suffolk Coastal District Council Melton Hill, Woodbridge, Suffolk, IP12 1AV. D.C. Bishop A.Daly Briscoe J.R.Carley Parish Council Hermitage Court, Framlingham. J.A.E.Cook Parish Council Park Gate, Nacton, . Mr.& Mrs.G.E.Curtis East View Cottage, Friston. D.J.Dickens County Hall, St.Helen's Street, Ipswich. Ft.Lieut.D. V. Donnelly Trimley Parish Council 17 the Avenue, Trimley St. Mary. Major H. Dumas Parish Council Iken Hall, Woodbridge. Mrs. Gray Campsey Ash Parish Council 2 the Glen, Campsey Ash, Woodbridge. H.Hart Martlesham Parish Council 15 Alban Square, Martlesham. R.T.Hodgson Suffolk Coastal District Council Melton Hill, Woodbridge,Suffolk. Mrs.O.K.Hudson Friston Womens Institute Church Walls, Friston. W. Jennings Parish Council (Chairman) White House, Eyke, Nr.Woodbridge. Mrs.E Joseph Friston Womens Institute Carnser Cottage, Friston. W.Kerr Easton & Joint Parish Council. Farm Office, Letheringham. C.H.Matthews Felixstowe Town Council Town Hall, Felixstowe. C. J. J. Morgan 75 Links Avenue, Felixstowe. N. J.Mumford Councillor- Felixstowe Town Council Town Hall, Felixstowe. Mrs. Oxborrow Campsey Ash Parish Council 2-^the Glen, Campsey Ash, Woodbridge. Mrs.A.Paice Councillor- Suffolk Coastal Hatherleigh Farm, Road, District Council Framlingham. Dr.& Mrs.G.D.Reynolds Knodishall Parish Council Lilacs, Knodishall Common. W.J.Rowland Councillor- Felixstowe Town Council Town Hall, Felixstowe. P. C.Savage The Labour Party 33 Lower Brook Street, Ipswich. W.H. Smith Member- Suffolk Coastal District Council 'Rosendale', Knodishall. Mr.& Mrs.R.A.Wright Friston Parish Council 8 Judith Avenue, Knodishall. _ ' SCHEDULE 2

SUFFOLK COASTAL DISTRICT: NAMES OF PROPOSED WARDS AND NUMBERS OF COUNCILLORS

NAME OF WAHD NO. OF COUNCILLORS

ALDEBURGH 2

ALDERTON AND SUTTON 1

3EALINGS 1

BRAMFIELD AND 1

BUXLOW 1

DENNINGTON 1

EARL SOHAM 1

FELECSTOWE CENTRAL 2

FELIXSTOWE EAST 2

FSLIXSTOWE NORTH 2

FELIXSTOWE SOUTH 2

FELIXSTOWE SOUTH EAST 2

FELIXSTOWE WEST 2 ' FRAMLINGHAM 1

GLEffflAM 1

GRUNDISBURGH AND 1

HASKETON 1

HOLLESLEY 1

KELSALE 1

KESGRAVE 3

KIRTON 1

LKISTON ' 3

MARTLSSHAM ' 1

MELTON 1

NACTON 1

ORFORD . 1

OTLEY 1

RUSHMSRE 2 NAME OF WARD NO- OF COUNCILLORS

SAXMUNDHAM - 1

SNAPE 1

TRIMLEYS 2

UFFORD 1

WALBERSWICK 1

WESTLETON 1

WICKHAM MARKET 1

WOODBRIDGE CENTRE 1

WOODBRIDGE FARLINGAYE 1

WOODBRIDGE KYSON 1

WOODBRIDGE. RIVERSIDE 1

WOODBRIDGE SECKFORD 1 •

YOXFORD 1

2f SCHEDULE 3

SUFFOLK COASTAL DISTRICT DESCRIPTION OF PROPOSED WARD BOUNDARIES

ALDEBURGH WARD

The parish of Aldeburgh

ALDERTON AND SUTTON WARD

The parishes of Alderton

Ramsholt

Shottisham

Sutton

HEALINGS WARD

The parishes of

Playford

Tuddenham St Martin

Westerfield

BRAMFIELD AND CRATFIELD WARD

The parishes of Bramfield

Chediston

Cookley

Cratfield

Heveningham

Huntingfield

Linstead Magna

Linstead Parva

Thorington

Ubbeston

Walpole BUXLOW WARD

The parishes of

Friston

Knodishall

DENNINGTON WARD

The parishes of

Bruisyard

Cransford

Dennington

Rendham

Swefling

EARL SOKAM WARD

The parishes of

Earl Soham

Easton

Kettleburgh

Saxtead

Letheringham

FELIXSTOWE CENTRAL WARD

The Felixstow Central Ward of the parish of Felixstowe

FELIXSTOWE EAST WARD

The Felixstowe East Ward of the parish of Felixstowe

FELIXSTOWE NORTH WARD

The Felixstowe North Ward of the parish, of Felixstowe FELIXSTOWE SOUTH WARD

The Felixstowe South Ward of the parish of Felixstowe

FELIXSTOWE SOUTH EAST WARD

The Felixstowe South East Ward of the parish of Felixstowe

FELIXSTOWE WEST WARD

The Felixstowe West Ward of the parish of Felixstowe

FRAMLINGHAM WARD

The parish of Framlingham

GLEMHAM WARD '

The parishes of Campsey Ash

Great Glemham

Hacheston

Little Glemham

Mariesford

Parham

GRUWDISBURGH AND WITNESHAM WARD

The parishes of

Grundisburgh

Swilland

Witnesham HASKETON WARD

The parishes of

Bredfield

Burgh

Charsfield

Dallinghoo

Dallinghoo Wield

Debach

Hasketon

HOLLESLEY WARD

The parishes of Boyton

Butley

Capel St Andrew

Hollesley

Wantisden

KELSALE WARD

The parishes of

Theberton

KESGRAVE WARD

The parish of Kesgrave

KIRTON WARD

The parishes of

Hemley

Kirton

Newbourn

Waldringfield WARD

The parish of Leiston

MARTLESHAM WARD

The parish of Martleshara

MELTON WARD

The parish of Melton

NACTON WARD

The parishes of Brightwell

•

Foxhall

Levington

Nacton

Purdis Farm

Stratton Hall

ORFORD WARD

The parishes of Chillesford

Gedgrave

Havergate Island

Iken

Orford

Sudbourne

Tunstall OTLEY WARD

The parishes of Clopton

Cretingham

Hoo

Monewden

Otley

RUSHMERE WARD

The parish of

SAXMUNDHAM WARD

The parish of Saxmundhara

SNAPE WARD

The parishes of

Blaxhall

Farnham

Snape

Sternfield

Stratford St Andrew

TRIMLEYS WARD

The parishes of

Triraley St Mary

UFFORD WARD

The parishes of

Eyke

Pettistree

Rendlesham

Ufford " WARD

The parishes of

Walberswick

Wenhaston with Mells Hamlet

WESTLETON WAED

The parishes of

Dunwich

Middleton

Westleton

WICKHAM MARKET WARD

The parish of Wickham Market

WOODBRIDGE CENTRE WARD

The Centre Ward, of the parish of Woodbridge

WOODBRIDGE FARLINGAYE WARD

The Farlingaye Ward of the parish of Woodbridge

WOODBRIDGE KYSON WARD

The Kyson Ward of the parish of Woodbridge

WOODBRIDGE RIVERSIDE WARD

The Riverside Ward of the parish of Woodbridge

WOODBRIDGE SECKFORD WARD

The Seckford Ward of the parish of Woodbridge

YOXFORD WARD The parishes of Yoxford