Future Community Governance Arrangements for Cardington and Eastcotts Parishes

January 2017

For information on obtaining this publication in another language or in a large-print or Braille version, please contact Bedford Borough Council:

Tel: (01234) 276914

Email: [email protected]

The mapping in this report is reproduced from OS mapping by Bedford Borough Council with the permission of the Controller of Her Majesty’s Stationery Office, © Crown Copyright and database rights 2013 Ordnance Survey 100049028. You are not permitted to copy, sub-license, distribute or sell any of this data to third parties in any form.

Contents

Summary 5

1 Introduction 10

2 Undertaking the review 13

3 Analysis, draft recommendations and considerations 15

Submissions received 15 Electorate figures 16 Parish Areas 16 Parish Councils 17 Parish Council Size and Electoral Fairness 17 General Analysis 19 Conclusions 23

4 What happens next? 24

5 Mapping 26

Appendices

A Map showing “Area A” 27

Summary

Bedford Borough Council is the principal Council for the Borough of Bedford and is designated in law as the body to review community governance arrangements in its area. Community governance reviews provide the opportunity for principal councils to review and make changes to community governance within their areas. Such reviews are often, although not exclusively, in circumstances such as where there have been changes in population, or in reaction to specific or local new issues. A community governance review offers an opportunity to put in place strong, clearly defined boundaries, tied to firm ground features, and remove any anomalous parish boundaries that exist. Parish boundaries may be used to provide the building blocks for Borough Council Ward boundaries in future electoral reviews. Borough Ward boundaries may also be used as building blocks for Parliamentary Constituencies.

The community governance review for Cardington and Eastcotts Parishes is being conducted as follows:

Stage Date Description

Publication of the Terms of Reference and formal start of the review One 1 July 2016 Initial period of consultation – general invitation of submissions Two 1 July 2016 to 14 September 2016 Consideration of submissions received during stage Two. Draft recommendations determined by the General Purposes Committee on 1 November 2016 Three 15 September 2016 to 14 October 2016 Draft recommendations are published. Consultation on draft recommendations determined in stage Two. Four 24 November 2016 to 21 February 2017 Consideration of submissions received during stage Four. Final recommendations determined by the Borough Council’s General Purposes Committee, published and submitted to the Council meeting on 22 March 2017. Five 22 February 2017 to 6 March 2017

Undertaking the review

To coincide with the start of the review, public notice was given in the Bedfordshire on Sunday newspaper on 3 July 2016. A dedicated web page was created on the Borough Council’s website and information was provided on the websites of both Parish Councils. Public notices were displayed in community locations throughout each Parish and copies of the review notice were 5 circulated to individual households in Cardington by the Parish Council. The notice was circulated to a range of community organisations in Eastcotts Parish and details were published on the Shortstown Residents’ Group Facebook page. Public meetings were held in Eastcotts Parish on 8 August 2016 and in Cardington Parish on 11 August 2016 to promote the review.

Submissions received

During the Stage Two of this review, the Borough Council received a total of 46 representations. Of these, one was from Cardington Parish Council and one was from Eastcotts Parish Council, with a further 44 received from individual electors. 40 of the individual electors were from Cardington Parish and 4 were from Eastcotts Parish. The responses from Local Government electors in Cardington was above the 5% level identified in the Terms of Reference for the Review to warrant draft recommendations for future community governance arrangements.

Analysis and draft recommendations

Electorate figures

Bedford Borough Council submitted electorate forecasts for December 2021, a period five years on from the December 2015 electoral roll which is the basis for this review. The data is set out below. It shows that whilst the electorate for the polling districts of Cardington (NM), Eastcotts South (NI) and Eastcotts North (NJ) are likely to remain relatively stable, significant growth of numbers of electors is expected in polling district Eastcotts North (NK). The existing difference in the level of electoral representation between the Eastcotts Parish Wards and the level of growth that is envisaged in Eastcotts North (NK), confirms that there is a disparity which will increase over time unless the Community Governance Review addresses this.

Parish Area Polling Electorate Electorate District 2015 2021 Cardington NM 269 270 Eastcotts NI 636 660 South Eastcotts NJ 1678 1750 North Eastcotts NK 509 2070 North

Existing Parish arrangements

Currently, the area of the review is within two separate Parishes; Cardington and Eastcotts. Both Parishes have Parish Councils. Cardington Parish Council has seven Parish Councillors and Eastcotts Parish Council has fifteen Parish Councillors. Cardington Parish has no Parish Wards and Eastcotts has two Parish Wards (Eastcotts South (Cotton End) and Eastcotts North (Shortstown)). Eastcotts South (Cotton End) is represented by five Parish Councillors and Eastcotts North (Shortstown) is represented by 10 Parish Councillors.

General analysis

Having considered the submissions received during Stage Two, a draft recommendation has been developed. This is that the area of new development on the south western boundary of Cardington Parish (shown as Area A on the enclosed plan) ceases to be part of the Parish. Cardington Parish Council is considering a proposal to rename the Parish to Cardington Village. During preliminary consultation, these two draft recommendations received strong support from electors in Cardington Parish. This Stage Four consultation also invites electors in Cardington Parish to express their views on two additional matters which need to be addressed as part of the Community Governance Review process. The first of these additional matters is to establish that Cardington Parish should continue to have a Parish Council. The second of these additional matters is to establish that the number of Parish Councillors on Cardington Parish Council should remain the same. Currently, there are seven Parish Councillors on Cardington Parish Council.

There are no formally adopted draft recommendations about Eastcotts Parish as, during Stage Two, the expressed views by electors in the Parish for any change in the community governance arrangements was far less that than the 5% level identified in the Terms of Reference. This Stage Four consultation is being issued to all electors in Eastcotts Parish so that there is a good opportunity for local preferences about future parish arrangements to be identified.

In Eastcotts Parish, there are a number of community governance considerations that the Borough Council is reviewing and electors are being consulted on the following matters:

• that the name of the Parish Council should continue to be Eastcotts • that the number of Parish Councillors on Eastcotts Parish Council should remain as at present. (Currently, there are fifteen Parish Councillors on Eastcotts Parish Council.) • that the boundary of the Parish should be amended to extend the Parish so that it includes the area of new development adjacent to Shortstown which is currently in Cardington Parish (shown as Area A on the enclosed map). This would mean that the area that it is recommended to exclude from Cardington Parish would be incorporated within Eastcotts Parish. If adopted,

it would provide greater clarity, consistency and electoral convenience for the representation of electors who live in the new development. • that the current two Parish Wards should be retained and named Shortstown and Cotton End respectively and provide electoral parity for both Wards. Based on the number of electors in the existing Wards, this would result in 13 Parish Councillors for the Shortstown Parish Ward and 2 Parish Councillors for the Cotton End Parish Ward. The reason for this is that the number of electors in the Shortstown Parish Ward has increased considerably since the number of Parish Councillor for both wards was last reviewed (the forecast data set out above also refers to further growth). • That Area A becomes part of Eastcotts Parish and forms a third Parish Ward (with the name Shortstown East) and the representation on Eastcotts Parish Council be amended to 11 Parish Councillors for Shortstown Parish Ward, 2 for Cotton End Parish Ward and 2 for Shortstown East Parish Ward.

The Borough Council invites alternative options in relation to representation for Eastcotts Parish Council as part of the consultation process; both in terms of the number of Councillors and the timing of implementation of proposals. It is currently envisaged that any amendments to parish arrangements would come into existence from April 2018 and elections would need to be held in May 2018. The initial term of office would be for one full year and this would be followed by the next programmed elections for all parishes in the Borough of Bedford in May 2019.

What happens next?

There will now be a consultation period, during which we encourage comment on the draft recommendations and considerations for electoral arrangements for Cardington and Eastcotts Parishes contained in this report. We take this consultation very seriously and it is therefore important that all those interested in the review should let us have their views and evidence, whether or not they agree with the draft recommendations and considerations (or propose alternative options). We will take into account all submissions received by 21 February 2017. Any received after this date may not be taken into account. Local views backed up by demonstrable reasons/evidence are particularly welcome. All the submissions received during the consultation period will be considered before preparing the final recommendations. Express your views by writing directly to us:

Head of Democratic and Registration Services Bedford Borough Council Borough Hall Cauldwell Street Bedford MK42 9AP Email: [email protected]

The full report is available to download at www.bedford.gov.uk

1 Introduction

1. The Borough Council’s General Purposes Committee formally decided to commence this review of community governance for Cardington and Eastcotts Parishes on 14 June 2016. The Terms of Reference for the review were then published on 1 July 2016 and this marked the start of the review. The initial period of the review concerned itself with publicising the review and inviting comments generally about community governance arrangements in Cardington Parish and Eastcotts Parish.

2. In this report there is reference to polling districts. A polling district is a geographical sub-division of an electoral area, such as a Parish, Borough Ward and parliamentary constituency. Details of the current Polling Districts in the Borough of Bedford are available on the Council’s website at: http://www.bedford.gov.uk/council_and_democracy/elections/polling_district_and_places.aspx

What is a Community Governance Review?

3. A Community Governance Review is a review under and in accordance with Part 4, Chapter 3 of the Local Government and Public Involvement in Health Act 2007. The 2007 Act gives the responsibility for undertaking community governance reviews to the principal council for the area. In the case of the Borough of Bedford this is the Bedford Borough Council.

4. Community governance is the arrangements and organisations that provide for community representation or community engagement in the review area. This can be parish meetings and parish councils but, likewise, can be other arrangements and organisations.

5. It is a duty of the Borough Council in undertaking a community governance review to seek to secure that community governance within the review area reflects the identities and interests of the community in that area and is effective and convenient.

6. A previous Government and the Local Government Boundary Commission for England published guidance on community governance reviews in March 2010 and due regard has been given to that guidance in undertaking this community governance review.

7. The Borough Council must take such steps as it considers sufficient to inform local government electors and other parties with an interest in the review about the review. It must then consult those electors and other parties and take account of any representations received in connection with the review.

Why are we conducting a review in Cardington and Eastcotts?

8. The Borough Council was requested to undertake this review by Cardington Parish Council and Eastcotts Parish Council following existing and planned development adjacent to Shortstown which extends across their common boundary. Currently, some of the properties in the area of new development concerned are with Cardington Parish and others are with Eastcotts Parish.

9. A community governance review must consider the need to secure that the future governance arrangements within the area under review reflect the identities and interests of communities in that area and are effective and convenient.

10. At the commencement of this review, there were a total of 0 properties identified in the electoral register within the Cardington NM Polling District that were situated in the new development referred to above. The Borough Council has approved a draft recommendation that, if supported during further consultation, would mean that the land in question would cease to be in Cardington Parish (see the enclosed map).

11. Eastcotts Parish Council supports the proposal submitted by Cardington Parish Council for the properties in the new development concerned too cease to be with Cardington Parish. Eastcotts Parish Council has indicated that it would support the inclusion of those properties affected within Eastcotts Parish.

How will the recommendations affect you?

12. The recommendations and considerations reference possible future structures for local representation and engagement in what are currently the two Parishes of Cardington and Eastcotts. They include what parish you may live in and what its name is. The recommendations and considerations also include the numbers of councillors that will represent you on the council for the Parish Council. The work of a Parish Council falls on the parish councillors and the parish council officials. If the recommendations and considerations are wrong it will affect how effectively the parish councils will function.

13. If you live in a property which is in the area marked as “Area A” on the enclosed map or you will do so when a new property has been built there, you might not be represented by a Parish Council unless you and electors in Eastcotts Parish support the inclusion of “Area A” within Eastcotts Parish. If this does not happen, you might be unable to access local support for your concerns or any services provided by Parish Councils in the adjoining areas and you would not contribute to Parish Council funding which is collected through the Council Tax.

Who at the Borough Council makes these decisions?

14. The Borough Council’s General Purposes Committee usually authorises a Community Governance Review and the Terms of Reference for those reviews. Any final recommendations from a Community Governance Review will be submitted by the General Purposes Committee to the full Council. It will be the full Council of all 40 Borough Councillors and the Mayor who will make the decision whether to adopt final recommendations. The final recommendations will be formulated following consideration of the results of the Stage Four consultation which runs from 24 November 2016 to 21 February 2017.

2 Undertaking the review

15. The Terms of Reference for the Review were published on 1 July 2016 (after being approved by the Borough Council’s General Purposes Committee on 14 June 2016). This marked the formal start of the review. The review must be concluded within 12 months of the publication of the Terms of Reference.

16. At the point of commencing the review there were the following electors in the seven Polling Districts shown within the review area of the Parishes of Cardington and Eastcotts:

Polling Total Electors 16 + 17 Year Over 70 Year Non- Numbers of District (December Old included in Olds included in Commonwealth Properties 2015) the Total the Total or Irish – (December European Union 2015) Electors Cardington Parish NM 269 0 16 0 146 Eastcotts Parish NI 636 1 40 22 333 NJ 1678 7 54 120 869 NK 509 3 6 48 288

17. The above figures for 16 and 17 year olds, over 70s and European Union nationals (other than Commonwealth and Irish nationals) indicate that the composition of electors in the NM Polling District differs from the composition of electors in the NI, NJ and NK Polling districts.

Informing and Consulting local government electors and others

18. At the time of publishing the terms of reference for the review a copy was made available on a dedicated page on the Council’s website and also upon request at Borough Hall in Bedford. Through this page, views could be expressed using an online survey. It also gave telephone, email and postal addresses for questions to be raised about the review or to express views.

19. Public Notice of the commencement of the Community Governance Review was included in the Bedfordshire on Sunday Newspaper on 3 July 2016. This was intended to give due notice to all those who could have an interest in the review. 13

20. A dedicated web page was created on the Borough Council’s website and information was provided on the websites of both Parish Councils. Public notices were displayed in community locations throughout each Parish and copies of the review notice were circulated to individual households in Cardington by the Parish Council. The notice was circulated to a range of community organisations in Eastcotts Parish and details were published on the Shortstown Residents’ Group Facebook page.

21. Public meetings were held locally in Eastcotts Parish on 8 August 2016 and in Cardington Parish on 11 August 2016 to promote the review.

22. The Terms of Reference for the Review provided on expectation that there would be a minimum number of responses from the population within the review area to trigger a draft recommendation for changes to the existing Parish arrangements. This minimum number was set at 5% of the electors involved. It also provided an expectation that for a draft recommendation to be made a final recommendation there would be a greater level of support than 5%.

3 Analysis, draft recommendations and considerations

23. As described earlier, the Borough Council must abide by the duties on it under Section 93 of the Local Government and Public Involvement in Health Act 2007. This section of the 2007 Act requires that the Borough Council must have regard to the need to secure that community governance within the area under review –

(a) reflects the identities and interests of the community in that area, and

(b) is effective and convenient.

24. In considering the future electoral arrangements for a parish council (including a new parish council), Section 95 of the 2007 Act requires the Borough Council to examine whether parish wards should be created to facilitate separate representation on that parish council for electors living in different areas within the parish. In relation to the number of parish councillors to be elected (for an un-warded parish or for separate parish wards) the Borough Council must have regard to the following factors:

(a) the number of local government electors for the parish;

(b) any change in that number which is likely to occur in the period of five years beginning with the day when the review starts.

25. These recommendations cannot affect areas outside of the current Parishes of Cardington and Eastcotts. Nor can they make changes to postcodes. Consequential changes to Borough Ward boundaries can be identified through this process and, if appropriate, representations submitted to the Local Government Boundary Commission for England to consider.

Submissions Received

26. During initial consultation as part of Stage 2 of this review, the Borough Council received a total of 46 representations. Of these, one was from Cardington Parish Council, one was from Eastcotts Parish Council and 44 were from individual electors. 40 of the individual electors were from Cardington Parish and 4 were from Eastcotts Parish.

27. All representations received can be viewed at the Council’s offices upon request. A pseudonymised version of the submissions is available on the Council’s website at www.bedford.gov.uk/Cardington_Eastcotts. 15

Electoral Figures

28. As part of the review, the Borough Council submitted electorate forecasts for the year 2021, projecting an increase in the electorate across the two Parishes of 1658 electors or almost 54% over the five year period from 2015 to 2021. The data indicates that the electorate in the Eastcotts North Ward is increasing dramatically in the medium term and that most of this growth will be in the NK Polling District.

29. The electorate forecasts are set out below:

Parish Parish Ward Polling District Electorate 2015 Electorate 2021 Cardington No Parish Wards NM* 269 270 Eastcotts Eastcotts South NI 636 660 NJ 1678 1750 Eastcotts North NK 509 2070

Total 3092 Total 4750

* Note: “Area A” is located within Polling District NM. The 2015 electorate for “Area A” is 0 and for 2021 is 771.

Parish Areas

30. The review area encompasses two Parishes which share a common boundary; Cardington and Eastcotts. Cardington Parish is a predominantly rural parish with an area of new development just within its boundary adjacent to Shortstown and which is distinct and separate from the village of Cardington. Eastcotts Parish includes Shortstown which is more urban in character and covers an established settlement and an area of new development. Eastcotts Parish also includes the settlement of Cotton End which is smaller and more rural in character than Shortstown. The area of new development in the review area extends across the common boundary of the two parishes where further development has also been approved. The electoral forecasts do include the additional planned development.

31. The area that will straddle the current Parish boundary is not at this stage where any properties are occupied at this point in time (January 2017).

Parish Councils

32. Section 94 of the 2007 Act requires that where it is recommended that a new Parish is created or an existing Parish is altered and the local government electorate in the new/altered Parish is 1,000 or more that there must also be a recommendation for a Parish Council for that Parish. If the parish has 150 or fewer local government electors, the review must recommend that the parish should not have a council. At this point, the draft recommendations and considerations in respect of Cardington and Eastcotts Parishes do not propose the creation of a new parish but they do include proposals to alter existing parishes. Cardington Parish would without any amendment be within the electorate band where the Borough Council’s discretion exists in respect of a Parish Council. Eastcotts Parish, without any amendment is clearly above the level where a Parish Council must be provided.

33. Although the draft recommendations involve excluding the area of Cardington Parish identified as “Area A” on the enclosed plan from Cardington, the number of electors in Cardington Parish would remain as 269. The law does not provide for an automatic recommendation by the Borough Council that Cardington should have a Parish Council. If the retaining of a Parish Council is supported by local electors during Stage Four of the consultation, the issue of a Parish Council for Cardington remains to be determined.

34. The review will seek to address when “Area A” should actually be part of Eastcotts Parish and if this is determined to be the case, the number of electors in Eastcotts Parish would increase from 2823 to 4591 when the final recommendations are implemented (based on the 2021 electorate).

Parish Council Size and Electoral Fairness

35. Cardington Parish has a Parish Council and this is currently comprised of seven Parish Councillors. The current number of electors per Parish Councillor in the current Parish is 38 (based on 269 electors in the NM Polling District). The average ratio of electors to Parish Councillors in the Borough of Bedford is 172 and therefore the position for Cardington is a better representation that is provided on average. There are no Parish Wards in Cardington Parish.

36. Eastcotts Parish has a Parish Council and this is currently comprised of fifteen Parish Councillors. As there are Parish Wards, the representation is five Parish Councillors for Eastcotts South (Cotton End) and ten Parish Councillors for Eastcotts North (Shortstown). The ratio of electors to Parish Councillors for Cotton End Parish Ward is currently 127

(based on 636 electors in NI Polling District). The ratio of electors to Parish Councillors is currently 219 in Eastcotts North (Shortstown) based on 2187 electors in NJ and NK Polling Districts. This discrepancy in electoral ratios between the two Parish Wards is a matter which is not being ignored in this review.

37. Looking at the Parish Wards within Eastcotts Parish and the representation of those separate Parish Wards, the electoral ratios are:

Eastcotts Parish Ward Polling Districts 2015 Current Electoral Variance from the Electorate Ration (Number of average (i.e.80%) - electors per Parish + is a lower ratio Councillor) than the average. Eastcotts South (Cotton NI 636 127 74% End) Eastcotts North NJ 1678 (Shortstown) 219 127% Eastcotts North NK 509 (Shortstown) . Electoral Arrangements

38. The last elections to the Cardington and Eastcotts Parish Councils were in 2015. The next scheduled elections are in 2019.

39. Subject to the outcome of the Stage 4 consultation, the Borough Council intends to alter the existing Parishes of Cardington and Eastcotts at the same time and for this to take place on 1 April. This will mean that they are on the appropriate four yearly cycle of elections commencing 2019.

40. The Borough Council wishes to hear views as to whether the Parish Council of the altered Parish of Cardington should have seven Parish Councillors. This would provide an electoral ratio for the altered Parish of 38 electors per Parish Councillor. This is based on the 2015 electorate of 269 for Polling Districts NM. This is significantly below the average ratio of 172 electors per Parish Councillor for the Borough as a whole. The minimum number of Parish Councillors that there can be on a Parish Council is five (section 16 of the Local Government Act 1972). However, a Parish Council may find it difficult to function effectively with less than seven Parish Councillors. There are no Parish Wards in the Parish of Cardington and representation would need to be made for the creation of such Parish Wards in the future.

41. Views are also sought on the overall number of Parish Councillors for Eastcotts Parish and whether they shall remain at 15 Councillors. Further to this views are sought as to whether to retain the Parish Wards within the current Eastcotts Parish Area and to name them Cotton End and Shortstown. To achieve electoral ratios that were equitable, Shortstown Parish Ward should be represented by thirteen Parish Councillors on Eastcotts Parish Council and the Cotton End Parish Ward should be represented by two Parish Councillors. On the basis of a third Parish Ward electoral equality would mean that there were 11 Parish Councillors for Shortstown Parish Ward, two for Cotton End Parish Ward and two for Shortstown East Parish (Area A on the enclosed Plan). If the area referred to as “Area A” on the enclosed plan were to be included in Eastcotts Parish it would be proposed that it became a third Parish Ward (perhaps with the name Shortstown East)

42. The changes referred to the number of councillors for each Parish Ward seek to promote, as far as can be possible, electoral parity for the period to 2021 and beyond based on the forecast growth in the number of electors. The proposed changes would secure electorate ratios of 1 Parish Councillor to 347 electors for the proposed Shortstown Parish Ward and 1 Parish Councillor to 330 electors for the Cotton End Parish Ward, and if the Area A on the enclosed map were to be part of Eastcotts Parish the ratio would be 1 Parish Councillor to 386 electors. In considering the number of Councillors to be elected to a Parish Council, the Borough Council must have regard to the number of local government electors for the area and any change in that number which is likely to occur in the period of five years beginning with the day when the review starts.

43. The Guidance on Community Governance Reviews published in 2010 confirmed that the Local Government Boundary Commission’s belief was that it is not in the interests of effective and convenient local government, either for voters or for councillors, to have significant differences in levels of representation between parish wards. The Guidance explains that such variations could make it difficult, in workload terms, for councillors to adequately represent the interests of residents. There is also a risk that where one or more wards of a parish are over-represented by councillors, the residents of those wards (and their councillors) could be perceived as having more influence than others on the council. There are no specific guidelines on what might constitute significant differences in representation and the Borough Council will judge each case on its merits.

44. Particularly in relation to the issue of a Parish Ward for the Area A in the enclosed Plan, due regard has been given to the requirements on the Local Government Boundary Commission for England as set out in Schedule 2 to the Local Democracy Economic Development and Construction Act 2009. This provides that for every ward of a Parish having a Parish Council must lie wholly within a single electoral area of the county/district council. Area A would continue to be part of Great Barford Borough Ward even if it were to become part of Eastcotts Parish.

General Analysis

Initial Stage

45. The consultation during Stage Two of this review process generated 46 responses. Most of these used a proforma response facility provided by the Council online and several, including those received from the two Parish Councils, were submitted in the form of a letter or e mail.

46. The Stage Two consultation generated the following levels of responses in respect of proposals by Cardington Parish Council:

1. The Cardington / Eastcotts Parish Boundary should be realigned so that all the developments to the north east of Shortstown that would cross the existing boundary lie within Eastcotts Parish (30 fully supportive & specific, 6 comments less precise but broadly supportive, 4 appear not to support the proposal but there may be some possible confusion about numbering. Total support expressed by Cardington electors = 36 or 13%. 4 Eastcotts electors fully supported the proposal.)

2. The name of Cardington Parish should be changed to “Cardington Village” (11 fully supportive, 17 no comments, 7 supportive depending on whether the CGR makes it clear that the name “New Cardington” is purely a sales name and has no legitimacy and that the Bellway development has nothing to do with Cardington or whether the name “New Cardington” becomes a recognised address designation. 5 Not supportive because want to retain the name Cardington because it is part of the community’s heritage. 1 of the 5 who does not support changing the name of Cardington to Cardington Village wants the new development to be called New Cardington. Total of 18 electors or 7% support for changing the name of Cardington to Cardington Village at this stage, but some of this is dependent on clarification about the illegitimacy of the marketing name “New Cardington”. 4 Eastcotts electors made no comment on this proposal.)

3. The realignment of the Parish Boundary where it is now crossed by the Bedford Southern by-pass should be considered in the CGR. (38 or 14% of Cardington electors made no comment, none directly expressed support for this. 2 electors appeared to be opposed to this proposal but this could be due to confusion about the numbering of proposals. Of the Eastcotts electors who responded, 2 made no comment but 2 supported it. The areas in question were described as being remote from current Parish interests and activities and as being mostly industrial. However, one respondent felt that if the Parish link with Eastcotts changes, the Parish should have a new name that is locally recognised.)

4. The electoral arrangements for Cardington parish should not be changed. (36 or 135 of Cardington respondents made no direct comment about this, 2 indicated support (but this may be due to confusion about the numbering of the Parish Council’s proposals), no Cardington respondents specifically wanted the electoral arrangements to be changed and 2

responses were unclear (due to the confusion about numbering). All 4 of the Eastcotts respondents made no direct comment about electoral arrangements.

47. Whilst 15% of Cardington Parish electors submitted comments in respect of the Community Governance Review during the Stage Two consultation (i.e. more than the 5% figure required by the Terms of Reference for a draft recommendation to be supported by the Borough Council), there were considerable differences in the levels of support expressed in relation to each of the above points. For this reason, the number of electors who support each point above is indicated in brackets.

48. In relation to point 2 in paragraph 45 above, it should be noted that as Cardington Parish would be continuing as a Parish, albeit potentially with amended boundaries and on the basis of a decision to retain the Parish Council, the Borough Council is not permitted through the Community Governance Review to implement a change of style of the Parish Council to Village Council. Such a decision will be for the Parish Council to determine. However, to assist the Parish Council reference will be retained in the consultation with Local Government electors and others so that the Parish Council can consider the views expressed in this consultation.

49. A number of additional community governance points were raised by electors and these supplement those articulated by Cardington Parish Council’s response and are summarised below:

• Ratio of electors to councillors – this was raised specifically by 2 respondents from Eastcotts • The need to consider warding in Eastcotts – this was raised in different ways by respondents from both Cardington and Eastcotts in connection with the new development area to the north east of Shortstown which was seen as distinctively different from (a) Cardington and (b) older parts of Eastcotts Parish. This sentiment was reinforced by respondents who wanted the local heritage of Shortstown to be reflected in the future community governance arrangements, particularly if the area to the north of the Bedford southern bypass were separated from the Parished area. One Eastcotts respondent suggested that there should be a separate Parish Council for Cotton End (recognising the future possibility of a sizeable new development on the horizon). • Significant concerns about the naming and impact of the development described by developers as “New Cardington” on local governance arrangements and community cohesion. These concerns run through many of the comments received and are a strong indicator of the need for the Community Governance Review. • Recognition that Cardington Parish is distinctively different in its rural character, size, function and heritage when compared to the essentially urban character of the new development referred to by developers as “New Cardington” and also the more established Shortstown and Cotton End communities.

• Further recognition that the new development is geographically separate from the settlement of Cardington. Its residents use the local facilities of Shortstown and have closer daily links with Shortstown. Many respondents state that the local infrastructure available in Cardington would be unable to cope with the needs of the new residents who already seek representation of their concerns about e.g. the management of the development through Eastcotts Parish Council

50. The response submitted by Eastcotts Parish Council can be summarised as follows:

1. The parish boundary between Eastcotts and Cardington parishes should be realigned so that all the developments to the north east of Shortstown that would cross the existing boundary lie within Eastcotts Parish. 2. The electoral and warding arrangements for Eastcotts Parish should not be changed. 3. The number of elected parish councillors within Eastcotts Parish should remain unchanged.

51. Eastcotts Parish Council is in broad agreement with Cardington Parish Council about the first proposal (re-alignment of part of their common boundary) and the majority of local consultation respondents in Stage Two of the community governance review support this. Whilst Eastcotts Parish Council does not believe that electoral arrangements and warding arrangements should be changed, some consultation respondents have identified issues to do with the ratio of electors to councillors, clarity of representation and community cohesion. None of the above proposals submitted by Eastcotts Parish Council generated support by more than 5% of electors in Eastcotts Parish. Reference is also made at this point to the matters set out in paragraph 44 above in respect of Parish Wards being wholly with Borough Wards. As such, if the Area A identified in the enclosed map were to form part of Eastcotts Parish it is a valid consideration that it be in its own Parish Ward.

52. The Stage Two consultation resulted in a draft recommendation being approved by Bedford Borough Council and this is the proposal which achieved support from more than 5% of electors in Cardington Parish as follows:

That the south western boundary of Cardington Parish be realigned adjacent to Shortstown so that the approved residential developments predominantly in Eastcotts Parish which would in part currently fall within Cardington Parish be excluded from the area of Cardington Parish. This draft recommendation will be the subject of further consultation as outlined in the approved Terms of Reference for the review.

It is also worth recording that Cardington Parish Council’s proposed change to its name to Cardington Village also received support from more than 5% of the electorate in the Parish.

53. To assist Cardington Parish Council to reach a conclusion on this matter it will be in the remaining consultation as part of this review. The Borough Council has also requested that the following additional matters should also be submitted to electors,

the Parish Councils and other stakeholders in the review area for consideration and to inform the Borough Council in its determination of the underlying questions to which these matters relate.

1. Cardington Parish – That it should continue to have a Parish Council.

2. Cardington and Eastcotts Parishes – That the number of Parish Councillors on the respective Parish Councils should remain as at present.

3. Eastcotts Parish – That the name of the Parish should continue to be Eastcotts.

4. Eastcotts Parish – That the boundary of the Parish should be amended to extend the Parish to include that area referred to in 45.1 above (and in the enclosed plan shown as “Area A”)

5. Eastcotts Parish – That the current two Parish Wards should be retained using the existing boundary and that the names of the two Wards should be Shortstown and Cotton End respectively. There should be electoral parity for representation of both Parish Wards and, as such, the Parish Councillors for Shortstown Parish Ward would be 13 and for Cotton End Parish ward would be 2.

54. The Borough Council also invites alternative options in relation to representation for Eastcotts Parish Council as part of the consultation process in Stage Four; both in terms of the number of Councillors and the timing of implementation of proposals. In particular, and as an element of this, should the Area A identified on the enclosed Plan become part of Eastcotts Parish, a separate Parish Ward being created and the representation on the Parish Council then be amended to two Parish Councillors for Cotton End Parish Ward, 11 for Shortstown Parish Ward and two for the new parish ward (perhaps to be called Shortstown East).

Conclusions

55. Consultation will now be undertaken with all electors in Cardington and Eastcotts Parishes about the draft recommendations

4 What happens next?

56. There will now be a consultation period of four weeks, during which everyone is invited to comment on the draft recommendation on the future community governance arrangements contained in this report. Within this consultation, attention is drawn to the opportunity for alternative options to be identified. We will take into account fully all submissions received by 21 February 2017. Any received after this date may not be taken into account.

57. We have not finalised our conclusions on the community governance arrangements for Cardington and Eastcotts Parishes and welcome comments from parties with an interest in the review relating to the proposed boundaries, number of parish councillors, parish names, and other electoral arrangements. We would welcome any thoughts on alternative options and the submission of other proposals during Stage Four. We will consider all the evidence submitted to us during the consultation period before preparing our final recommendations.

58. Express your views by writing directly to:

Head of Democratic and Registration Services Bedford Borough Council Borough Hall Cauldwell Street Bedford MK42 9AP

Submissions can also be made by using the online survey on our website, www.bedford.gov.uk or by emailing [email protected]

59. Please note that the consultation stages of a community governance review are public consultations. In the interests of openness and transparency, we make available for public inspection full copies of all representations the Borough Council takes into account as part of a review. Accordingly, copies of all Stage Four representations will be placed on deposit locally at the offices of Bedford Borough Council and pseudonymised details will be available on our website at www.bedford.gov.uk

60. If you are a member of the public and not writing on behalf of a parish council or organisation we will remove any personal identifiers, such as postal or email addresses, signatures or phone numbers from your submission before it is 24

made public. We will remove signatures from all letters, no matter who they are from.

61. In the light of representations received, we will review our draft recommendations and the additional considerations and we will consider whether they should be altered. As indicated earlier, it is therefore important that all interested parties let us have their views, whether or not they agree with the draft recommendations and additional considerations. We will then publish our final recommendations.

62. After the publication of our final recommendations, the final recommendations must be approved by a full meeting of the Borough Council. If approved, an Order – the legal document which brings into force the final recommendations – will be drafted. If accepted, the new community governance arrangements will come into force on 1 April 2018.

5 Mapping

Draft recommendations for Cardington and Eastcotts Parishes

63. The map at Appendix A represents the draft recommendation to alter the boundary of Cardington Parish by removing the area shown as “Area A” (part of Polling District NM) from the Parish. The Borough Council is consulting electors in Eastcotts Parish about whether “Area A” should be included as part of Eastcotts Parish i.e. subject to the outcome of consultation, the Parish boundary would be amended to include “Area A” as part of the proposed Shortstown Ward of Eastcotts Parish.

Appendix A

Map showing “Area A” - The area that the draft recommendation proposes to exclude from Cardington Parish. This is the same area that one of the draft considerations proposes to include within Eastcotts Parish