Councillor ANITA LOWER Leader of the Liberal Democrat Group

Opposition Office Room 136, Civic Centre , NE1 8QH Phone: The Review Officer (Newcastle upon Tyne) E-mail: The Local Government Boundary Commission www.newcastle.gov.uk For 14th Floor Millbank Tower 21-24 Millbank London SW1P 4QP

Email: [email protected]

BY POST AND EMAIL

19th August 2016

Our reference: AL/LH

Dear Sir,

Alternative submission for Castle, Cheviot View and Callerton and wards.

Following on from Newcastle City Council’s approval of the draft warding recommendations I would like to submit an alternative option in respect of the above 3 wards. One of the major objections to the new warding pattern was the subdivision of the Neighbourhood Forum area between wards.

I will not cover those again as I have attached my previous letter at appendix 1.

The overview is as follows:-

(The following descriptions are of the areas in each ward – I am not suggesting these would be the proposed names). See map in Appendix 2.

 Ward A - revised Castle ward, including Dinnington, Hazelrigg and Brunswick villages, Great Park and village. Approx. 8029 electors (variance -4%)  Ward B – ward including Kingston Park and Newbiggin Hall Estate. Approx. 8881 electors (variance +6.5%)  Ward C - revised Callerton and Throckley ward, now excluding Woolsington village and including the area west of Newbiggin Hall Estate (called Bedeburn ward in Woolsington parish). Approx. 8940 (variance (+7%).

The boundary between Ward B and C uses the existing parish ward boundary in Woolsington between polling districts ZEN and ZCN (see map Appendix 2). This boundary, running the length of Newbiggin Lane, is already a natural boundary between Newbiggin

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Hall Estate to the east and the three smaller estates of Whorlton Grange, Westgarth and Hareydene to the west.

As is demonstrated by the parish wards, there is no natural centre to these areas with no local focus on shopping or services each area has its own school, shop and community space.

The road at Newbiggin Lane is a natural boundary across the A696 to Bankfoot.

The new Ward B would be better divided from Ward A along Brunton Road and Kingston Park Road as this runs across from Newbiggin Lane to the A1, making a natural boundary between the established Kingston Park Estate and build in the Great Park.

The new Ward A (Castle) would include the new build in as well as the villages of , Dinnington, Brunswick and Woolsington, all of which are covered by parish councils.

The new Callerton & Throckley ward would be within tolerance but would be geographically smaller.

We suggest the following ward names:-

Ward A – Castle ward Ward B – West View ward (rather than Cheviot View as the Cheviots cannot be seen from the ward) Ward C – Callerton and Throckley ward.

Yours faithfully

Councillor Anita Lower Leader of the Liberal Democrat Group

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