Egan, Helen

From: Sent: 03 March 2015 16:05 To: Reviews@ Cc: Subject: Fwd: Electoral Review of

Dear Sirs Please see the email below in relation to the renaming the Ward of to Barming and Teston Ward. As the long time county councillor for Rural West, I fully support the views of the parish council and residents on this issue. Barming And Teston are two separate villages and communities and have separate Parish Councils and village websites etc. They are serviced and council tax assessed as two separate villages and billed separately. Teston has a wealth of ahistorical and is one of the oldest parishes in Maidstone Borough Council area and was one of the first three villages/parishes to form the Maidstone borough. Similar wards in Maidstone that reflect more than one village are identified in the naming of the ward. For example - and Langley; and ; and ; Marden and etc. All villages in their own right. I do hope this can be rectified as part of your assessment of the MAIDSTONE divisions element of the Electoral Review of Kent Consultation.

Kind regards Mrs Paulina Stockell

County Councillor for Maidstone Rural West. [email protected] Sent from my iPad - Paulina

Begin forwarded message:

-----Original Message----- From: Teston Parish Council To: reviews Sent: Wed, 28 Jan 2015 20:30 Subject: Electoral Review of Kent

Dear Sirs,

As part of the electoral review we understand that it is within your remit to review the names of parish wards.

Our parish is one of two parishes within the ward of Barming (Barming being the other parish). Barming and Teston are both very distinct and separate communities. Barming parish lies on the western edge of the Maidstone urban area; Teston is a rural village of c300 homes that lies to the west of Barming. The two settlements are separated by almost 1.5 miles of open countryside.

There are other wards within the Maidstone area that reflect the presence of two parishes within the ward and we have never understood why Barming ward is not named Barming and Teston. To call the ward Barming does not give a good reflection of the make-up of the electoral area and has been known to lead to confusion among our

1 residents. We would ask, please, that you look at renaming the Ward 'Barming and Teston' as part of your review so as to add clarity.

Mrs Michelle Tatton Clerk to Teston Parish Council 10 Clare Wood Drive East Malling Kent ME19 6PA

www.testonpc.kentparishes.gov.uk ;

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