LGBCE review of Haringey Ward Boundaries

Haringey Council Consultation Stage Response to LGBCE proposals, August 2019

Purpose of Paper To respond to the formal proposals of the Commission for Haringey Ward Boundaries. We are pleased to say that many of these do closely reflect proposals made by the Council in it’s original submission. In some Wards, there are adjustments by LGBCE which we have put to the cross-party Member Working Group which we have considered carefully and think improve upon our own proposals. These are rational, neat, and conform to the LGBCE’s own criteria. We are content to accept them and that yields a list of some 11 proposed Wards about which we therefore have no further comment. They are listed below. Our proposed changes then follow these. The accompanying map reflects our full proposals including those made by the Commission with which we concur. Wards that we are “not contesting” 1. Northumberland Park 2. Tottenham Hale 3. South Tottenham 4. Bruce Castle 5. Tottenham Central 6. Seven Sisters 7. West Green 8. White Hart Lane 9. Woodside 10. Noel Park 11. Bounds Green That leaves 8 wards to be “settled.” Again, the Member Working Group has considered the Commission proposals and also local opinion upon our own original submission. Changes we would seek to make 1. Ducketts and Manor House Upon representations that have been made to the Council since the publication of the proposed map, the Council is of the opinion that retaining a ward which is reflective of the existing Harringay and St Ann’s Wards is to be preferred. The revised Harringay ward would therefore have a boundary up the middle of Green Lanes to St Ann’s Road, at which point it runs briefly east along St Ann’s Road. The boundary would then go north up the centre of Glenwood Road, along Anstey Walk to West Green Road, before following West Green Road in a northwest direction to Green Lanes, then to the junction with Turnpike Lane. Due to its strong resemblance to the existing Harringay ward, the ward would retain its name. It would be made up of all the existing Harringay polling districts (HA1-HA4) and in the region of 650 electors from the existing SA1 polling district. The parallel rows of Victorian Streets which form the backbone of the both the old and proposed new wards are locally known as “The Harringay Ladder” and our original proposal was predicated on the basis that the ward had become too small. The community identity of “the ladder” can be retained by our revised proposals. The corresponding St Ann’s ward would therefore lie to the east of Green Lanes. The north boundary of this ward would be West Green Road. The east boundary would run down Cornwall Road to St Ann’s Road, down Hermitage Road to the Overground line, east to Seven Sisters Road, then down Seven Sisters Road in a southwest direction to the borough’s southern boundary. The ward’s southern boundary would be the borough boundary. The west boundary would be as described for the proposed Harringay ward; the centre of Green Lanes then the centre of Glenwood Road. This ward would be comprised of all of the SA2, SA3, SS1 and SS2 polling districts, as well as some of the SA1 and SA4 polling districts. This ward would be called St Ann’s as it is predominantly made up of existing St Ann’s polling districts. Moreover, St Ann’s Road runs through the centre of the ward, linking communities and making travel possible. 2. Hornsey, Crouch End and Stroud Green The Council was not minded to accept the proposed LGBCE boundary between Hornsey and Crouch End. It is of the opinion that all houses on Elder Avenue and Rosebery Gardens should lie in a Crouch End ward. Upon further thinking, the member group decided that placing streets to the south of Tottenham Lane in Stroud Green would not be appropriate as they are only accessing from Tottenham Lane in the north, and not from the roads which make up Stroud Green in the south. Therefore, the Council believes that the following roads in the existing HO4 polling district should remain within a Hornsey ward, and not in the Commission’s proposed Stroud Green ward: Broad Lane, Cranford Way, Harvey Road, Montague Road, Oakley Gardens, Rathcoole Avenue and Rathcoole Gardens. All of Inderwick Road and Nelson Road should be in Stroud Green in line with the LGBCE’s proposal. Reverting to the existing boundary between Crouch End and Stroud Green down the centre of Ferme Park Road, as opposed to in between Ferme Park Road and Nelson Road, would allow Stroud Green to go some way to balancing the loss of the roads outlined above in its northeast, making the ward a more ideal size. The sum of these changes would reduce the deviation that Hornsey and Stroud Green wards have from the average elector number. Minimal changes would have been made to the number of electors in Crouch End which in the LGBCE’s proposal had a negligible deviation. We feel that our proposed Boundary is neater and more rational, and more reflective of community identity, than the LGBCE proposal and also just as solid in terms of electoral equality. 3. Muswell Hill East and West The Council is inclined to argue in favour of Muswell Hill East and West wards in line with its initial submission. The Council also felt that a deviation of almost 7% for Muswell Hill South was outside of its ideal range. Accepting the changes to Bounds Green, the Council proposes the following: A boundary which runs from the borough’s northern boundary, south down Colney Hatch Lane and Muswell Hill Broadway to the roundabout, then in a southwest direction down Muswell Hill Broadway. For greater electoral balance, the boundary should go to the east of the boundary on Church Crescent, before joining the Highgate boundary at the north edge of Highgate Wood. Again, we are aware of considerable public interest in retaining ward arrangements more akin to the Council’s “West-East alignment of wards in this area rather than the Commission’s “North-south” orientation and somewhat elongated proposal for the Alexandra area. We also consider that , in deference to community identity matters, that we should revert to “Fortis Green” and “Muswell Hill” if our proposals are accepted. 4. Highgate and Queen’s Wood The Council has decided that the existing boundary between Muswell Hill and Highgate which splits Queen’s Wood is preferential. This boundary ensures that no houses on Muswell Hill Road and Wood Vale end up ‘cut off’ and maintains a more aesthetic boundary. 5. Electorate Outturns of the proposals. The Commission have rightly indicated the electorates pertinent to the wards which we are “not contesting.” Our re-invigorated “Harringay Ward” would have 9659 electors. The new St Ann’s would go to 10038. The adjustments we suggest between Hornsey, Stroud Green and Crouch End would yield 10126, 9766 and 9835 respectively. The new Muswell Hill would have 9315 and the new Fortis Green, 9521. The change we proppse in respect of highgate is aesthetic and practical but does not involve elector numbers. These are, thus, incredibly balanced electorates. 6. Summary The Council has considered the LGBCE proposals carefully. We think our final submission takes the best of our original submission and of the LGBCE proposals and makes further improvements. Some of these are substantial and important and the map we commend to the Commission yields a solution that is electorally equal, reflective of community identity within Haringey and phenomenally tidy in terms of boundaries. We look forward to the Commission’s final determinations with confidence. Finally, we would express again our appreciation of the very sensible extension to the consultation period for the whole community by the LGBCE as a result of the re-instatement of the European parliamentary elections. Haringey Boundary Working Party, August 2019