THE RICKMANSWORTH and District RESIDENTS' ASSOCIATION
Total Page：16
File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb
THE RICKMANSWORTH and District RESIDENTS’ ASSOCIATION www.rickmansworth-residents-association.org (Founded 1929) Chairman: Please reply to: Dr Jon Baker Secretary 14 January 2013 The Review Officer (Three Rivers) Local Government Boundary Commission for England Layden House 76-86 Turnmill Street London EC1M 5LG Dear Sir New Ward Boundaries Within Three Rivers District The Rickmansworth & District Residents' Association (the Association) bases its submission on the following assumptions: All the new wards will each have three councillors. The district wards need not be aligned with parish boundaries. There is a preference for wards to be based on areas with a common centre of interest. Rickmansworth is focused on the town centre adjacent to the bridge over the River Colne, with development on both sides of the river and extending south to Maple Cross along the western bank of the river. The effective boundaries of the area are: On the eastern (London) side of the Colne the Rickmansworth and Moor Park golf courses form a natural boundary between the existing Rickmansworth Ward and Moor Park and Eastbury ward. That boundary would remain logical and relevant as both Moor Park and Eastbury tend to look towards Northwood or Watford rather than Rickmansworth. To the north of Rickmansworth the River Chess forms a natural boundary between Rickmansworth facing development and that in Croxley Green. To the west the old parish boundary between Chorleywood and Rickmansworth has long been obscured by development that is effectively focused on Rickmansworth and the A412 Uxbridge Road. The M25 was built in the gap left by development in the two towns and the motorway would form an effective western boundary to a Rickmansworth group of wards until it reaches the point where the southern boundary of Chorleywood Parish crosses the motorway. The road links between Chorleywood and the Rickmansworth to Maple Cross area are not very good, emphasising the logical separation. To the south there is the natural boundary of the River Colne and the county boundary with Greater London and Buckinghamshire. The Association proposes, therefore, that three wards are created within the area that includes the present Rickmansworth, Rickmansworth West, Penn and Maple Cross & Mill End wards. The area should be expanded so as to include the population necessary to justify 9 councillors within the 39 member council, and reflect the reality of the current economic focus of residents, by making the western boundary of the wards run along the line of the M25 from where it crosses the River Chess to where the boundary between Chorleywood and Maple Cross & Mill End crosses the motorway. The Association lacks the modelling tools to decide precisely where the ward boundaries should be drawn within the proposed area but suggests that the wards be: Maple Cross & Mill End Ward, with the current boundary moving a bit more towards Rickmansworth. Moneyhill and Arnett Hill Ward, stretching from the river to the M25 with a northern boundary roughly along Moneyhill Road and Pheasants Way to the top of the hill. Rickmansworth and East Chorleywood Ward, comprising the existing Rickmansworth Ward and the rest of the land inside the M25 that is north of the suggested southern ward boundary and south of the River Chess. The Association believes that this would leave an appropriate population for a single Chorleywood Ward outside the M25. Yours faithfully Peter Crispin .