Electoral Review of Breckland Council Proposal for a warding pattern across Breckland Council to support a Council size of 50 Councillors September 2013 Breckland Council Page 1 05/09/13 Introduction The Council was pleased to receive notification from the Local Government Boundary Commission that the Council’s submission for a council size of 50 had been adopted. The Commission has now asked for submissions proposing Warding patterns that reflect this change. Any group or individual is able to put forward suggestions on Warding patterns for the district. The Local Government Boundary Commission for England will consider all submissions and propose a warding pattern for the district. The Council’s proposals follow the process undertaken by the Working Group of six councillors set up for the purpose of in-depth research into the issues relating to council size and warding. This is a cross- party group with members spread across the district. Guidance issued by the Local Government Boundary Commission suggests that three main rules are followed when a new pattern of wards are produced. They are: Delivering electoral equality for local voters – this means ensuring that each local councillor represents roughly the same number of people so that the value of your vote is the same regardless of where you live in the local authority. Reflecting the interests and identities of local communities – this means establishing electoral arrangements which, as far as possible, maintain local ties and where boundaries are easily identifiable. Promoting effective and convenient local government – this means ensuring that the new wards or electoral divisions can be represented effectively by their elected representative(s) and that the new electoral arrangements as a whole allow the local authority to conduct is business effectively. In addition, we must also ensure that the pattern of wards reflects the electoral cycle of the council. Matters that could not be taken into account during the electoral review are: Changes to boundaries between local authorities Changes to parish boundaries Creation of new parishes Changes to electoral arrangements of parish and town councils unless they are as a direct consequence of proposed changes made to district wards. Breckland Council Page 2 05/09/13 The proposal is for a mixture of one, two and three member wards which equates to 50 Councillors across 31 wards with: 16 single member wards 11 two member wards 4 three member wards Profile of the District Breckland Council covers an area of 500 square miles (1300sq kilometres) and is one of the largest rural districts in England. Covering much of the south, west and central parts of Norfolk, Breckland is centred round the five market towns of Attleborough, Dereham, Swaffham, Thetford and Watton. The largest of these is Thetford with a population of 24,340 and the smallest is Watton with a population of 7202. In total Breckland District covers approximately 25% of the total area of Norfolk. Breckland has 94 Parish Councils, including some joint Parish Councils and more than two-thirds of these have fewer than 500 residents. The area is one of the most rurally sparse in the country, the current density is approximately 1 person per hectare which sets particular challenges in terms of service delivery and demands on resources. Warding of Breckland The working group began a two-stage process on warding by firstly arriving at a ‘base map’ with allocations of councillors to each urban or rural area using the Town and Parish boundaries as building blocks. This took into account community identity, effectiveness of current warding and electoral equality. Consultation was then carried out with the current district councillors on the base map as the foundation stone for the process. At this stage, members were aware of how many councillors were required in the 5 market towns (Attleborough, Dereham, Swaffham, Thetford, and Watton) but it was unclear how or whether they would be warded. Therefore the submission includes a mixture of one, two and three Member wards across the District. The second stage of the process involved inviting District Councillors representing each of the towns and affected surrounding areas to workshops where they were asked for feedback on proposed suggestions using their expertise and local knowledge, and to suggest a preferred option going forward. Breckland Council Page 3 05/09/13 Based on a Council Size of 50 and growth projections, the projected electorate in 2018 is 106,694 which gives the average number of electors for each Councillor is 2134 compared with the 2012 figure of 1834 (based on the current number of 54 elected members). Wards were permitted to be within a variance of +/- 10% of the average. The number of electors includes a 6-year forecast based on known forthcoming developments and a professional assessment of the housing delivery via the new Local Plan. Whilst the Council has attempted to deliver electoral equality for local voters, in some wards it has not been possible to maintain the electorate within the permitted variance of +/- 10%. This is primarily due to the rural nature of the District and the number of electors within the parishes. There were particular challenges in re-drawing the boundaries, such as the STANTA battle area towards the south of the district, with the parishes of Sturston and Tottington being a prohibited area used by the Ministry of Defence as a battle ground. We also have Parishes which are required to be together as they share a Parish Council, these are Brettenham and Kilverstone, Beeston and Bittering, and Bintree and Twyford. There is minimal public transport within the District with only the major routes covered, the A47 from Dereham through to Norwich or Kings Lynn, and the A11 from Attleborough through to Thetford. The rural parishes have very limited public transport, if indeed any at all. The District is served by two main railway stations at Attleborough and Thetford and gives easy access to Peterborough, Cambridge and Norwich. Initially the Working Group proposed that when the boundaries of a Ward changed, the Ward name should change wherever possible. This was to help with electors identify the Ward to which they belonged rather than making the association between the ward name and old boundaries, however after representations from local councillors, the working group agreed on the proposed ward names within this submission, some of which match existing names. Breckland Council Page 4 05/09/13 Base Map Breckland Council Page 5 05/09/13 Breckland Council Page 6 05/09/13 It is proposed that the District is divided into the following wards: Suggested Ward Name: All Saints This ward surrounds Attleborough and is to the east of the district. It has the A11 running through the north of Quidenham and through the centre of Snetterton where there is significant work to improve employment growth. Whilst the proposal falls outside of the Commission’s suggested guidance in terms of electoral equality, with the exception of the small parish of Little Ellingham, all the parishes border the town of Attleborough and form a natural Ward to the west of the town. The road network across the Ward is good, with easy access to the main A11 Norwich to London road. Electorate Area Electorate Total Number of Electors +/- Number Electorate councillors per Councillor Ellingham (Great) 939 2436 1 2436 +14% Ellingham (little) 182 Rocklands 520 Quidenham 368 Snetterton 150 Shropham 277 Suggested Ward Name: Ashill Ashill is located in the heart of the district. The nature of the geography of the ward, the size of the electorate in the area makes this an ideal scenario for a single member ward, and falls well within the optimum electoral figure. It comprises a number of rural parishes with Ashill being the largest. The A1065 is the main road through Ickburgh and Hilborough, with the B1108 coming off this and running east through the north of Ickburgh, Hilborough and Little Cressingham on into Watton. Electorate Area Electorate Total Number of Electors +/- Number Electorate councillors per Councillor Ashill 1083 2214 1 2214 +4% Cressingham (Great) 206 Cressingham (Little) 106 Ickburgh 200 Hilborough 172 Pickenham (South) 72 Pickenham (North) 375 Breckland Council Page 7 05/09/13 Attleborough Attleborough is an affluent market town to the east of the District with the A11 running around the north edge of the town. The proposal is to divide into 2 wards, with 3 members in Queens Ward (the north of the town) and 2 Members in Burgh and Haverscroft Ward (the south of the town). There is significant development within the proposed Attleborough Queens ward of approximately 2160 electors by 2018. An Area Action Plan for Attleborough is currently being prepared. Significant development in Attleborough will require a longer lead in time, with early phases of the major development unlikely to be occupied until 2016/17. Town members were presented with two suggestions on how the boundaries should change with either a north/south divide or an east/west divide. Using the member’s knowledge of the town, it was concluded that a North / South divide seemed logical using the natural boundary of the London Road through the centre of the town and out on the Besthorpe Road. On the base map, it is proposed that Besthorpe Parish be included with Attleborough, and Besthorpe electorate would be included in the Burgh & Haverscroft Ward, based on projected electorate figures for 2018, the new Burgh & Haverscroft ward would have 2 Councillors with an electorate of 4659 (within the 10% of the desired 2134 electors per councillor) and the new Queens ward would have 3 Councillors with an electorate of 6172 (also within the 10% of the desired 2134 electors per councillor).