Mansfield District Council
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Submission of Mansfield District Council 1. Introduction 1.1 Mansfield District Council is currently represented by 46 members who represent 19 wards. Each ward is represented by either two or three members. These arrangements came into effect at the May 2003 District Council elections following a Periodic Electoral Review of the district in 1999 under the Local Government Act 1992. The Council holds full Council elections every four years. 1.2 Since October 2002 the Executive arrangements operated by the authority have comprised a directly elected Mayor and Cabinet. The directly elected Mayor is elected every four years with the term of office running concurrent with that of the members of the authority. 1.3 The implementation of Section 8 of the Local Government and Public Involvement in Health Act 2007 enabled Authorities which hold whole council elections to request the Electoral Commission to direct the Boundary Committee to undertake an electoral review with a view to providing for single member wards. 1.4 In July 2008 the Council considered a report from the directly elected Mayor to request the Electoral Commission to undertake an Electoral Review of the district with a view to establishing single member wards. This request was subsequently supported by the Council at a meeting held on 29 July 2008. 1.5 The Council received notification from the Boundary Committee for England on 22 June 2009 that it had been directed by the Electoral Commission to undertake an electoral review of the district. The review was formally commenced on 4 August 2009 and dealt with the consultation on the appropriate council size for the authority. 1.6 Following this consultation period the Council was notified on 20 October 2009 that the Boundary Committee for England was minded to recommend 36 elected members in addition to the directly elected Mayor. This recommendation formed the basis for the next stage of the review which commenced in October 2009 relating to warding patterns for the district. 2. Methodology 2.1 The district is currently divided into five County electoral divisions namely: Warsop Mansfield North and Mansfield Woodhouse South Mansfield West Mansfield East Mansfield 2.2 These five areas also form the basis for the Council’s community engagement mechanisms with local residents, partners and businesses which is conducted through four area assemblies and a pilot area partnership in the Mansfield North and Mansfield Woodhouse. These areas are co-terminus with the County electoral divisions. 2.3 These five areas were used as a basis for allocating the thirty six members across the district with the result that the members were allocated as follows: Warsop – four members Mansfield North and Mansfield Woodhouse – eight members South Mansfield – nine members East Mansfield – eight members West Mansfield – seven members 2.4 The Council considered that using these five areas as the foundations for the review not only provided the mechanism for allocating the thirty six members across the district but also provided for convenient and effective local government as it was consistent with existing arrangements and therefore would be understood by the electorate. These areas are also the focus of the Council’s community engagement and partnership arrangements. 2.5 The starting point for determining the district’s electoral forecast up to 2013 has been to use the housing trajectory in the Council’s Housing Monitoring report. This suggests that 2,400 units could be built within the next five years. The District’s overall housing supply (existing permissions) is 3290. It is anticipated by the Council’s Planning Policy section that 73% of the supply could be built during that period. By working through the Housing monitoring report ward by ward and multiplying the number of units remaining in each ward by 0.73. For example in Berry Hill there are 355 properties remaining multiplied by 0.73 to give 259 new units. This equates to an increase in the electorate of 3,014 across the district when this process is repeated for all wards. 2.6 The result of the process referred to in 2.5 above has given a forecast electorate of 85, 675 as at 2013. This figure has been forwarded to the Boundary Committee for England. 2.7 This equates to an electorate of 2, 380 for each member and this figure has formed the basis for devising the ward arrangements. 3. Warsop 3.1 Under current arrangements this area is represented by the Meden and Birklands wards which both return three members. Both these wards are located in the north of the district and are contained entirely within the district’s only parish of Warsop. 3.2 The submission contains proposals to establish four single member wards for the area covered by Market Warsop and the settlements of Meden Vale, Warsop Vale, Church Warsop, Spion Kop, Sookholme and the surrounding rural areas. 3.3 This area is largely rural in nature and in order to provide effective and convenient local government, the submission provides for the rural element of the parish to be divided between the proposed four wards. This is to ensure that no ward in the parish is geographically too large to prevent a single member representing the electorate effectively. 3.4 A substantial housing regeneration project is currently underway in the area which will result in the demolition of existing properties and the creation of replacement properties in the district. The proposals have allocated the redevelopment into a single ward to prevent it from straddling two wards and maintain the community within one ward. 3.5 The proposals for Warsop were circulated to the Warsop Parish Council but no comments have been received by the Authority. 3.6 The submission in respect of the Warsop electoral division provides for the following four single member wards with the electoral forecasts as shown below: Name Forecast Electorate Variance from average of 2, 380 Netherfield 2,426 1.97% Warsop Carrs 2,547 7.05% Meden 2,448 2.89% Market Warsop 2,485 4.45% 4. Mansfield North and Mansfield Woodhouse 4.1 Mansfield Woodhouse lies to the immediate north of Mansfield and is primarily a residential area. Although now absorbed into the Mansfield urban area, the settlement has retained a special character of its own and now functions as a district centre. There is also a strong residential presence at the eastern end of the centre, whilst the western end has a largely industrial/commercial character. 4.2 Under current arrangements this area covers the Leeming, Priory, Robin Hood and Sherwood wards which return three, two, three and two members respectively. The submission provides for the creation of eight single member wards for the division. 4.3 The draft proposals that were considered by Select Commission 3(Corporate) on 23 November 2009 contained a proposal that would place Blake Street, Sherwood Street and Yorke Street in Sherwood ward. This proposal was not accepted as it would separate these streets from the neighbouring community in Yeoman Hill Ward. As an alternative it was proposed by the Commission and supported by the Executive Mayor that these streets be transferred to Sherwood ward on the grounds at this would maintain the community within this area. Transferring these electors was also supported by the Priory Ward tenants and Residents Association. 4.4 The consultation comments received from members of the Sherwood North Tenants and Residents Association were supportive of the proposals for the area. A summary of these consultation comments can be found at Appendix B 4.5 The submission in respect of the Mansfield North and Mansfield Woodhouse electoral division provides for the following eight single member wards with the electoral forecasts as shown below: Name Forecast Electorate Variance from average of 2, 380 Manor 2,520 5.88% Hornby 2,195 -7.85% Peafields 2,455 3.19% Yeoman Hill 2,405 1.09% Woodlands 2,309 -2.94% Sherwood 2,209 -7.18% Woodhouse 2,379 -0.04% Park Hall 2,524 6.05% 5. South Mansfield 5.1 This electoral area covers the current Berry Hill, Eakring, Portland and Ravensdale wards which return three, three, two and two members respectively. 5.2 The area has seen considerable residential development since the last electoral review which has resulted in the Berry Hill ward in particular being under represented by 28%. 5.3 Since the periodic electoral review conducted in 1999 substantial residential development in the former Berry Hill quarry has been undertaken and further development still has to be undertaken to complete the scheme. The submission has sought to contain within a single ward this development on the grounds that it provides easily identifiable ward boundaries. 5.4 The area will also experience further residential development which has also been taken into account when calculating the electoral forecast. 5.5 During the public consultation event a representation was received from a member of the public that the proposal to include the Linnet Drive area in the Carr Bank ward poorly reflected and represented the community in this area. The representation suggested that the community would be better represented by transferring the area to the Racecourse ward. This representation was accepted by both Select Commission 3 and the Executive Mayor in considering representations received prior to recommending a scheme of proposed wards. 5.6 Following the consultation period comments were received from district Councillor C. Smith relating to proposals for the Carr Bank Ward. The comments related to apartments on Bath Lane, properties fronting Sandy Lane, properties on Albany Close and Drive and the area behind the Ravensdale shops on Sanders Avenue and Houghton Road. 5.7 As a result of these representations the Executive Mayor amended the draft proposals to transfer 28 electors on Bath Lane and 58 electors on Sandy Lane to better reflect the community identity whilst still providing convenient and effective local government.