Local Residents Submissions to the North Somerset Council Electoral Review
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Local Residents submissions to the North Somerset Council electoral review This PDF document contains 25 submissions from Local Residents. Some versions of Adobe allow the viewer to move quickly between bookmarks. Click on the submission you would like to view. If you are not taken to that page, please scroll through the document. Cooper, Mark From: Fuller, Heather Sent: 11 March 2014 08:34 To: Cooper, Mark Subject: FW: Ward Changes in North Somerset From: Alan Sent: 10 March 2014 21:12 To: Reviews@ Subject: Fwd: Ward Changes in North Somerset Sent from my iPad Begin forwarded message: From: Alan Date: March 10, 2014 at 9:07:41 PM GMT To: "[email protected]" <[email protected]> Subject: Ward Changes in North Somerset To the Local Government Boundary Commission. - An objection to the recent 2014 Boundary Proposals Dear Sir / Madam, As a parish councillor in Winford I am very concerned at the new proposals that have just been notified to us. The proposal to add Winford into a two councillor ward under Long Ashton would be extremely detrimental to our district council representation for the following reasons. Long Ashton itself has I understand an electorate of something like 4250 out of a proposed 6900, so it would be extremely unlikely that anybody other than a Long Ashton based councillor could get elected to either of the two seats available. What sort of representation will Winford residents get then ? Winford, Dundry and Barrow Gurney are rural parishes, and Winford consists of three small villages with few amenities as there is only one shop, one primary school, a pub in each village and almost no bus service. It has little similarity to the life and community structure of the growing urban community of Long Ashton. Winford secondary school children mainly go to Chew Valley school which is over the border in BANES, as is our local surgery and our most available shopping. What understanding will Long Ashton based councillors have of this situation, or indeed for the impact on Winford parish residents of our immediate neighbour Bristol Airport on our Western boundary. 1 Winford is separated from Long Ashton by two main roads the A38 and the A370 and the geographical layout of the area makes it unlikely that Winford residents will normally visit Long Ashton for shopping or recreation. As proposed the 2013 boundary alignment of one councillor for the four rural parishes of Winford, Dundry, Barrow Gurney and Flax Bourton was a much better fit to our village communities. The new proposal may be a numerical fit but what use is that to the proper representation of the residents, and I therefore request that the 2013 proposals be reinstated for our future representation by a village based representative. Yours faithfully, Alan Sage Councillor, Winford Parish Council Email : Sent from my iPad 2 Cooper, Mark From: Egan, Helen Sent: 26 March 2014 08:44 To: Cooper, Mark Subject: FW: wraxall and failand Hi Mark, Please see submission below for North Somerset. Regards, Helen From: sampson AN Sent: 22 March 2014 19:20 To: Reviews@ Subject: wraxall and failand Dear Commissioners, I am totally against the split of Failand and Wraxall parish council and their detachment from Long Ashton ward which you are proposing to do. It is a measure which will not help us in any way because this new way is disjointed and does not consider how well the current arrangement is working and delivering. The new proposal appears that power is being used without carefully thinking about the consequences. This will cause upheaval and will be detrimental to the whole area. It will destroy all the bond between Wraxall, Failand and Long Ashton. We respect each other and have a deep knowledge of our area which is helping us to deal with our problems. I hope that the opinions of local people in Failand, Wraxall and Long Ashton will be considered equally, honestly and sincerely. Kind Regards. 162 Cooper, Mark From: Egan, Helen Sent: 17 March 2014 09:19 To: Cooper, Mark Subject: FW: Boundary change North Somerset consultation response Hi Mark , Please see below submission for North Somerset. Regards, Helen ‐‐‐‐‐Original Message‐‐‐‐‐ From: Sent: 14 March 2014 18:22 To: Reviews@ Subject: Boundary change North Somerset consultation response Hi I would like to register that I have an issue with the consultation you are running over Boundary change North Somerset. You have proposed a 'mega' ward called Churchill/Wrington which is made up of 9 parishes. I object to the formation of Churchill/Wrington ward as I feel its undemocratic as I would not have access to councillors on a local scale. These parishes have very different requirements and such a mega ward would not reduce costs or make the councillors more responsible for their actions. I would like to register that if the boundary needs to change then the formation of 'Congresbury and Puxton' could work. Please do not allow the Churchill/Wrington formation! Many thanks Stuart Sampson 201 Cooper, Mark From: Fuller, Heather Sent: 03 April 2014 16:18 To: Cooper, Mark Subject: FW: Objection to Proposal to Merge Winford Ward with Long Ashton From: Pam Sayer Sent: 03 April 2014 10:22 To: Reviews@ Subject: Objection to Proposal to Merge Winford Ward with Long Ashton Dear Sirs, As a resident of Winford Village, and therefore Winford Ward, I wish to record my very strong objection to the proposal to merge Winford Ward with Long Ashton, resulting in the current Winford Ward being represented by two councillors, neither of which reside within Winford, Felton, Regil or Dundry, but in fact both live in Long Ashton. The Long Ashton district may look to be adjacent to Winford Ward on a map, but the two areas are separated by the A38 and have almost nothing in common. The Long Ashton area is much closer to Bristol and experiences problems common to villages on the outskirts of a large town. Winford Ward is far more rural and has very different issues to the Long Ashton Ward: Winford Ward contains an international airport, is prone to flooding, suffers very serious road damage all through the year due to water flow and farming vehicles, is most made up of and is surrounded by farm land. In fact the only identifiable thing the two wards concerned seem to have in common is the issue of a road safety outside village schools. This is very far from a sufficient reason to combine the wards. We have been served EXTREMELY well by Councillor Hugh Gregor the past few years. The very fact that he lives in the heart of Winford and has done so for many years means that he has first hand knowledge of the issues that concern the residents of the four villages he represents. I cannot see how the suggestion that we be represented by people we have never met, have not voted for, and that do not live in the area can possibly be considered as an improvement to the current situation. Suggesting that a rural area, prone to flooding and containing an international airport be represented by people who live several miles away in a satellite village whose greatest transport concern is a couple of medium sized main roads, is akin to suggesting that a councillor born, bred and residing in London be the best person to represent the needs and concerns of communities living in the Outer Hebrides. Last winter the village of Winford suffered some considerable flooding issues, with our brook regularly breaking its banks and threatening houses. The very fact that Councillor Hugh Gregor was here on the doorstep meant that action was taken immediately and flooding of almost all private properties in the village was avoided. Since then he has worked extremely hard to ensure measures were put in place to prevent the problem reoccurring and has been rewarded by an incident free winter this year, despite the extreme weather. I do not believe for one moment that this would have been the case if we were represented by people who are not directly affected and concerned by the matter themselves. In short, a rural community, surrounded by farm land, can only be properly represented by someone who lives there. To combine us with another area that has no experience of the kinds that things that concern us, and no possibility of gaining an understanding short of the compulsory relocation of at least one of the 83 councillors to live within the area, would be an ill considered move, and would not serve the residents of either ward. I hope that this will be fully considered and a sensible decision be made. Yours, Pam Sayer 84 Cooper, Mark From: Egan, Helen Sent: 07 April 2014 10:58 To: Cooper, Mark Subject: FW: Custom Form Submission Received Hi Mark, Please see below a sub for NS. Helen From: [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]] Sent: 06 April 2014 17:39 To: Reviews@ Subject: Custom Form Submission Received - Custom Form Submission Notification Custom Form Submission Received Contact us Email, A new custom form submission has been received. The details of the form submission are as follows: Submission Information Custom Form: Contact us (#212) Form URL: http://www.lgbce.org.uk/about-us/contact-us Submission ID: 2037 Time of Submission: Apr 6th 2014 at 4:38pm Form Answers Your name: mr Ivor Scoones Your email: i I am: a parish councillor Comment/enquiry your local boundaries type: Comments: It is with geat concern to myself and family that Wraxall and Failand could be removed from the Ward with Long Ashton,My Resident address is Failand but is within the Parish Of Long Ashton.All of this Ward share Historic Links Having evolved from two large estates that interconnect.