APPENDIX 10

Meeting: CROSBY AREA COMMITTEE

Date of Meeting : 31ST JULY, 2002

Title of Report: POLLING PLACES FOR WARD

Report of : Councillor Giles Blundell This report contains Yes No CONFIDENTIAL  Information/ (Submitted in accordance with Rule 25.3 of the EXEMPT information by Council and Committee Procedure Rules of the virtue of Constitution) paragraph(s)...... of Part 1 of Schedule  12A to the Local Government Act, 1972 Is the decision on this  report DELEGATED ?

Purpose of Report

To request a report from officers recommending more appropriate locations for polling places in Victoria Ward.

Recommendation

That a report from officers recommending more appropriate locations for polling places in Victoria Ward is prepared and submitted to the Crosby Area Committee for action.

Corporate Objective Monitoring

Corporate Positive Neutral Negative Objective Impact Impact Impact 1. Creating a Learning Community  2. Creating Safe Communities  3. Jobs and Prosperity  4. Improving Health and Well-Being  5. Environmental Sustainability  6. Creating Inclusive Communities  7. Improving the Quality of Council Services and  Strengthening local Democracy

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Financial Implications

None.

Departments consulted in the preparation of this Report

None.

List of background papers relied upon in the preparation of this Report

None.

SEFTON M.B.C.

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POLLING PLACES FOR VICTORIA WARD

1.0 Background

Since ward boundaries were last revised for the 2000 local elections, 4 polling places have served Victoria. Experience at elections in 2000, 2001 and 2002 has shown that 2 of these have limitations, and problems may emerge in the next few months with a third polling place.

2.0 Information

2.1 Victoria ward is currently served by the following polling places:-

• Great Crosby RC Primary School Annexe, Road (polling district TA); • Sacred Heart Lower School, Myers Road East (TB); • Crosby Carnegie Library, College Road (TC); • Sandheys Lawn Tennis Club Pavilion, Brooke Road West (TE).

Each of these polling places is considered in turn.

2.2 Great Crosby RC Primary School Annexe has served as a polling place for Victoria ward for some years, and seems to have served well. But with the expansion of Great Crosby Primary School’s main site, the annexe will become redundant and so may not be available as a polling place. It may be sensible to consider whether any of the other public buildings in the immediate area (such as St. Luke’s Hall, Crosby Comrades Club, Merchant Taylors’ Girls’ School, St. Mary’s College) would be an appropriate location, or if the polling place should be moved to another part of the polling district.

2.3 Sacred Heart Lower School has served as a polling place for Victoria ward for some years, and seems to have served well. But with the revision of ward boundaries in 2000, the Sharples Crescent area was added to polling district TB, which is still served by this polling place. As this area has a large elderly population, the distance from Sharples Crescent to Sacred Heart has become an obstacle to many citizens exercising their right to vote. It would be sensible to consider whether an additional polling district and polling place could be established to serve voters in the Sharples Crescent area. It may be relevant to note that ward currently uses two separate polling places in nearby Forefield Lane.

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2.4 Crosby Carnegie Library has served as a polling place for Victoria ward for some years, and seems to have served well. But the library falls within ward, and so must be less accessible from the far side of its polling district than a central location.

2.5 Sandheys Lawn Tennis Club Pavilion has been used as a polling place for Victoria since the creation of polling district TE in 2000, and has been found unsatisfactory. The polling place is in a hut with steps reached by a rutted track and so is hard to access by voters with disabilities. It lies over a level crossing from the ward and so may be inaccessible if the level crossing is closed while waiting for a train. Geographically it falls on the corner of its polling district and so is inconvenient for most users. As the polling district contains public halls with level access at Birchdale Road Methodist Church and St. John’s Road St. John’s Ambulance Hall, and is in easy reach of the Church ward polling place at Waterloo Primary School, it would be appropriate to consider the location of this polling place.

3.0 Recommendation

That a report from officers recommending more appropriate locations for polling places is prepared and submitted to the Crosby Area Committee for action.

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