LANCASHIRE COUNTY COUNCIL – WEST DIVISIONS – BOUNDARY REVIEW

I am the Conservative Group Leader on Borough Council and submit the following representations that have been agreed by all 23 Members.

The Group acknowledges that needs to be some changes and are fully supportive of the original proposals put forward for discussion by the officers of Lancashire County Council. A copy of this proposal is also attached.

 The changes are kept to the minimum and provide a satisfactory solution that largely respects the borough council ward and parish council boundaries  The impact on West Lancashire East Division and West Lancashire South Division is logical in that it sees the transfer of a single parish ( South) from the latter to the former  Parish Council is a distinct area and fits well with the existing boundaries of West Lancashire East Division  West Lancashire East Division already includes the other Lathom parish i.e. Lathom Parish Council  West Division is too small and the natural expansion is as proposed i.e. along the length of the A570 to the border  Whilst this means the splitting the Borough Council Ward and the Scarisbrick Parish Council area between Ormskirk West and & Rufford, this is acceptable and logical given Scarisbrick is more a geographical area with a number of separate communities than a single community

The WLBC Conservative Group are strongly opposed to the draft proposals that are now out for consultation for the following reasons;  The proposals would see far too many unnecessary changes that split Borough Ward and Parish Council boundaries as well as fragment distinct communities  The existing Divisional split in Ormskirk is clearly defined with the distinct and clearly recognised boundary of the to Preston railway line  The proposals have part of Derby Ward hived off from West Lancashire East Division along a very indistinct and illogical boundary  The proposals also hives off a relatively small part of the very distinct and cohesive community of Aughton by transferring it from West Lancashire South Division to West Lancashire East Division and is opposed by Aughton Parish Council  Aughton is a large parish with 2 Borough Wards yet the proposal seeks to split one of these Wards between two Divisions which again is unnecessary and illogical  As a consequence of the proposals, West Lancashire East Division would cover a very large geographical area that was made up of diverse or fragmented communities and unrelated transport routes  West Lancashire East Division that already has 6 parish councils and 1 parish assembly and under the proposals would gain a further 4 parish councils  West Lancashire East Division is presently co‐terminus with 3 Borough Council Wards and 6 Borough Councillors but under the proposals it would include parts of 5 Borough wards that have 9 Borough Councillors which would not be conducive