1 Cotswold District Council Boundary Rev Iew 34
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1 COTSWOLD DISTRICT COUNCIL BOUNDARY REV IEW 34-MEMBER MODEL Submitted on behalf of Cotswold District Council Liberal Democrat Group (CDC LDG). Includes all estimates supplied by Mr N Adams Year 2019 Total electorate 74210 Average per ward 2183 Plus 10% 2401 Minus 10% 1964 The CDC LDG gratefully acknowledges the independent advice and assistance provided by Mr Nigel Adams of the Cotswold District Council in preparing this proposal. However it is important to record that we take full responsibility for its contents. This option is for 34 single-member wards. In the detail below, all figures are for 2019 estimated electorates. We found that better electoral equality was more conveniently achieved with 34 rather than 35 wards. We have sought to minimise the extent to which parishes will need to be warded to enable District wards to be built up, as experience shows that such changes are likely to be seen as unwelcome impositions from above. 1. Mickleton and Willersey An exception to the requirement that all ward electorates should lie within 10% either side of the average. The location of this area at the northern edge of the District, with the pattern of boundaries, and distribution of population across the parishes, leave little alternative. Better electoral equality would only be achievable by an artificial division of Mickleton parish into two Parish Wards, very unequal in electorate size (a ratio of around 4:1 would be needed), with the smaller and more southerly ward added to the proposed Chipping Campden District Ward. We doubt that such an arrangement would be welcomed by residents. Mickleton 1488 Aston Subedge 44 Weston Subedge 369 Saintbury 68 Willersey 707 2676 (exceeds +10% limit by 275) 2. Chipping Campden The existing parish makes a good fit for a District Ward with no additions or subtractions. Chipping Campden 2021 3. Blockley Blockley Parish (which includes the 3 villages of Blockley, Aston Magna and Paxford) crosses the full width of the District. Combining it with Ebrington is the only option available after defining wards 1 and 2, and is also a reasonable local fit, with a direct road link between Ebrington and Paxford. Ebrington 524 Blockley 1770 Total 2294 2 4. Moreton-in-Marsh East We recommend a division of Moreton-in-Marsh using the railway line, as a clear geographical feature that can be crossed at only 3 or 4 locations within the built-up area of the town. The resulting two new Parish Wards are of roughly equal size, which can be seen as a positive factor. Todenham parish, which projects into the adjoining County, is linked to Moreton by a direct road and is the obvious addition to the Moreton East Parish ward to create Moreton-in-Marsh East District Ward Moreton East Parish Ward 1780 Todenham 216 Total 1996 5. Moreton-in-Marsh West The addition of the two parishes of Batsford and Bourton-on-the-Hill to the Moreton West Parish Ward achieves the necessary level of electoral equality. Both villages are strongly linked by road to Moreton (in Bourton-on-the-Hill’s case by the A44). Moreton West Parish Ward 1649 Batsford 99 Bourton-on-the-Hill 253 Total 2001 6. Bledington and the Slaughters A District ward of just above the minimum size is formed by joining villages along the River Evenlode with those along the River Eye. The shape is partly determined by the proposals for the town of Stow-on-the- Wold and the village of Bourton-on-the Water (wards no.7, 9 and 10 below). These settlements generally “look toward” Stow, with its wide range of local facilities, although Bourton-on-the-Water is also important for the Slaughters. Evenlode 135 Broadwell 305 Adlestrop 108 Oddington 319 Bledington 395 Icomb 79 Wick Rissington 103 Westcote 190 Upper Slaughter 159 Lower Slaughter 205 Total 1998 7. Stow The two settlements of Maugersbury and Swell relate very closely and strongly to Stow-on-the-Wold. Together the three parishes form a natural District Ward. Stow-on-the-Wold 1830 Maugersbury 128 Swell 353 Total 2311 3 8. Longborough and Guitings A District Ward of just above the minimum size, formed from several small rural settlements West of the Fosse Way, in a sparsely populated area. Each parish relates strongly to its neighbours. Sezincote 75 Condicote 108 Cutsdean 57 Longborough 413 Donington 62 Temple Guiting 314 Guiting Power 255 Naunton 284 Cold Aston 242 Hampnett 46 Notgrove 75 Turkdean 68 Total 1999 9. Bourton-on-the-Water Village Bourton Parish has an estimated population of 2974 in 2019, and thus has to be warded to enable District Wards to be created of the required size. We propose to divide the village at the most natural geographical location - the place where the built-up area itself is divided, by the open spaces on both sides of Rissington Road (the Birdland Park and Gardens being located on the South West side of the road). This creates two Parish Wards, with estimated electorates of 2285 - “Bourton Village” and 689 – “Bourton South-East”. The electorates are thus in the approximate ratio of 3:1, which is acceptable for parish warding in a large parish. The small settlement of Clapton is then added to the Bourton Village Parish Ward to create Bourton-on-the- Water Village District Ward: Bourton Village Parish Ward 2285 Clapton 109 Total 2394 10. Bourton SE and Upper Rissington From the proposed Bourton South East Parish Ward, the Rissington Road crosses the river and within two miles climbs through Little Rissington to Upper Rissington. The latter parish will see substantial development in the next few years, with the electorate almost doubling from 770 (in 2013) to an estimated 1491 in 2019. These three areas together create a strongly-linked proposed District Ward, all looking to Bourton-on-the-Water for community facilities, including the secondary school. This ward forms a very small exception to the plus or minus 10% rule: Bourton S.E. Parish Ward 689 Little Rissington 226 Upper Rissington 1491 Total: 2406 (exceeds +10% limit by 5) 4 11. Northleach We propose to combine Northleach with four other parishes East of the Fosse Way; all five are strongly linked by the A40 trunk road. Great Rissington, which has a straight road linking it to the Barringtons, is also included in this ward. This gives a very small exception to the plus or minus 10% rule: Northleach 1510 Farmington 87 Sherborne 262 Windrush 93 Barrington 170 Great Rissington 301 Total: 2423 (exceeds +10% limit by 22) We now consider the South of the District. Tetbury will need to be warded, and its estimated 2019 electorate of over 5400 means that three Parish Wards will be required. We note that the recent Community Governance Review has extended the boundary of Tetbury Town Council, to take account of recent planning permissions for housing development. There are 3 well-defined polling districts within the Town, which range in estimated electorate size from 1588 to 2094, and these are proposed as new Parish Wards, in turn forming the basis of the 3 proposed District Wards. 12. Tetbury North Formed by the existing Tetbury “TC” polling district, recently extended as described above. Tetbury North 2094 13. Tetbury South and West Formed by the existing Tetbury “TB” polling district, with the addition of Tetbury Upton Parish, which adjoins Tetbury Town to the North, West and South Tetbury South and West Parish Ward 1738 Tetbury Upton 241 Total: 1979 14. Tetbury East Formed by the existing Tetbury “TD” polling district, with the addition of 3 adjacent parishes which lie between Tetbury and the County border with Wiltshire Tetbury East Parish Ward) 1588 Long Newnton 166 Shipton Moyne 247 Ashley 111 Total: 2112 15. Avening and Didmarton In the S.E. corner of the District, bordered by other Councils on 3 sides, there is no obvious alternative to this proposed grouping of parishes. The road from Avening to Beverston is part of the ward boundary. Westonbirt 141 Didmarton 368 Boxwell 207 Ozleworth 43 Kingscote 243 Beverston 107 Avening 948 Total: 2057 5 16. Kemble and Somerford Keynes This proposed ward, on the southern border of the District, comprises two groups of settlements with strong links, on either side of the A433 road. Evidence of this can be seen in the Community news section of the weekly local paper, the Wiltshire and Gloucestershire Standard, where one section is headed “Kemble/Somerford Keynes/Poole Keynes” and another is headed “Coates, Rodmarton and Tarlton”. Coates 377 Rodmarton 314 Poole Keynes 162 Kemble 890 Somerford Keynes 387 Total: 2130 17. South Cerney With an estimated electorate in 2019 of 2880, South Cerney requires to be warded. The most locally acceptable option (on the basis of early soundings) appears to be a division into a “Village” Parish Ward, containing the built-up framework of the village and the areas where housing developments have recently received planning permission, and an “Outer” Parish Ward, containing the dispersed electorates at the South Cerney Barracks, Cerney Wick, various holiday home developments, and outlying farms. South Cerney Village Parish Ward forms a District Ward on its own, while the “Outer” parish ward is combined with Siddington and others, as shown below in ward 18. A very small exception to the plus or minus 10% rule: “South Cerney Village” Parish Ward: 2403 (exceeds +10% limit by 2) 18. Siddington & Preston Siddington and Preston share the experience of bordering the major settlement of Cirencester (both parishes saw areas transferred to Cirencester Town as a result of the recent Community Governance Review). They both border the South Cerney Outer Parish Ward referred to above.