Local Government Boundary Commission for England Report No
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Local Government Boundary Commission For England Report No. 71 LOCAL GOVERNMENT BOUNDARY COMMISSION FOR ENGLAND REPORT NO. LOCAL GOVERNMENT BOUNDARY COMMISSION FOR ENGLAND CHAIRMAN Sir Edmund Compton, GCB.KBE. DEPUTY CHAIRMAN Mr J M Rankin.QC. MEMBERS The Countess Of Albemarle, DBE. Mr T C Benfield. Professor Michael Chisholjn. Sir Andrew Wheatley,CBE. Mr F B Young, CBE. To the Rt Hon Roy Jenkins, MP Secretary of State for the Home Department PROPOSALS FOR REVISED EI£CTORAL ARRANGEMENTS FUR THE BOROUGH OF GEDLING IN THE COUNT*/ OF NOTTINGHAMSHIRE 1. We, the Local Government Boundary Commission for England, having carried out our initial review of the electoral arrangements for the borough of Gedling in accordance with the requirements of section 63 of and Schedule 9 to the Local Government Act 1972, present our proposals for the future electoral arrangements for that borough* 2. In accordance with the procedure laid down in section 60 (l) and (2) of the 1972 Act, notice was given on 18 January 1974 that we were to undertake this review. This was incorporated in a consultation letter addressed to the Gedling Borough Council, copies of which were circulated to the Nottinghamshire County Council, Parish Councils in the district, the Members of Parliament for the constituencies concerned and the headquarters of the main political parties* Copies were also sent to the editors of local newspapers circulating in the area and of the Local Government press and to the local radio broadcasting station* Notices inserted in the local press announced the start of the review and invited comments from members of the public and from any interested bodies. 3. Gedling Borough Council were invited to prepare a scheme of representation for our consideration* In doing so, they were asked to observe the rules laid down in Schedule 11 to the Local Government Act 1972 and the guidelines which we set out in our Report No 6 about the proposed si»e of the council and the proposed number of councillors for each ward. They were asked also to take into account any views expressed to them following their consultation with local interests. We therefore asked that they should publish details of their provisional proposals about a month before they submitted their draft scheme to us, thus allowing an opportunity for local comment. 4. The Council have not passed a resolution under section 7(4) of the Local Government Act 1972 and a system of whole council elections will therefore apply. 5. On 20 June 1974 the Gedling Borough Council presented their draft scheme of representation. They proposed to divide the area of the borough into twenty-four wards each returning 1, 2 or 3 members to form a council of 56, one more than the existing council. 6. We considered the draft scheme together with the comments we had received. We considered that the Borough Council's scheme provided a sound basis for our draft proposals, but that two of their proposed wards were over-represented. We decided to combine these 2 wards reducing their combined representation by 1 councillor and reducing the total number of councillors to 55. After consultation with Ordnance Survey we made a number of minor adjustments to ward boundaries in order to secure boundary lines which would be more readily identifiable on the ground. We then formulated our draft proposals accordingly. 7« On 31 July 1974 we issued our draft proposals and these were sent to all who had received our consultation letter or had commented on the Council's draft scheme. The Council were asked to make these draft proposals, and the accompanying map which defined the proposed ward boundaries, available for inspection at their main offices. Representations on our draft proposals were invited from thoae to whom they were circulated and, by public notices, from other members of the public and interested bodies. We asked that any comments should reach us by 9 October 1974. 8. The District Council accepted our draft proposals. An alternative scheme for a council of 48 members was put forward by a local political party, and comments supporting this scheme were received. Other comments proposed some redistribution of electorate effecting six of the proposed wards, on grounds of improved compatibility with future county electoral arrangements. There was also opposition to these suggested changes. A local residents' association sought separate representation for their area and there were several requests that the name of one ward should be changed. 9. In view of these reactions to our draft proposals we considered that we needed further information to enable us to reach a conclusion. Therefore, in accordance with section 65(2) of the 1972 Act and, at our request, you appointed Mr V D Knox as an Assistant Commissioner to hold a local meeting and report to us. 10. The Assistant Commissioner held a meeting on 8 May and carried out an inspection of those areas which had been the subject of differing views. A copy of his report to us is attached at Schedule 1 to this report. 11. The Assistant Commissioner, having heard all the local views and having visited the areas concerned, came to the conclusion that our draft proposals should be modified in only one respect, that the name of the Mapperley ward should be changed.to "St James". 12. We have considered again our draft proposals in the light of the comments which we had received and of the Assistant Commisioner's Report. We accept the conclusions reached by the Assistant Commissioner and the modification which he recommended and, subject to this, we hereby confirm our draft proposals as our final proposals* 13. Details of these final proposals are set out in Schedule 2 to this report and on the attached maps* Schedule 2 gives the names of the wards and the number of councillors to be returned by each. The boundaries of the new wards are defined on the maps. PUBLICATION 14* In accordance with section 60(5)(b) of the Local Government Act 1972, a copy of this report and a copy of the maps are being sent to Gedling Borough Council and will be available for public inspection at the Council's main offices. Copies of this report are also being sent to those who received the consultation letter and to those who made comments. A detailed description of the boundaries of the proposed wards, as defined on the maps, is set out in Schedule 3 to this report. L.S. SIGNED EDMUND COKFTON (CHAIRMAN) JOHN M RANKIN (DEPUTY CHAIKMAN) DIANA ALBEMAKLE T C BENFIELD MICHAEL CHISHOIW ANDREW WHEATLEY F B YOUNG DAVID R SMITH (Secretary) \<j June 1975 V. DOUGLAS KNOX, D.F.C., Solicitor. Assistant Commissioner, Local Government Boundary Commission for England. TO: THE SECRETARY, LOCAL GOVERNMENT BOUNDARY 'COMMISSION FOR ENGLAND. REVIEW OF THE ELECTORAL ARRANGEMENTS FUR THE BOROUGH OF GEDLING. Pursuant to my appointment by the Secretary of State as Assistant Commissioner to hold a local enquiry or carry out any consultation or investigation with respect to the review by the Local Government Boundary Commission for England of the electoral arrangements for the Borough of Gedling, I conducted a local meeting at the Council House, Carlton, Nottingham on Thursday, the 8th May, 1975. Attendance, The following persons attended the meeting:- NAME. REPRESENTING or STATUS Herbert Bird Gedling Borough Council P.O. Pepper Gedling Borough Council Michael Sermon Arnold Branches of the Carlton Conservative Association Ron Griffin Gedling Borough Council Peter Wright Notts County Council Conservative Group G.F. Swain Gedling Borough Council H. Pac ey Porchester Conservative Branch Miss M. Wilford Hon. Sec. Porchester Conservative Association Mrs. Edith Butler Porchester Conservative Association David Langridge Nether-field and Colwick Branch of the Carlton Conservative Association (Chairman) Miss A.L. Brookes. Secretary and Agent, Carlton Conservative Association H.F. Calladlne Gedling Borough Council L. Allsop Colwick Residents Association (Chairman) J. Bennett. 11 fl " (Sec.) G.B. firth. Deputy Director of Administration Nottinghamshire County Council A.J. Goulden Senior Administrative Officer, Nottinghamshire County Council M.S. Hall Carlton Constituency Labour. Party T.H. Saunderson Carlton Constituency Labour Party - 2 - HAMS REPRESENTING OR STATUS D.A. Knight Gedling Borough Labour Sroup Florence Price • East Midlands Regions! Labour Party A. Purvis Carlton Constituency Labour Party Fay RLeley Carlton Constituency Labour Party and Arnold Tenants Association G. Corner tt it 11 11 tt W.N. Robson Carlton Constituency Labour Party Dorothy s. Shillito Unification of Ravenshead Steering Committee L.W. Pallard Gedling Borough Conservative Group A.R. Ellis Carlton Conservative Association M. Noble. Gedling Borough Council In addition to those attending, a letter was received from the Clerk to the Parish Council of Linby and this was read to the meeting. Preliminaries In opening the meeting I submitted my personal appointment as Assistant Commissioner and emphasised that to facilitate the expression and discussion of views on the Commission's Draft Proposals, the modifications suggested by the Nottinghamshire County Council, the representations relating to the proposed Netherfield and Mapperley Wards and the alternative scheme for the borough submitted by the Carlton Constituency Labour Party, I intended to proceed as informally as possible, I then set out a proposed order of business and this was accepted by those present. Commission's Draft Proposals The Commission's Draft Proposals adopted in the main the Gedling Borough Council's draft scheme. Some slight amendments were however made by the Commission. These consisted of the combination, of the parishes of Linby, Papplewick and Newstead to form one ward represented by two councillors, instead of two wards returning three councillors between them, the total Council thus being reduced from 56 to 55- A small number of boundary realignments were made in the interests of securing better boundaries.