Councillor submissions to the Warrington Borough Council electoral review This PDF document contains 15 submissions from Councillors. Some versions of Adobe allow the viewer to move quickly between bookmarks. 14th October 2015 The Review Officer (Warrington) Local Boundary Commission for England 14th Floor Millbank Tower Millbank London SW1P 4QP Dear Sir/Madam, BOUNDARY REVIEW FOR WARRINGTON BOROUGH COUNCIL My background and response to the consultation I have been a Parish Councillor in Appleton for 25 years and Borough Councillor for Appleton on Warrington Borough Council for 24 years. I write to object in the strongest possible terms to the proposals in the Boundary Review for Warrington, especially as they affect south Warrington and in particular Appleton. In my opinion they will harm community identity and destroy effective and convenient local government in the villages south of the Manchester Ship Canal. The Parish of Appleton The Parish of Appleton is defined by clear boundaries: the Bridgewater Canal to the north, Green Belt to the east and west and, to the south, the boundaries with the Unitary Authority of Cheshire East, the Unitary Authority of Cheshire West and Chester and the parish of Stretton. There are four Parish Council wards: 1. Hill Cliffe Ward to the west of the A49 (three parish councillors) 2. Cobbs Ward, which consists of the Cobbs estate plus adjacent roads (four parish councillors) 1 3. Hall Ward, which consists of the Appleton Park estate and other roads, much of which was built on the grounds of the former Appleton Hall (four parish councillors) 4. Thorn Ward, which consists of the village of Appleton Thorn and adjacent roads (two parish councillors). The current Borough Council ward of Appleton is coterminous with the Parish of Appleton. This makes for effective and convenient local government Other Parish Councils in south Warrington There are six other parishes south of the Manchester Ship Canal: Lymm, Grappenhall and Thelwall, Stockton Heath, Walton, Hatton and Stretton. The parishes of Hatton, Stretton and and Walton together elect a single borough councillor; the other parishes elect borough councillors just for their own parish. This electoral arrangement has worked very effectively. The proposals for south Warrington Under the proposals of the Local Government Boundary Commission for England the five Borough Council wards in south Warrington would essentially consist of the following areas: Appleton: Part of Appleton, part of Walton plus Hatton and Stretton Grappenhall: Most of Grappenhall plus Thorn Ward from Appleton Lymm North and Thelwall: the northern part of Lymm plus most of Thelwall and a bit of Grappenhall Lymm South: the southern part of Lymm Stockton Heath: the village of Stockton Heath plus part of Walton and a bit of the Hill Cliffe ward of Appleton If this sounds like a total dog’s breakfast, this is because it is! Appleton has no community linkage with the village of Walton. Grappenhall has no community links with Appleton Thorn, which is the oldest part of the Parish of Appleton, containing the Parish Church and the war memorial. Thelwall does not have links with Lymm. The northern part of Hill Cliffe does not identify with Stockton Heath, being separated by the Bridgewater Canal. The proposed arrangement could not possibly lead to effective and convenient local government. Five borough councillors would have an interest in the parish of Lymm, five borough councillors would have an interest in Grappenhall and Thelwall, five borough councillors would have an interest in the parish of Walton and no fewer than SEVEN borough councillors would have an interest in the parish of Appleton. Fundamental errors in the understanding of south Warrington The descriptions of the proposed wards indicate an ignorance of the parishes south of the Manchester Ship Canal, if the descriptions are reported correctly in the Council Summons for the meeting of Warrington Borough Council held on Monday 7th September 2015. The new Appleton ward is described in the following way: “This ward comprises part of the parish of Appleton, the community of Cobbs and the parish of Walton.” In fact the Cobbs estate is very much in the Parish of Appleton. I represent the Cobbs Ward on Appleton Parish Council! In addition, the ward would include only part of the parish of Walton; Lower Walton would go into Stockton Heath. The description of the new Grappenhall ward refers to “part of Appleton parish and the community of Thorn”. Appleton Thorn, like the Cobbs estate, is in the parish of Appleton. The proposals for new wards for Appleton Parish Council 2 The following wards are proposed: Hill Cliffe North (one councillor) Thorn Ward (two councillors as at present) Cobbs and Hill Cliffe (TEN councillors). The boundary between Hill Cliffe North, in the new Stockton Heath Borough Council ward, and what is described as Cobbs and Hill Cliffe, in the new Appleton ward, is completely arbitrary because there is no natural boundary at all here. Is the Commission serious about this extraordinary suggestion of a ten member ward? And does it realise that what is called Cobbs and Hill Cliffe consists of the current wards of Cobbs (four councillors) and Hall (four councillors) and the southern part of Hill Cliffe. Apart from the name given for the ten-member ward, which completely ignores the current Hall Ward, the election of ten councillors would be completely impracticable. If the Commission insists on going ahead with its ludicrous proposals, then Appleton Parish Council should be split into Hill Cliffe North (one councillor), Hill Cliffe South (two councillors), Cobbs (four councillors), Thorn (two councillors) and Hall (four councillors). An alternative proposal The attempt to deal with electoral inequality in Lymm has resulted in disruption to the electoral arrangements for the whole of south Warrington. If three borough councillors are insufficient for the electorate in Lymm, then Lymm should be split into two two-member wards and the other parishes south of the Ship Canal left essentially as they are. The additional councillor then required south of the Manchester Ship Canal could be found by reducing the number of councillors in north Warrington. For example, at present Poulton North, Poulton South and Rixton & Woolston are substantially over-represented and the number of borough councillors for those wards could be reduced by one. Conclusions The proposals from the Local Government Boundary Commission for Warrington Borough Council are totally unacceptable. Although they satisfy the criterion of electoral equality, they do not meet the criteria for community identity and effective and convenient local government. The alternative proposal outlined above meets all three criteria and is therefore a great improvement. Yours faithfully, Brian Axcell Cllr. Dr B.P. Axcell Borough Councillor for Appleton Parish Councillor for Cobbs, Ward, Appleton Parish Council 3 Boundary Review (Warrington) Whilst we support in full the principles of the Draft Recommendations of the Boundary Commission, we would wish to suggest one small amendment. Highfield Avenue seems to break the alignment of the A57 being a boundary. In the interests of community cohesion and electoral equality we feel that this small Avenue should form part of the extended Penketh and Cuerdley ward and not be in the ward of Great Sankey North and Whittle Hall. This will create a straighter and more easily identifiable boundary for our ward. The new residents in the properties around Highfield Avenue (Liverpool Road, Whitethorn Avenue, and Barnes Close) incorporated into the extended Penketh and Cuerdley ward will now have a short walk to the large polling station at Penketh High School using a long standing, paved and lit public footpath from the school, which abuts and passes through Highfield Avenue. However, the residents of Highfield Avenue itself will have to cast their vote (walking some distance in the opposite direction) at a polling station in Great Sankey North and Whittle Hall… crossing the busy A57. We hope you will take our views on this small amendment into consideration. Cllr Linda Dirir Cllr Allin Dirir Cllr David Keane Borough Councillors representing Penketh and Cuerdley. 19th October 15 Review Officer (Warrinrton) Local Government Boundary Commission for England 14th Floor Millbank Tower Millbank London SW1P 4QP Sent by e mail to – [email protected] Dear Sirs Electoral Review of Warrington, Draft Recommendations 25th Aug 15 As a member of Walton Parish Council I have looked at the Draft Recommendations for our Ward.. I am flabbergasted at the recommendation made to split out Parish ward. The document I have seen and what I have heard gives no indication of how the recommendation is justified. With there being no justification, I am unable to correct misconceptions. Borough Cllr Kennedy has set out in his response the figure for electorate/Cllr for this ward and the clearly satisfy your intensions regarding representation. I believe that all other aspects of your criteria are adequately met at present and would not be improved by the proposed change. Indeed, some will be less well catered for. Parishes on the outskirts of a town are invariably dependent on services within the town as trade becomes more centralised. This has not caused any loss of identity within the Parish The Parish of Walton has ties and association with our neighbours Hatton Parish. Because we are both longstanding Parishes there is strong empathy between us.. The proposed split can only reduce the cohesion that presently exists. The split within the Parish of Walton will be worse as we are proud to be in Walton Parish You will see from my address that I actually live within Stockton Heath - ever since the Parish boundary between Walton and Stockton Heath was moved by about 100 yards. However, I still have allegiance to Walton and have served as a Walton Parish Cllr for 20 years.