ELECTORAL REVIEW 2017 SOUTH GLOUCESTERSHIRE UNITARY COUNCIL COMMENTS ON DRAFT RECOMMENDATIONS FROM HANHAM WARD DISTRICT COUNCILLORS We submit the following comments and proposals on the Electoral Commission’s draft recommendations. We note that the Commission proposes retaining the Hanham Ward as a three Member Ward taking account of the projected increase in electors under the current review. We supported the Conservative Group proposal which reduced the seat to a two Member Ward if retaining the three Member Ward entailed bringing in additional electorate from the Woodstock Ward. The Commission’s proposal to expand into the Woodstock Ward (WSC register) would not, in our view, preserve or enhance community ties or make local government more effective. It would, in our opinion, disenfranchise residents in that area and destroy the cohesiveness of the Hanham Ward. We believe that the only viable and logical option if Hanham Ward is to remain a three Member Ward is to expand towards the east into Hanham Abbots (approx. 1,843 electors, 2023 estimate). This would incorporate the east ward of Hanham Abbots parish council, which is currently in the Longwell Green District Ward, into the Hanham District Ward. The west ward of the parish council is already within Hanham Ward. We believe this would strengthen community cohesion, ensure continuity in the decision-making process and enable a seamless delivery of services by the parish council. Below we set out our reasons. Hanham Ward is located on the urban fringe of South Gloucestershire and has strong ties with the rural setting and Green Belt land (Hanham Hills) of Hanham Abbots. Both wards are bordered by the River Avon. Prior to the abolition of Avon County Council, Hanham and Hanham Abbots Wards were separate under Kingswood Borough Council but were merged when South Gloucestershire Unitary was formed in 1996. Historically under the predecessor Kingswood Borough Council, Hanham Ward had never included parts of Woodstock or the previous Forest Ward (which was merged with the Woodstock Ward in 1996), but is now included in the areas the Commission is minded to transfer to the Hanham Ward. There was no sense of community cohesion and never has been between the Wards and each had their own distinct identity. This theme will be developed below. 1 Natural Boundaries The Commissioners might be minded to consider the A4174 Ring Road as a natural boundary between Hanham and Hanham Abbots East (in the Longwell Green Ward). We refute this. Well established community links existed between the Hanham and Longwell Green areas long before the Ring Road was completed in the 1990’s. The Ring Road was constructed under the A431 and did not and does not separate the communities of Hanham Abbots parish council West Ward from Hanham Abbots East Ward, which lies to the south of the A431. The A431 is the major transport route linking Hanham with Longwell Green through to the more rural community of Bitton leading to Bath. There is also an alternative rural road along Abbots Road linking directly to Court Farm Road in Hanham Abbots East, which lies in its entirety to the south of the A431. (photos attached) Facilities Residents from Hanham, Hanham Abbots and Longwell Green utilise the local shops located in Hanham or along the A431 e.g. Lidl’s and the Co-op in Hanham or Aldi in Longwell Green along with a broad range of retail outlets and services; a doctor’s surgery in Whittucks Road, not only serving the population of Hanham but Longwell Green and beyond, and two dental practices in Hanham High Street, until recently there were three. There is a dental practice in Longwell Green but it caters for predominantly private patients. The Blue Bowl public house along the A431 in Hanham has a long history dating back to the Doomsday Book and is a popular venue for residents living in the local area as it can be reached on foot. Figures produced by South Glos show that for the last 12 month period by far the highest number of users for Hanham library came from the Hanham/Hanham Abbots area closely followed by Bitton and Oldland. Residents in the Kingswood/Woodstock area use Kingswood library. Schools Children in Hanham/Hanham Abbots attend either Samuel Whites Infants, Hanham Abbots or Christ Church primary schools and secondary school children from Hanham and Hanham Abbots attend Hanham Woods Academy on Memorial Road. Youth facilities Hanham Ward is home to the most popular youth centre in South Gloucestershire, possibly the largest in the region, regularly hosting 150 young people from 11-19 each night on five nights of the week. Attendees at the youth club come mainly from an area based around the high school, Hanham Woods Academy. 2 Parish Councils The 2011 Localism Act aimed to facilitate the devolution of decision-making powers from central government control to individuals and communities. They were encouraged to prepare Parish Plans which were a vision for the future development of the area. With decision-making cascading down to the local level came additional powers whereby parish councils were encouraged to take over service delivery or to purchase additional services from the District Council, i.e. grass cutting, additional street lighting or bins. However parish councils do not operate in isolation. Hanham and Hanham Abbots parish councils liaise closely for the benefit of local residents. For example the two parish councils have collaborated on a number of issues although only the west ward is in the Hanham District Ward. Under the Local Governance Review in 2013 the two parish councils had considered merging and as parish councils take on more and more service delivery, this may well happen in the future. One particular area where the two parish councils have collaborated successfully is around the problems associated with challenging behaviour among some of our youth. In approx. 2011 the two councils set up in the sports hall at Hanham Woods Academy a Friday Night Project. The aim was to encourage disaffected youth in the parish councils’ area to take part in sporting activities with dedicated, professional sports’ coaches. Each parish council contributed £3,000 per annum to this project which proved very successful in dealing with any disturbances from the youth. At the same time this encouraged our young people with challenging behaviour to channel their energies into productive avenues. This project has now moved to the youth club on Hanham High Street where both parish councils continue to offer financial support. Hanham Library Group has looked to both parish councils for funding to enable the library to remain open for a greater number of hours. The majority of users come from an area based on the A431. Currently the two parish councils are working on a Christmas Lights competition in conjunction with Hanham Baptist Church. We believe that these two parishes are the building blocks of the ward and that it is not good practice to split the two parish council wards between the Hanham and Longwell Green District Wards. Hanham Abbots East, we feel, should be aligned with the Hanham Ward. Reasons not to expand northwards into the Woodstock Ward (WSC register) We believe that further expansion into the Woodstock Ward would be detrimental to community cohesion for the residents of both Hanham and Woodstock Wards as evidenced below. The two wards are separate and distinct. 3 The Boundary Reviews 1998 and 2006 Para 92 of the Commission’s 1998 final report stated that “most respondents opposed the merging of the Woodstock and Hanham communities into one ward and we have been persuaded that these two areas are distinct and should maintain separate representation. Under the current arrangement Woodstock Ward serves Kingswood community south of the A420 and is perceived as ‘the heart of Kingswood’. We therefore propose no changes to Woodstock Ward with the exception of transferring 161 electors in Hollyguest Road and Kelston Grove to Hanham Ward”, the Commission recognising that this would provide a clear and identifiable boundary. In the 2006 review the boundary between the Woodstock and Hanham wards in the Footshill Drive area was amended to transfer 500 electorate to the Hanham Ward. However the residents of the Footshill Drive area reside in the unparished area of the ward and thus there is a disparity in service provision and we believe that they have never felt part of the Hanham community. We recognise that communities are fluid and ever-changing but we firmly believe that the Commission’s assessments in previous reviews still apply. Parished versus Unparished Areas As stated above at the last electoral review Hanham Ward accepted 500 electors from the unparished area of Woodstock Ward (Footshill Drive area). Under the South Glos Community Governance Review in 2013 the residents in the unparished area were asked whether they wished to be part of the Hanham parish council. They decided against as their allegiance was focused on Kingswood. This already presents a dilemma. The parish council can provide additional services/maintenance to benefit the whole parish or specific services which residents have lobbied for, or grants to voluntary groups in the majority of the ward as it is parished, but is unable to provide any services over and above those that are provided by the District Council to the unparished area. This leads to inequality of service provision (photos attached). This would be compounded if more than double this number of electors from the Woodstock Ward (WSC) were transferred to the Hanham Ward making effective local government for those residents difficult. Therefore, the electors from the Footshill Drive area which were transferred into the Hanham Ward in 2006 are not served by the Hanham parish council and receive no additional services.