West Dorset District Council Bridport Community Governance Review Submission from Bridport Town Council 1.0 Background 1.1 The Town Council agreed to request a community governance review in respect of the Town Council’s boundary with Symondsbury, bearing in mind the proposed development of up to 800 new dwellings at Vearse Farm. 1.2 The reasons for requesting the review are: That the residents of the new dwellings at Vearse Farm will look to Bridport town parish for their services and community focus. The main access routes to and from Vearse Farm - vehicle, pedestrian and cycling – provide links to Bridport town centre. The increased number of residents will increase pressure on services delivered by the Town Council. The increased number of properties and therefore the tax base would make a significant difference to the Town Council’s ability to deliver services in the town, through the increased income to be raised through the precept. This is particularly important when the Town Council will be delivering more services as a result of Local Government Reorganisation. To ensure that residents of Vearse Farm are able to participate in the democratic process for the local council - Bridport Town Council - that will deliver services in the town that they will use. The town boundary has not been reviewed for some time and does not reflect the growth of urban Bridport. In comparison to many other towns in Dorset, Bridport parish covers a much smaller proportion of the urban area (see Appendix A). This is an opportunity to ensure that this further extension of the town is included within the town boundary. If this does not happen, residents of Bridport parish will have to meet the cost of town centre services used by residents in the new dwellings. 1.3 The proposed boundary change being recommended by the Town Council will ensure that the area under review will be reflective of the identities and interests of the community in that area. The proposal will bring about improved community engagement, better local democracy and efficient, more effective and convenient delivery of local services. 2.0 Submission 2.1 Bridport urban town centre has grown substantially but the parish boundaries have not been reviewed to reflect that growth. The electorate of Bridport parish is 6624 as at 2018 but the urban electorate of Bridport is more than 10,000. Large sections of Bridport urban area is not in Bridport parish. This contrasts with other towns as shown in Appendix A. 2.2 The boundaries have not kept pace with the spread of housing outside the Bridport parish boundaries. This has a number of implications. The town services that are provided by the Town Council for Bridport are not funded equally through the council tax by all users of those services. All the electors in urban Bridport have an interest in how the town centre is managed and the services the Town Council provides, as they look to the town centre for their work, shopping, leisure pursuits and general community focus. However, they are not able to vote for the town councillors who take decisions on those services and there is therefore a “democratic deficit”. 2.3 This has become even more of an issue as the Town Council has taken on more services and town centre assets in recent years - it now manages nearly all the green open spaces in Bridport and West Bay – and will be taking on more services as the local government reorganisation is implemented. By 2019 it could be managing all the public toilets in Bridport and West Bay and is already managing the Tourist Information Centre. These are services that have been provided and paid for in the past by the District Council tax payers, so would have been funded by electors outside the parish, but this will no longer be the case. The burden for services that are used by the wider area would fall on just the Bridport parish electors. This has implications for the future provision of services and community cohesion. 2.4 The Town Council has a very good relationship with its surrounding parishes. It is working closely with four parishes on a Bridport Area Neighbourhood Plan and also provides services for some of the parishes through its Lengthsman service and also, on behalf of the County Council, undertakes verge cutting in the parish areas as well as the town. Symondsbury Parish Council is part of the Neighbourhood Plan area and also part of the Lengthsman scheme. The Town Council has a very good relationship with Symondsbury Parish Council and has discussed its proposals with the Parish Council. 2.5 The main focus of this review is to ensure that the proposed major development of up to 800 properties at Vearse Farm is brought within Bridport parish. Such a large development will have significant implications for town centre services. The new electors resident on Vearse Farm will look to Bridport town for all their services and community focus. During the planning process for Vearse Farm, large numbers of the public interested in the planning application attended Town Council meetings to make their views known. They recognised the impact it would have on the town centre and the importance of making representations to the Town Council, even though the site is outside Bridport parish. 2.6 The West Dorset District Council boundaries were reviewed in 2014 (the Pine View area was brought into Bridport South District ward). The County Council divisions were reviewed in 2016. The current unitary boundary review recommends that the whole of Symondsbury parish is included within the Bridport unitary ward. There has not been a review of the parish boundaries in Bridport for some considerable time and the boundaries do not reflect the identity and interests of the community. 3.0 Town Council’s Preferred Option 3.1 The Town Council’s request for this review was made to consider the western town boundary next to which it is proposed to build up to 800 new properties at Vearse Farm. The Town Council considers that these additional electors will look to the town centre and services managed by the Town Council for their community focus and that the boundary should be re- drawn to bring the site into the town as below. The further slight extension south to cover Watton Park would regularise the western urban boundary. 3.2. The Town Council’s proposal is to redraw the boundary at this location to bring the areas shaded blue into Bridport parish. Vearse Farm Development Site for up to 800 houses 3.3 The following properties would move into Bridport: Polling district CM3 including 66 Pine View properties and 24 Magdalen Lane properties. This polling district is currently in the District Council South ward and totals 152 electors. Vearse Farm 3 properties and 10 electors, Watton Park 27 properties and 43 electors, Skilling Hill Road 9 properties and 8 electors. In total this would be 213 electors. 3.4 This proposal would bring the Vearse Farm site into Bridport parish and also help to regularise the western town boundary. The Town Council also looked at two other options as set out in Appendix B but they were not supported due mainly to the more significant impact on Symondsbury parish. 3.5 This proposal is considered to meet the criteria of the review namely that it will reflect the identities and interests of the community in that area, in view of the interests of the electors in Bridport town centre and that it will be effective and convenient, ensuring that the electors are able to participate in the governance of the town and its services. The inclusion of the additional new electors at Vearse Farm will enhance community cohesion, as will bringing in to Bridport parish those existing electors at Pine View, Magdalen Lane and Watton Park area, as part of the regularising of the western boundary. The proposal will improve community engagement enabling better governance arrangements and improved service provision for the Bridport area and ensure that the increased numbers of electors from Vearse Farm are properly included within the town boundary that will provide services that they will need and use. 4.0 Electorates 4.1 Current Electorate Number of Electorate Wards Councillors (Electorates) Bridport Town 6624 North:3532 Council 18 cllrs South 3092 Symondsbury 871 1 Parish Council 8 cllrs 4.2 If the boundary change is agreed and prior to Vearse Farm being developed, the electorates would be: Number of Electorate Wards Councillors (Electorates) Bridport Town 6837 North:3532 Council 18 cllrs South 3305 Symondsbury 658 1 Parish Council 8 cllrs 4.3 At this stage, it is not proposed to recommend a change to the Town Council warding arrangements, as the increased numbers in Bridport South still does not equal the numbers in the North ward – they both have 9 councillors. However, it is recommended that the warding arrangements be reviewed when the Vearse Farm site is complete and the increased electorate is known. 5.0 Recommendation The Town Council recommends that its preferred option as set out in section 3.0 is approved. July 2018 Bob Gillis Bridport Town Clerk Appendix A Comparison with other Dorset towns Dorchester The parish boundary for Dorchester was re-drawn to bring Poundbury within the town boundary Sherborne Bridport Shaftesbury These examples show that the town boundaries of Dorchester, Sherborne and Shaftesbury cover nearly all the urban, populated areas, whereas there are large parts of Bridport urban area in surrounding parishes and not in Bridport parish. Other options considered by the Town Council Appendix B Extend boundary southwards to West Bay This would take in properties in: Pine View – 66, Magdalen Lane - 24 , Vearse Farm – 3, Skilling Hill Road – 5, Watton – 18, Broad Lane – 11, Watton Park – 27, West Bay Fields (Broomhills etc.) – 5, West Cliff – 132 This would take all of polling districts CM3, CR, CS and part of CM1 which would mean around 500 electors.