Local resident submissions to the Woking Borough Council electoral review This PDF document contains submissions from local residents. Some versions of Adobe allow the viewer to move quickly between bookmarks. Click on the submission you would like to view. If you are not taken to that page, please scroll through the document. Surnames L-M Porter, Johanna From: Wayne Lamport < > Sent: 27 September 2014 08:05 To: Reviews@ Subject: Objection to Woking Boundary changes Follow Up Flag: Follow up Flag Status: Flagged To whom it may concern, I would like to express my objection to the draft changes to boundaries of Woking. I live in Hollies Ave in West Byfleet and under the new proposals, our road, together with Woodlands Ave and Old Ave would now come under the ward of Sheerwater. My objections are based on the following; I live approximately 800 yards from West Byfleet village/train station and under the draft proposals I will not be able to vote/have a say on matters affecting West Byfleet, which of course is totally unacceptable. The needs of the residents of Sheerwater are different to those of West Byfleet I chose to buy a house in West Byfleet, not Sheerwater and have invested a lot of money into my property and therefore I am concerned in house prices. As far as I know no‐one has undertaken any investigation on the possible effect of houses prices, again totally unacceptable. I do no believe the proposed re‐generation of Sheerwater has been taken into consideration when calculating ward sizes, therefore will totally skew the sizes of wards once the re‐generation is complete. Hollies Ave, Woodlands Ave and Old Ave have always been an established part of West Byfleet and would therefore lose some of its identity. Both my children are at or have attended, the Infant and Junior Schools of West Byfleet, (which are of course within walking distance), therefore any future children may have to go to Sheerwater schools, as the catchment areas will change, therefore reducing the saleability of our house and destroying the village community identity. This of course may also affect Doctors etc. The draft plans are clearly incorrect as Sheerwater has it's own unique set of social and it is clear to me that whoever proposed thes changes to the boundaries has never lived or researched the communities concerned in any shape or form, again totally unacceptable and thoughtless and shows total disregard to the residents of West Byfleet. I strongly believe the natural identifiable boundary of the Sheerwater ward to be, as it always has, the end of Albert Drive, Sheerwater. Regards, Wayne Lamport. 1 Local Boundary Commission for England Consultation Portal Page 1 of 1 Woking District Personal Details: Name: ann lanceman E-mail: Postcode: Organisation Name: Comment text: I live at Paxton Gardens Woodham which is closely affiliated and borders Horsell and I believe the arrangement for Woodham to join with Sheerwater is incorrect.Woodham is a very small area in Woking containing only houses and it is similar in make-up to Horsell. Sheerwater is very much a seperate place due to the canal which is on the other side of the canal to Woodham and Horsell. Natural borders such as the canal do make a difference in character and what happens in Sheerwater is very seperate. Horsell East and Woodham are natural neighbours and changing things just for the sake of it is a silly reason. Shopping etc is not done inSheerwater all my neighbours go to West Byfleet Horsell or Woking. Uploaded Documents: None Uploaded https://consultation.lgbce.org.uk/node/print/informed-representation/3642 31/07/2014 Porter, Johanna From: Louise Lane <l > Sent: 05 October 2014 17:38 To: Reviews@ Subject: Opposition to proposed new boundaries to Woking Electoral Wards: Louise & Stuart Lane 29 September 2014 Dear Sirs, Please accept this letter as opposition to the current proposed new pattern of electoral divisions in Woking. I am a resident of Ferndale Road, in the current ward of Horsell and I have seen, with dismay, the proposal to move this road (and The Grove) to Sheerwater. Below is an outline to why I believe Ferndale Road and The Grove should remain in the ward of Horsell. I have divided my argument in to the three sections proposed in LGBC, How to propose a pattern of wards, document. I hope this offers clear logic to my arguments, however should you have any questions please do not hesitate to contact me. 1. Delivering electoral equality for local voters As outlined in the plans, it has been agreed that each Councillor should represent circ. 2,500 electors. Having reviewed the proposal I can see the current proposal for Sheerwater ward has 7,919 electors with 3 Councillors, forecasting up to 7,994. This results in the un-ideal situation where the Councillors have an average number of electors 2,640, going up to a potential of 2664, each. Horsell, on the other hand, current has less than the ideal 2,500 electors per council, of 7,312 electors, across 3 Councillors, forecasting up to 7,360. This results in an average elector number per Councillor of 2,453. 1 Based on this principle, moving Ferndale Road and The Grove to Sheerwater does not make sense, and leaving these two roads in Horsell would be, in fact, supporting the ambition to deliver electoral equality for local voters. 2. Reflecting the interests and identities of local communities Whilst 6 areas are identified at reasons to assess community interests, I have focused on two of these in particular – identifiable boundaries and shared interests. a. Identifiable boundaries Having reviewed the proposed plans on the map, I believe the current plans do not take into the account of some very clear identifiable boundaries. In my opinion, the wooded area at the East of Ferndale Road and The Grove, along with the Basingstoke Canal, present themselves as very clear boundary lines. When looking at the proposed ward boundaries map, it looks rather strange that these two roads have in fact been ‘scooped out’ of Horsell. b. Shared interests As you can imagine, Wheatsheaf Common is a popular recreational area for the local community, and is in fact a key reason why myself and our neighbours chose to purchase our family home on Ferndale Road. Because of this, I believe this to be an important shared interest for surrounding houses of the Common, and to have two electoral wards, Horsell and Sheerwater, covering this area, seems confusing and doesn’t seem to be logical. We would like to continue to share the Common, with the same Councillors presiding over the area, with our neighbouring community. 3. Promoting effective and convenient local government and reflecting electoral cycles I believe the comments I have made in section 1 are relevant to this principle. However, acknowledge my knowledge of this particular point is limited. I hope this email goes some way to outline how strongly myself and my husband feel about the importance of Ferndale Road and The Grove remaining within Horsell. I know I am now alone in this feeling amongst my neighbouring community, with many expressing their concerns. This concern is backed up with the vast majority of electors on Ferndale Road and The Grove (including us both) having signed a petition to ensure the two roads remain in Horsell. I would welcome the opportunity to discuss this further; should you need any clarification on any points or further information. With sincere regards 2 Louise and Stuart Lane 3 Local Boundary Commission for England Consultation Portal Page 1 of 1 Woking District Personal Details: Name: Pauline Langfield E-mail: Postcode: Organisation Name: Comment text: I don't think Woodham should be joined to Sheerwater as is being proposed - they are really extremely different areas, whereas the existing union of Horsell and Woodham makes a great deal of sense. Certainly Sheerwater residents will have greatly different concerns to their more affluent neighbours to the north and it seems very odd to propose putting them together. Uploaded Documents: None Uploaded https://consultation.lgbce.org.uk/node/print/informed-representation/3744 03/09/2014 Porter, Johanna From: Helen Larner < > Sent: 01 September 2014 15:04 To: Reviews@ Subject: Boundary Changes Follow Up Flag: Follow up Flag Status: Completed To whom it may concern. My family and I have lived in West Byfleet for over 20 years and have always appreciated and valued the community feel that is so evident, as it is in the neighbouring villages of Pyrford and Byfleet. It takes decades to develop that spirit and years more to nurture. Changing the boundaries and dividing communities unnessarily, seems ill‐thought out, illogical, and uncaring, undoing all the hard work and effort that the peoples of those communities have undertaken to create thriving, vibrant, supportive and active communities. We would have thought that Woking Borough Council would be trying to support that community identity rather than destroying it. There are natural boundaries that define West Byfleet as well as a thriving village centre which is actually in the centre of the village. By moving boundaries the village identity would be damaged for ever. A sense of community and belonging is at the heart of current policy making so We cannot see why WBC would want to set about to destroy the communities within its own borough. We would like to register our objection to the proposals to change the boundary of West Byfleet as well as the changes that are proposed to the other villages within the 'Three Parishes'.