3/ZTl'}JJ17 Local Boundary Commissionta En�andConsultation Pa1al Newcastle-under-Lyme District Persona I Deta ii s: Name: Town Clerk E-mail: Postcode: Organisation Name: Kidsgrove Town Council Comment text: RE: Consultation on Draft Recommendations in Newcastle under Lyme and the impact on Kidsgrove Town Council and its residents I have been asked to write to you to provide Kidsgrove Town Council's thoughts with regard to the draft recommendations for Newcastle under Lyme, as published by the Local Government Boundary Commission for England on 07th February 2017. In particular, Kidsgrove Town Council wishes to share its concerns surrounding both the draft recommendations to Kidsgrove Parish Council's arrangements and that of Kidsgrove Parish's draft warding patterns with in the wider Newcastle under Lyme Electoral Review. Parish Council Arrangements As a starting point, Kidsgrove Town Council is happy to accept the suggested number of 20 Councillors to represent the Parish as a whole, but has concerns around the breakdown of those Councillors and the way the Warding patterns have been drawn up. Kidsgrove Parish Council recommends that the Parish Warding patterns mimic those of the proposed Wards with an equitable split of the 20 Councillors accordingly. By doing this, it will ensure residents are not confused in 2018 with the introduction of multiple wards for two different elections. Should the suggestion not be accepted, Kidsgrove Town Council implores the Review Officer to remove the proposed Ward of 'Hardings Wood' which has no relevance or community in the Town of Kidsgrove and expand the number of Councillors in the Butt Lane Ward by one. Kidsgrove Town Council believes a single member Ward like this is unworkable and ultimately unsustainable. Borough Council Arrangements Kidsgrove Town Council wishes to express its disappointment in the strongest terms after reviewing the proposals for the Kidsgrove 'Parishes' area. By suggesting that eight Councillors are selected for the three proposed Wards you are clearly underrepresenting the Kidsgrove Urban Core by at one Councillor. Proof of this is contained within your own report; 1. Three of the Four most unrepresented proposed Wards in the whole of Newcastle under Lyme are all situated in Kidsgrove Parish; 2. Using both 2016 and your own projected 2022 figures, which Kidsgrove Town Council believes to be prudent at best, both suggest when the total population is divided by the number of Councillors that the Kidsgrove Town Council area should have nine Councillors. 3. Newcastle South is over represented and The Rural Parishes are significantly over represented with the proposed Ward of Loggerheads being over represented to the level of 9%, 16 percentage points better than two of Kidsgrove proposed Wards Therefore, Kidsgrove Town Council proposes the following; 1. The area highlighted as 'Hardingswood Ward' within the Parish review be returned to the 'new' Butt Lane & Talke Ward. Residents living in 'The Avenues' all consider themselves as residents of Butt Lane and the housing style's and community links only serve to confirm this. The new warding Pattern also completely ignores the natural boundary of the ASO which has been used throughout our previous reviews. 2. Due to the difficulty of separating Talke and Butt Lane geographically and numerically, trying to create two Wards which the Town Council originally favoured, Kidsgrove Town Council suggests that with the reintroduction of 'Hardlngswood Ward' as stated above would allow the addition of a forth Councillor to this Ward. 3. Kidsgrove Town Council firmly believes this to be not only fair, but would also stay within the 'Variance from average' levels and also better represent community ties as required by the Review. Whilst we understand that this would create the need to remove a Councillor from the rest of the Borough, the Town Council feels strongly that it should not be disadvantaged and underrepresented whilst proposed Wards in Rural Newcastle under Lyme enjoy huge over representation. Yours sincerely, Mrs Jane White Town Clerk For and on behalf of Kidsgrove Town Council Uploaded Documents: Download https://consullalion.lgbce.org.uk/nodelprint/i nfam ed-represeretion/9338 1/1 .