Wiltshire’s political boundary review moves a step forward

The review into Wiltshire’s political boundaries has moved a step forward and people are being invited to have their say

The independent Local Government Boundary Commission for England is formally publishing its draft recommendation which proposes Wiltshire should have 98 councillors in future; this is no change from now.

The recommendations also outline how those councillors should represent 98 one-councillor divisions across the council. In August 2018 the commission said it was ‘minded to’ propose that Wiltshire should keep its current number of councillors.

 The commission has last week launched a 10-week public consultation on the recommendations that will end on 15th April. The consultation is open to anyone who wants to have their say on new council divisions, division boundaries and division names across Wiltshire.

Previously, Wiltshire Council’s cross-party electoral review committee met publicly to develop and recommend divisional boundary proposals to full council. Workshops were also held to which all councillors were invited.  Submissions were also received from many of our towns and parishes. These discussions shaped the draft design of the boundaries and these were agreed by full council in October 2018.

The full recommendations and detailed interactive maps are available on the commission’s website at consultation.lgbce.org.uk and www.lgbce.org.uk. Hard copies of the commission’s report and maps will also be available to view upon request at County Hall, Trowbridge.

The Wiltshire Council Electoral Review Committee will accept copies of any submissions at the same time right up to the deadline. They should be sent to committee@wiltshire .gov.uk

Richard Clewer, the chairman of Wiltshire Council’s electoral review committee said, “I’d encourage people to get involved in this consultation, as the final outcome will have an impact on communities up and down the county.

 “Things will not stay the same as they are, so I hope people take a look and see how it could affect their local area.”  

The next steps are: in July 2019, the final recommendations of the Local Government Boundary Commission for England will be published. At this stage they will no longer be able to be amended. A draft order will be prepared for laying in Parliament, where the recommendations may be accepted or rejected, but not amended.

Should the recommendations be accepted, they will then be implemented for elections in May 2021.