As we resurface bleary-eyed from too much Netflix, COVID, home-schooling- county council elections and going back to work – there comes post Census – A Boundary Commission Review!
A new pattern of wards is being developed for Waverley Borough Council.
The Commission wants to hear what residents and organisations think about their local area. A 10-week consultation on the proposals will run until 19 July 2021.
Do they? Do they really want our views? We thought. their minds were already made up – and councillor representation will fall from 57 down to 50?
The Commission is the independent body that draws these boundaries. It is reviewing Waverley to make sure councillors represent about the same number of electors, and that ward arrangements help the council work effectively. It wants to be sure that its proposals reflect community ties and identities.
The Commission is interested in views on which communities should be part of the same ward. What facilities do people share, such as parks, leisure centres or schools and shopping areas? What issues do neighbouring communities face that they have in common, such as high numbers of visitors or heavy traffic? Have there been new housing or commercial developments that have changed the focus of communities? And are there roads, rivers, railways or other features that people believe form strong boundaries between neighbourhoods?
The Commission will use local views to help it draw up proposals for new ward boundaries. There will be a further round of consultation once the Commission has drawn up those proposals. Launching the consultation Professor Colin Mellors, Chair of the Commission, said:
“We want people in Waverley to help us. We are starting to draw up new wards for Waverley. We want our proposals for new electoral arrangements to reflect communities. We also want them to be easy to understand and convenient for local people.”
“Residents and local organisations can help us understand community ties and identities at this early stage of the process. It’s easy to get involved. Go to our website. Or you can e-mail or write to us. Just tell us what you think and give us some details about why you think that. It’s really simple, so do get involved.”
The Commission has a dedicated section on its website where people can give their views: https://consultation.lgbce.org.uk/have-your-say/27237
People can also give their views by e-mail at reviews@lgbce.org.uk, and by post: Review Officer (WAVERLEY) LGBCEPO Box 133 Blyth NE24 9FE
Hi WW
The first thing that hits me with this Ward Map is that Cranleigh East & West are NOT even noted on it. Hello has everyone forgotten the Smallest of the 4 main Settlements with the 2nd largest Proportion of Housing allocated to it in LPP1???
https://s3-eu-west-2.amazonaws.com/lgbce/Reviews/South%20East/Surrey/Waverley/Council%20Size%20Submission%20-%20Waverley%20Conservative%20Group.pdf
The Document presented by the WBC Conservatives (linked above) produced Ward Figures badly produced and unreadable in their printed format, so in the interests of being an anal-retard – I put the stats on a Spreadsheet on a rainy Friday and there are some anomalies I cannot figure out. I yet again use Cranleigh as an example:
Cranleigh’s allocation on LPP1 is for 1700 New Homes which we would guess would produce about 3000 plus new Residents. Yet this document states that the number of New residents would be an additional 1815, when I checked the other wards it was clear that all the Projected Population increases were exactly the same 16%
I cannot help but ask the question to all our WBC councillors if someone can produce this document in a more realistic basis. Yes Cllr Follows I am asking you if you could push this as I do not know how residents can make informed decisions based only on Councillors comments on the surveys they had to complete. There were lots of grumpy-Covid comments!! – We are ALL fed up with it – But this is important as it will affect all existing and Future residents.
Based on the Stats on the above Document the following Wards should have their Councillors reduced:
Godalming -2
Haslemere – 2
Witley & Hambledon -1
Milford – 1
Blackheath & Wonersh -1
That’s 7 gone – Simples!!
But I notice no mention of the DP Garden Village? with 1800 – 2600 New Homes won’t they require at least 1-2 Councillors on their own?? I know you think DP won’t happen – But as it stands at the Moment it is still in LPP1
I will happily send you My Spreadsheet so you can see the workings – which of course I may have got wrong – But I think not unless I have missed something major
As ever
Grumpy of Alfold
PS
Please do not put my Picture up there – I haven’t looked that good since Pre-Pre – Pandemic – Covid hair now