Hart District Council will lose two councillors
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Cuts to be made to councillors in shake-up
By Stephen LloydJanuary 20, 2012
TWO Hart councillors will lose their jobs in a local authority shake-up.
The independent Local Government Boundary Commission for England (LGBCE) has confirmed there will be 33 district councillors instead of 35 from the May 2014 local elections.
It follows a 12-week public consultation on draft proposals and new boundaries for each ward in Hart.
The commission’s final report also confirms a pattern of 11 three-member wards across the district.
Commission chairman Max Caller said: “We are extremely grateful to the people of Hart who took the time and effort to send us their views.
“The commission considered every piece of evidence it received before finalising these recommendations.
“Our draft recommendations were broadly well received but we have made some changes to the proposals put forward in July in response to the comments made to us.”
Mr Caller said the commission has ruled that the area bounded by Elvetham Road, Reading Road North and Fleet Road should be included in Fleet Central ward as the area was split between wards in its draft recommendations.
“In response to views supplied to us by the council, we are also proposing to unite the whole of Chesilton Crescent in Crookham East ward as our previous recommendations ran along the middle of the road,” he added.
The commission has also ruled that the whole of the Hampton Close and adjacent section of Aldershot Road in Church Crookham should be included within the Crookham East ward where it had previously been split.
A minor amendment to the draft recommendations was also accepted by the commission to ensure the boundary between Yateley East ward and Blackwater & Hawley ward runs down the backs of properties in Hearsey Gardens.
“Comments were also made to us about our proposed names for some of Hart’s wards,” said Mr Caller.
“In response, we’ve decided that Church Crookham ward should be called Crookham East and the Crookham Village ward we proposed in our draft recommendations should be called Crookham West & Ewshot.
“We received some other suggestions for ward names during the consultation but we decided they could prove confusing and have decided to stick with our original proposals.
“Overall, our final recommendations will deliver electoral equality for voters across the district where the value of their vote is similar regardless of where they live in Hart.
“We also believe they reflect, as far as possible, the identities and interests of local communities across Hart.”
A draft Order, the legal document which brings the recommendations into force, will be laid in Parliament in the next few months.
The new electoral arrangements will come into force at the next district council elections in May 2014.
Members of the Community Campaign Hart (CCH) group had called for the number of councillors to be cut from 35 to 27.
But the move, proposed by CCH leader James Radley, was thrown out by the ruling Conservative administration.
Full details of the Commission’s final recommendations, including maps, can be viewed at www.lgbce.org.uk.
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