Have your say on new political map of St Albans City & District Council
The independent Local Government Boundary Commission for England is asking people across St Albans to comment on its draft recommendations for new council ward boundaries.
The Commission’s plans would mean changes to most wards in St Albans.
Illustrate your story with a map of the recommendations.
High res version available at: http://s3-eu-west-2.amazonaws.com/lgbce/Reviews/Eastern/Hertfordshire/St%20Albans/Draft/St%20Albans%20DR%20no%20labels.pdf
Credit: contains Ordnance Survey data (c) Crown copyright and database rights 2020
A 10-week public consultation on the recommendations begins today and will end on 13 April 2020. The consultation is open to anyone who wants to have their say on new council wards, ward boundaries and ward names across St Albans.
The Commission’s draft recommendations propose that St Albans City & District Council should have 56 councillors in future: this is two fewer than now. The recommendations also outline how those councillors should represent 16 three-councillor wards and four two-councillor wards across the district.
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 at council buildings.
Professor Colin Mellors, Chair of the Commission, said:
We are publishing recommendations for a new pattern of wards across St Albans and we are keen to hear what local people think of the recommendations.
Over the next 10 weeks, we are asking local people to tell us if they agree with the recommendations or if not, how they can be improved.
Our review aims to deliver electoral equality for local voters. This means that each councillor represents a similar number of people, so that everyone’s vote in council elections is worth roughly the same, regardless of where you live.
We also want to ensure that our recommendations reflect the interests and identities of local communities across St Albans and that the pattern of wards can help the council deliver effective local government for local people.
We will consider all the submissions we receive, whoever they are from and whether your evidence applies to the whole district or just a part of it.
The Commission wants to hear as much evidence as possible to develop final recommendations for St Albans If you would like to make a submission to the Commission, please write or email us by 13 April 2020.
The Review Officer (St Albans)
Local Government Boundary Commission for England
1st Floor, Windsor House
50 Victoria Street
London SW1H 0TL
Email: reviews@lgbce.org.uk
Follow us on Twitter @LGBCE
Have your say directly through the Commission’s consultation portal at https://consultation.lgbce.org.uk
Link to the dedicated web page for the St Albans electoral review: http://www.lgbce.org.uk/all-reviews/eastern/hertfordshire/st-albans
For further information contact:
Press Office: 0330 500 1250 / 1525, press@lgbce.org.uk
Notes to editors:
The Local Government Boundary Commission for England is responsible for reviewing local authority electoral arrangements, defining boundaries for local elections and the number of councillors to be elected, as well as conducting reviews of local government external boundaries and structures.
The Commission is carrying out an electoral review of St Albans City & District Council to deliver electoral equality for voters across the district in local elections. At present, some district councillors represent many more, or many fewer, electors than their colleagues elsewhere in the district. The review aims to correct those imbalances.
The types of questions the Commission is asking residents at this stage are:
- Do the proposed wards reflect local communities?
- How do you think the recommendations can be improved whilst maintaining electoral equality?
- Are the names of the recommended wards right?
Residents have from 04 February until 13 April 2020 to have their say about where ward boundaries for St Albans should be drawn. The Commission will consider all submissions and aims to publish its final recommendations in August 2020. Once the Commission agrees its final recommendations it will lay a draft order in both Houses of Parliament. Parliament will then have 40 days in which to consider the recommendations. If both Houses are satisfied with the recommendations, the draft order will be ‘made’ and the new wards will come into effect at the council elections in May 2022.