Final proposals for parish electoral arrangements

A review of parish electoral arrangements is due to be completed by Charnwood Borough Council.

Councillors will vote on a series of proposals put forward at a council meeting on January 22 as part of a community governance review.

The review looks at existing electoral arrangements and boundaries for towns and parishes, including the numbers of councillors. It is also an opportunity to create new councils or abolish existing ones.

Charnwood’s community governance review began in January last year and there have been two public consultations.

A member reference group, made up of borough councillors, has now submitted its recommendations for the Council to consider.

The group has made 29 recommendations including:

• the creation of a new parish called Stonebow Village for a planned 3,200 housing development to the west of Loughborough adjacent to Garendon Park
• a new parish called Hamilton Lea for a housing development off Hamilton Lane, between Thurmaston and Barkby Thorpe
• an extension to the parish boundary of Thurmaston to include a planned 4,500 home development to the north-east of Leicester
• proposed parish boundary changes affecting Cotes, Prestwold, Burton on the Wolds, Birstall, Mountsorrel, Newtown Linford, Rothley, Woodhouse, Thurcaston and Cropston

There are also proposals to change the numbers of councillors in the following areas:

• Shepshed Town Council - increase from 15 to 20
• Queniborough Parish Council - increase from nine to 10
• Quorn Parish Council - increase from 11 to 13
• Hoton Parish Council - reduce from seven to six

Cllr James Poland, Lead Member for Strategic Support and who also chaired the member reference group, said: “This has been a very thorough process and we are now at the final stage of making recommendations to the Council.

“The aim of the review has been to make sure the boundaries and electoral arrangements reflect the changes in our borough in recent years and they are fit for purpose ready for the next local elections in May 2019.

“We have based our recommendations on what we think is best for the borough and for our local communities.

“Under the review, we are not proposing to create a Loughborough Town Council as there was no significant support for one during the public consultation.

“However, it is worth noting that at the same meeting on January 22 there is a proposal to create a Loughborough Area Committee which would establish a more formal role for the 20 borough councillors representing wards within Loughborough in key matters relating to the town.

“As another way of improving representation for Loughborough, we also now have a Cabinet lead member with specific responsibility for the town.”

The report to full council with all the recommendations and background can be viewed on the Council website.

Legislation around community governance reviews requires them to be completed within 12 months of the terms of reference being formally published. This means the Charnwood review needs to be completed by January 31, 2018. Any changes would take effect from the local elections in May 2019.

More information is available on the Council’s website www.charnwood.gov.uk/cgr