03.07.18
Suffolk residents called upon to give views on upcoming merger
Suffolk locals are being invited to comment on plans for council ward boundaries across the county’s two new local authorities, when the upcoming merger is fully completed.
Parliament created the necessary orders in May to create the new East Suffolk Council ready to come into effect in April 2019
The move, creating a ‘super council’ that would reduce the number of elected members from 90 to 55, is now inviting residents to give views on proposals that would merge Suffolk Coastal and Waveney councils (into the larger East Suffolk District Council), alongside the creation of West Suffolk Council which will be formed out of a merger between St Edmundsbury and Forest Heath councils.
The Local Government Boundary Commission for England is asking for local views on the proposals before it finalises them in October.
Professor Colin Mellors, chair of the Commission, said: “We are publishing proposals for ward boundaries for the new East Suffolk and West Suffolk District Councils and we are keen to hear what local people think of the recommendations.
“We will consider all the submissions we receive, whoever they are from and whether your evidence applies to the whole of the new council area or just your part of it".
The consultations run until 27 August 2018 and is open to anyone who is interested how the two council areas will be represented.
For East Suffolk, the commission proposes that the council should have 55 councillors in total. The draft recommendations are for eight one-councillor wards, thirteen two-councillor wards and seven three-councillor wards.
In West Suffolk, the draft recommendations are for 64 councillors representing 27 one-councillor wards, 17 two-councillor wards and one three-councillor ward.
The boundaries will come into effect at the first elections for each authority in May 2019.
The full recommendations and detailed interactive maps are available on the Commission’s website at consultation.lgbce.org.uk and www.lgbce.org.uk.
The decision to form East Suffolk Council will see the creation of the largest district area in the country, spanning across almost 500 miles and serving a quarter of a million residents to deliver over 80 different services.
The shadow authority will meet for the first time on 4 June. Elections for the new council will take place on 2 May 2019.
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Image credit: Oxymoron, Geography images