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Post by andrewteale on Mar 19, 2020 21:33:16 GMT
A new electoral changes order has been published: The Wiltshire (Electoral Changes) Order 2020 (S.I. 2020/306). Introduces new division boundaries for Wiltshire council to come into effect at the 2021 election, and makes associated changes to electoral arrangements for the parishes of Amesbury, Box, Bradford-on-Avon, Calne, Calne Without, Chippenham, Corsham, Devizes, Durrington, Idmiston, Lacock, Langley Burrell Without, Laverstock and Ford, Ludgershall, Malmesbury, Marlborough, Melksham, Melksham Without, Netherhampton, North Bradley, Royal Wootton Bassett, Salisbury, Tidworth, Trowbridge, Warminster and Westbury. There are ninety-eight new divisions, all of which are single-member.
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Post by greatkingrat on Mar 19, 2020 23:33:23 GMT
If Somerset (excluding Bath and Weston) is going to go unitary, then a single authority (headquartered in Taunton) makes sense. If you had an east-west split, the eastern HQ would presumably be Yeovil, which is on the edge of the area and only 25 miles from Taunton. I'm not sure the location of the HQ is necessarily a decisive factor in choosing the future council structure. Many councils have HQs that aren't in the middle of the area served. Surrey County Council is based in Kingston which hasn't been part of Surrey for over 50 years.
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Post by bjornhattan on Mar 19, 2020 23:40:24 GMT
If Somerset (excluding Bath and Weston) is going to go unitary, then a single authority (headquartered in Taunton) makes sense. If you had an east-west split, the eastern HQ would presumably be Yeovil, which is on the edge of the area and only 25 miles from Taunton. I'm not sure the location of the HQ is necessarily a decisive factor in choosing the future council structure. Many councils have HQs that aren't in the middle of the area served. Surrey County Council is based in Kingston which hasn't been part of Surrey for over 50 years. Kingston is accessible from the entirety of Surrey though - indeed any authority with a somewhat concave shape can end up in a situation where a place outside the authority is probably best for its HQ. Even today, Warwickshire and Northumberland immediately stand out as two counties where a major city they lost in 1973 is a natural transportation hub for the area and much more convenient as a central point.
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Post by evergreenadam on Mar 20, 2020 2:42:13 GMT
I'm not sure the location of the HQ is necessarily a decisive factor in choosing the future council structure. Many councils have HQs that aren't in the middle of the area served. Surrey County Council is based in Kingston which hasn't been part of Surrey for over 50 years. Kingston is accessible from the entirety of Surrey though - indeed any authority with a somewhat concave shape can end up in a situation where a place outside the authority is probably best for its HQ. Even today, Warwickshire and Northumberland immediately stand out as two counties where a major city they lost in 1973 is a natural transportation hub for the area and much more convenient as a central point. People in East Surrey don’t think so!
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Harry Hayfield
Green
Cavalier Gentleman (as in 17th century Cavalier)
Posts: 2,759
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Post by Harry Hayfield on Mar 20, 2020 13:26:34 GMT
I'm not sure the location of the HQ is necessarily a decisive factor in choosing the future council structure. Many councils have HQs that aren't in the middle of the area served. Surrey County Council is based in Kingston which hasn't been part of Surrey for over 50 years. Kingston is accessible from the entirety of Surrey though - indeed any authority with a somewhat concave shape can end up in a situation where a place outside the authority is probably best for its HQ. Even today, Warwickshire and Northumberland immediately stand out as two counties where a major city they lost in 1973 is a natural transportation hub for the area and much more convenient as a central point. Are you advocating that the City of Coventry leave the West Midlands and is readmitted to Warwickshire? If so then, I don't think many of your Conservative colleagues would like the idea.
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Post by bjornhattan on Mar 20, 2020 14:08:23 GMT
Kingston is accessible from the entirety of Surrey though - indeed any authority with a somewhat concave shape can end up in a situation where a place outside the authority is probably best for its HQ. Even today, Warwickshire and Northumberland immediately stand out as two counties where a major city they lost in 1973 is a natural transportation hub for the area and much more convenient as a central point. Are you advocating that the City of Coventry leave the West Midlands and is readmitted to Warwickshire? If so then, I don't think many of your Conservative colleagues would like the idea. No. But I am arguing that the county of Warwickshire could have headquarters in the city. The one downside, of course, is that it would mean more Coventrians being employed at the expense of Warwickshire folk, unless council workers are willing to commute from Nuneaton, Leamington, and Rugby.
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Post by overthehill on Mar 22, 2020 15:35:18 GMT
Will current LGBCE consultations be paused due to Coronavirus? Seems inevitable.
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Post by owainsutton on Mar 22, 2020 15:53:32 GMT
Will current LGBCE consultations be paused due to Coronavirus? Seems inevitable. I was discussing that locally the other day, I can't possibly see Trafford's not being derailed, and not being ready for 2022. There's no way councils can be expected to put any resources into working with a review right now.
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Post by greenhert on Mar 23, 2020 9:07:38 GMT
Will current LGBCE consultations be paused due to Coronavirus? Seems inevitable. Almost certainly although the LGBCE has not made an official relevant announcement yet.
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pl
Non-Aligned
Posts: 1,563
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Post by pl on Mar 23, 2020 9:41:42 GMT
Will current LGBCE consultations be paused due to Coronavirus? Seems inevitable. Almost certainly although the LGBCE has not made an official relevant announcement yet. Surely now would be the best time to have your boundary review. Just imagine the joy of having days on end sat at your kitchen table with maps out and electoral registers piled around you. Ahhh bliss. Could they not start another couple of dozen reviews as a public service?
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J.G.Harston
Lib Dem
Leave-voting Brexit-supporting Liberal Democrat
Posts: 13,625
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Post by J.G.Harston on Mar 23, 2020 11:10:50 GMT
Will current LGBCE consultations be paused due to Coronavirus? Seems inevitable. Almost certainly although the LGBCE has not made an official relevant announcement yet. They were paused when GE2017 suddenly happened, it's odds on it the current ones will be.
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peterl
Green
Monarchic Technocratic Localist
Posts: 8,051
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Post by peterl on Mar 23, 2020 11:27:09 GMT
As people can respond to consultations online or by post and the person conducting the review can work from home, its not clear how pausing the exercise would achieve a lot.
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pl
Non-Aligned
Posts: 1,563
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Post by pl on Mar 23, 2020 11:50:48 GMT
As people can respond to consultations online or by post and the person conducting the review can work from home, its not clear how pausing the exercise would achieve a lot. I'm guessing the difficulty is officer time eg producing the population projections, and helping with council-submitted proposals. And also the difficulty of getting council submissions on things like council size sorted. A lot of officers doing non-statutory work are currently finding (or will soon find) themselves dragooned into doing other duties in order to keep the council going. Also, remember a lot of members need a lot of LGBCE briefings - it's only the likes of us who understand the process.
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Post by owainsutton on Mar 23, 2020 13:03:16 GMT
As people can respond to consultations online or by post and the person conducting the review can work from home, its not clear how pausing the exercise would achieve a lot. I'm guessing the difficulty is officer time eg producing the population projections, and helping with council-submitted proposals. And also the difficulty of getting council submissions on things like council size sorted. A lot of officers doing non-statutory work are currently finding (or will soon find) themselves dragooned into doing other duties in order to keep the council going.
Also, remember a lot of members need a lot of LGBCE briefings - it's only the likes of us who understand the process. That's definitely happening already!
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andrewp
Non-Aligned
Posts: 8,871
Member is Online
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Post by andrewp on Mar 23, 2020 13:08:52 GMT
I'm guessing the difficulty is officer time eg producing the population projections, and helping with council-submitted proposals. And also the difficulty of getting council submissions on things like council size sorted. A lot of officers doing non-statutory work are currently finding (or will soon find) themselves dragooned into doing other duties in order to keep the council going.
Also, remember a lot of members need a lot of LGBCE briefings - it's only the likes of us who understand the process. That's definitely happening already! It is, in my house at the moment!
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Adrian
Co-operative Party
Posts: 1,726
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Post by Adrian on Mar 24, 2020 0:35:07 GMT
Kingston is accessible from the entirety of Surrey though - indeed any authority with a somewhat concave shape can end up in a situation where a place outside the authority is probably best for its HQ. Even today, Warwickshire and Northumberland immediately stand out as two counties where a major city they lost in 1973 is a natural transportation hub for the area and much more convenient as a central point. Are you advocating that the City of Coventry leave the West Midlands and is readmitted to Warwickshire? If so then, I don't think many of your Conservative colleagues would like the idea. Ever since the concept of unitary authorities was invented, Coventry should officially have been removed from the West Midlands county, inasmuch as it still exists.
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Post by evergreenadam on Mar 24, 2020 16:37:45 GMT
Are you advocating that the City of Coventry leave the West Midlands and is readmitted to Warwickshire? If so then, I don't think many of your Conservative colleagues would like the idea. Ever since the concept of unitary authorities was invented, Coventry should officially have been removed from the West Midlands county, inasmuch as it still exists. And the ridiculous local authority boundary that runs through the campus at Warwick University should be sorted out at the same time.
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Chris from Brum
Lib Dem
What I need is a strong drink and a peer group.
Posts: 9,175
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Post by Chris from Brum on Mar 24, 2020 16:54:50 GMT
Ever since the concept of unitary authorities was invented, Coventry should officially have been removed from the West Midlands county, inasmuch as it still exists. And the ridiculous local authority boundary that runs through the campus at Warwick University should be sorted out at the same time. Reading University says Hi!
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Post by greenchristian on Mar 24, 2020 17:03:04 GMT
Ever since the concept of unitary authorities was invented, Coventry should officially have been removed from the West Midlands county, inasmuch as it still exists. And the ridiculous local authority boundary that runs through the campus at Warwick University should be sorted out at the same time. You do realise that was done on purpose when the University was founded, right? Gibbet Hill Road is a very obvious and quite major boundary between the two bits of campus.
Also, for the record, the people of Coventry don't really care about being officially outside of Warwickshire. I suspect that if we were moved back there people would be upset about having to abandon the phrase "Coventry and Warwickshire".
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Post by Merseymike on Mar 24, 2020 17:06:16 GMT
And the ridiculous local authority boundary that runs through the campus at Warwick University should be sorted out at the same time. You do realise that was done on purpose when the University was founded, right? Gibbet Hill Road is a very obvious and quite major boundary between the two bits of campus. Also, for the record, the people of Coventry don't really care about being officially outside of Warwickshire. I suspect that if we were moved back there people would be upset about having to abandon the phrase "Coventry and Warwickshire".
Is this linked to the following? From Wikipedia The reason for the 50/50 split is that city of Coventry donated the first tract of land, and then Warwickshire matched it with another, equal land grant on the Warwickshire side, on the condition that the university include Warwickshire in its name. Eventually the name of Warwick was settled on as a compromise.18 Feb 2019
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