Local government boundary and electoral changes
Feb 26, 2021 11:48:51 GMT
YL, J.G.Harston, and 3 more like this
Post by ilerda on Feb 26, 2021 11:48:51 GMT
Having spent a bit of time looking at the numbers (h/t JG Harston) I actually think it's possible to come up with fairly decent 28 seat plan that shifts a seat from the SE of the city to the SW.
It involves a lot of messing around with Broomhill, but that's acceptable given its history and the rather wide area that has fallen under that name in the past.
The changes:
Staying the same: every ward in the Penistone & Stockbridge and Brightside & Hillsborough constituencies, and also Darnall, Dore & Totley, Ecclesall, Beauchief & Greenhill, Mosborough, and Stannington wards.
In the West/South West:
1. ZG (St Philip's) moves from Walkley to City ward. This is a more natural fit, as half is within the Inner Ring Road anyway.
2. GD (Edmund) moves out of City. This covers Highfield and areas south of the Inner Ring Road
3. A new "Highfield and Broomhall" ward is created from parts of existing City, Nether Edge & Sharrow, and Broomhill & Sharrow Vale wards. It includes GD (Edmund), ED (Collegiate), EJ (Broomhall), TA (Cemetary Road) and TE (Highfield) polling districts. It skirts the south of the Inner Ring Round and could also be called Little Sheffield, or City Centre Outer (joke).
4. To make up for lost electorate, Broomhill ward takes NB, NC, ND and NE, covering Endcliffe Edge and Endcliffe Ridge from Fulwood. These areas look more to Broomhill than Fulwood so fit well.
5. Fulwood takes HD (Crosspool), HH (Sandygate) and HI (Sandygate Park) from Crookes & Crosspool ward.
6. Crookes takes EE (Harcourt) from Broomhill & Sharrow Vale. This covers parts of Crookesmoor and Barber Road that fit well with Crookes.
7. Nether Edge and Sharrow takes back areas of Sharrow Vale south of the Porter Brook covered by EB (Bowood Road) and EF (Hunters Bar).
Essentially one new ward is created on the fringes of the city centre, and the rest of the surrounding wards shift a bit to even up electorates. Broomhill becomes more suburban and takes on the student villages, Fulwood becomes less studenty by taking on Sandygate and Crosspool, Crookes gains more of Crookesmoor, and Nether Edge and Sharrow are fully united once again.
In the South/South East:
1. Graves Park takes OG (Meersbrook Bank) from Gleadless Valley. It merges into Norton Lees and Woodseats so will fit well.
2. Gleadless Valley takes DD (Charnock Hall) from Birley. This is the only new crossing of the Outer Ring Road, and Charnock shares tram stops around Herdings with other parts of the ward. Not ideal but I think it can work given that Gleadless Valley is already a collection of fairly random and disparate areas.
3. Park & Arbourthorne takes RF (Stafford) from Manor Castle. Includes parts of Sheffield Park so can fit in fairly well.
4. Manor Castle takes UF (Spinkhill) and UH (Woodthorpe) from Richmond. The ward already crosses the Outer Ring Road here, so although not part of the same estate it will still work together.
5. Woodhouse takes UA (Bramley Hall) from Richmond. EXCISE THE POLYP!!!
6. Beighton takes DC (Birley Spa) from Birley. This unites Hackenthorpe in one ward, although a name change to reflect that might be warranted.
7. The remaining parts of Richmond and Birley wards are merged to recreate Intake ward. This covers DA (Base Green), DB (Birley Moor), DE (Frecheville), DF (Linley Lane), DG (Seagrave Crescent), DH (Silkstone), UB (Elm Tree), UC (Intake), UD (Linley Lane), UE (Seagrave), UG (Stradbroke).
Essentially Richmond and Birley wards are merged, with each losing some outlying areas to surround wards. Both are undersized and incoherent enough to cope with this merger. I chose the name Intake for historical reasons and because it essentially sits at the centre of the new ward. Uniting Handsworth and Hackenthorpe is an added bonus.
Oveall, the most difficult and radical changes occur around Broomhill and Crookes. However, I would argue both are losing areas that are not core to their identity, and actually the demographic profile means there isn't such longstanding community identity among many of the affected residents as there would be elsewhere in the city. The new Highfield & Broomhall essentially formalises the split of the old Central ward into Central North and Central South. The merger of Richmond and Birley wards can work given the fragmented nature of the suburbs both covered.
Edit: these are full electorates for each ward, with the value also expressed as a division of the quota (those closest to the threshold are highlight, but all are within 10%).
Stocksbridge & Upper Don 14,816 0.98
West Ecclesfield 14,000 0.93
East Ecclesfield 14,276 0.95
Southey 14,446 0.96
Firth Park 14,740 0.98
Shiregreen & Brightside 14,293 0.95
Burngreave 15,104 1.00
Hillsborough 15,128 1.00
Stannington 14,805 0.98
Walkley 14,101 0.93
City Centre 15,383 1.02
Crookes 15,473 1.03
Fulwood 14,442 0.96
Broomhill 14,507 0.96
Nether Edge & Sharrow 15,388 1.02
Highfield & Broomhall 15,503 1.03
Ecclesall 16,281 1.08
Dore & Totley 15,174 1.01
Beauchief & Greenhill 14,551 0.96
Graves Park 15,729 1.04
Gleadless Valley 14,966 0.99
Park & Arbourthorne 16,270 1.08
Manor Castle 16,242 1.08
Darnall 14,177 0.94
Woodhouse 15,964 1.06
Intake 16,366 1.08
Beighton 16,386 1.09
Mosborough 13,971 0.93
It involves a lot of messing around with Broomhill, but that's acceptable given its history and the rather wide area that has fallen under that name in the past.
The changes:
Staying the same: every ward in the Penistone & Stockbridge and Brightside & Hillsborough constituencies, and also Darnall, Dore & Totley, Ecclesall, Beauchief & Greenhill, Mosborough, and Stannington wards.
In the West/South West:
1. ZG (St Philip's) moves from Walkley to City ward. This is a more natural fit, as half is within the Inner Ring Road anyway.
2. GD (Edmund) moves out of City. This covers Highfield and areas south of the Inner Ring Road
3. A new "Highfield and Broomhall" ward is created from parts of existing City, Nether Edge & Sharrow, and Broomhill & Sharrow Vale wards. It includes GD (Edmund), ED (Collegiate), EJ (Broomhall), TA (Cemetary Road) and TE (Highfield) polling districts. It skirts the south of the Inner Ring Round and could also be called Little Sheffield, or City Centre Outer (joke).
4. To make up for lost electorate, Broomhill ward takes NB, NC, ND and NE, covering Endcliffe Edge and Endcliffe Ridge from Fulwood. These areas look more to Broomhill than Fulwood so fit well.
5. Fulwood takes HD (Crosspool), HH (Sandygate) and HI (Sandygate Park) from Crookes & Crosspool ward.
6. Crookes takes EE (Harcourt) from Broomhill & Sharrow Vale. This covers parts of Crookesmoor and Barber Road that fit well with Crookes.
7. Nether Edge and Sharrow takes back areas of Sharrow Vale south of the Porter Brook covered by EB (Bowood Road) and EF (Hunters Bar).
Essentially one new ward is created on the fringes of the city centre, and the rest of the surrounding wards shift a bit to even up electorates. Broomhill becomes more suburban and takes on the student villages, Fulwood becomes less studenty by taking on Sandygate and Crosspool, Crookes gains more of Crookesmoor, and Nether Edge and Sharrow are fully united once again.
In the South/South East:
1. Graves Park takes OG (Meersbrook Bank) from Gleadless Valley. It merges into Norton Lees and Woodseats so will fit well.
2. Gleadless Valley takes DD (Charnock Hall) from Birley. This is the only new crossing of the Outer Ring Road, and Charnock shares tram stops around Herdings with other parts of the ward. Not ideal but I think it can work given that Gleadless Valley is already a collection of fairly random and disparate areas.
3. Park & Arbourthorne takes RF (Stafford) from Manor Castle. Includes parts of Sheffield Park so can fit in fairly well.
4. Manor Castle takes UF (Spinkhill) and UH (Woodthorpe) from Richmond. The ward already crosses the Outer Ring Road here, so although not part of the same estate it will still work together.
5. Woodhouse takes UA (Bramley Hall) from Richmond. EXCISE THE POLYP!!!
6. Beighton takes DC (Birley Spa) from Birley. This unites Hackenthorpe in one ward, although a name change to reflect that might be warranted.
7. The remaining parts of Richmond and Birley wards are merged to recreate Intake ward. This covers DA (Base Green), DB (Birley Moor), DE (Frecheville), DF (Linley Lane), DG (Seagrave Crescent), DH (Silkstone), UB (Elm Tree), UC (Intake), UD (Linley Lane), UE (Seagrave), UG (Stradbroke).
Essentially Richmond and Birley wards are merged, with each losing some outlying areas to surround wards. Both are undersized and incoherent enough to cope with this merger. I chose the name Intake for historical reasons and because it essentially sits at the centre of the new ward. Uniting Handsworth and Hackenthorpe is an added bonus.
Oveall, the most difficult and radical changes occur around Broomhill and Crookes. However, I would argue both are losing areas that are not core to their identity, and actually the demographic profile means there isn't such longstanding community identity among many of the affected residents as there would be elsewhere in the city. The new Highfield & Broomhall essentially formalises the split of the old Central ward into Central North and Central South. The merger of Richmond and Birley wards can work given the fragmented nature of the suburbs both covered.
Edit: these are full electorates for each ward, with the value also expressed as a division of the quota (those closest to the threshold are highlight, but all are within 10%).
Stocksbridge & Upper Don 14,816 0.98
West Ecclesfield 14,000 0.93
East Ecclesfield 14,276 0.95
Southey 14,446 0.96
Firth Park 14,740 0.98
Shiregreen & Brightside 14,293 0.95
Burngreave 15,104 1.00
Hillsborough 15,128 1.00
Stannington 14,805 0.98
Walkley 14,101 0.93
City Centre 15,383 1.02
Crookes 15,473 1.03
Fulwood 14,442 0.96
Broomhill 14,507 0.96
Nether Edge & Sharrow 15,388 1.02
Highfield & Broomhall 15,503 1.03
Ecclesall 16,281 1.08
Dore & Totley 15,174 1.01
Beauchief & Greenhill 14,551 0.96
Graves Park 15,729 1.04
Gleadless Valley 14,966 0.99
Park & Arbourthorne 16,270 1.08
Manor Castle 16,242 1.08
Darnall 14,177 0.94
Woodhouse 15,964 1.06
Intake 16,366 1.08
Beighton 16,386 1.09
Mosborough 13,971 0.93