iain
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Post by iain on Sept 13, 2016 13:49:41 GMT
Overall I think the SW is not bad, barring Tewkesbury, where Coombe Hill should just be split, and the Bournemouth area.
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Post by mrpastelito on Sept 13, 2016 14:06:18 GMT
So as a local I'll say something on the Dorset proposals These are the seats being proposed Bournemouth North and Christchurch (which would be my new seat) comprises of the Bournemouth wards of Throop and Muscliff, Strouden Park, Moordown, Winton East and Wallisdown and Winton West, together with the whole Borough of Christchurch. This as first sight seems a strange seat, although bears some resemblance to the pre-1974 Bournemouth East and Christchurch seat. The only connection between the Bournemouth and Christchurch parts would be over the River Stour and while there is a footbridge there is no connection by road without going through another constituency. Bournemouth South encompasses the remainder of Bournemouth, except for Kinson North and South and Redhill and Northbourne. This would be the only seat that is solely Bournemouth, with the Borough spread across three seats, whereas it has two that are almost just Bournemouth at present (Bournemouth West contains a very small part of Poole). Broadstone, Ferndown and Kinson is a bizarre proposal, taking areas from three different authorities and three (or four?) current seats with very little in common. Ferndown and Parley currently come under Christchurch constituency and are part of East Dorset DC, Kinson North and South and Redhill and Northbourne from Bournemouth East and Broadstone, Canford Heath East and West, Creekmoor and Merley and Bearwood from Poole (constituency wise I think some of those are Poole and some Poole North and Dorset Mid at present). A very strange mash up of different areas with little to hold them together. I don't know what they were thinking with this one. Poole comprises of the remainder of the Borough and should not be a controversial one. South Dorset doesn't seem to have changed radically, there is a small shift to insert the whole of a West Dorset ward of Broadmayne & Crossways due to district boundary changes. Not controversial I think. West Dorset comprises the remainder of the said district and appears to have changed very little. Warminster and Shaftesbury comprises of parts of North Dorset along with parts of Wiltshire. Cross county seats have not been popular in the past and may provoke strong reactions. Blandford and Wimborne is the rest of North Dorset and East Dorset together with the Lytchett Matravers/Lytchett Minster area of Purbeck. So a pretty radical shake-up for most of the county, especially to the East and North and a lot of controversy ahead. I am also starting to think about how this will affect constituency branches. For my part, I would come under a branch made up mainly of Christchurch people and my current branch of Bournemouth East would in the main become the Bournemouth South branch. Big changes ahead for local party politics if this goes through in its current form. Thanks for sharing your thoughts - interesting to read. What would you make of islington's proposal above? |
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Post by Andrew_S on Sept 13, 2016 14:20:26 GMT
8 unchanged seats in the South West:
Bristol North West
Bristol South
Exeter
North Devon
North Somerset
Taunton Deane
Torbay
Weston-super-Mare
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peterl
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Post by peterl on Sept 13, 2016 16:14:51 GMT
Looks reasonable, far more conservative than the Boundary Commission in avoiding making sweeping changes. I rather like the name of East Dorset mirroring (more of less) the current district, which would also be a nice memorial if it ceases to exist.
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Post by Deleted on Sept 13, 2016 16:25:15 GMT
8 unchanged seats in the South West: Bristol North West Bristol South Exeter North Devon North Somerset Taunton Deane Torbay Weston-super-Mare what's the change in Filton and Bradley Stoke? |
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Post by Davıd Boothroyd on Sept 13, 2016 16:26:39 GMT
what's the change in Filton and Bradley Stoke? Frampton Cotterell ward is moved to Thornbury and Yate. |
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Post by froome on Sept 13, 2016 19:13:59 GMT
what's the change in Filton and Bradley Stoke? Frampton Cotterell ward is moved to Thornbury and Yate. No, it is moved from Thornbury & Yate to Filton & Bradley Stoke. This makes sense, as it is contiguous with Winterbourne, so dividing them between two constituencies never made sense. I'm not so keen on moving Nailsworth out of Stroud. Do any of the more local members have thoughts on that? |
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Post by Adam in Stroud on Sept 13, 2016 23:15:47 GMT
No, it is moved from Thornbury & Yate to Filton & Bradley Stoke. This makes sense, as it is contiguous with Winterbourne, so dividing them between two constituencies never made sense. I'm not so keen on moving Nailsworth out of Stroud. Do any of the more local members have thoughts on that? Nailsworth is effectively a suburb of Stroud, about 10 minutes down the A46 (15 allowing for the potholes. Sorry, instinctive LibDem highway repairs comment there.) Its also down one of the 5 valleys from Stroud which are topographically quite hard to get round - it's much easier to go up or down the valley than to try to cross over from one to another. You'd be barking to e.g. drive to Cirencester in The Cotswolds for your shopping, or to Kemble to get on a train; and socially I think it is closer to Stroud than the Cotswolds - "greener", less conformist. To some extent this is true of Minchinhampton and Wotton-under-Edge too, both of which were in The Cotswolds previously and remain outside Stroud in The Cotswolds and Dursley Thornbury & Yate respectively under the proposals. But what can you do? Stroud makes good sense as a District Council area, it is just too big for a parliamentary constituency even under larger constituencies, so something has to drop off. I'd have much rather have Nailsworth (or to a slightly lesser extent Minchinhamption) in Stroud than Quedgeley, which is quite clearly part of Gloucester; but we have to give something to The Cotswolds as otherwise it is just ludicrously too small. Short of banning condoms in Cirencester, I don't see what else can be done. |
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Post by swindonlad on Sept 15, 2016 3:12:09 GMT
If one was starting from scratch this would be more logical for Swindon & Wiltshire than what's proposed Swindon: changes the boundary to the Great Western Main line / as near as possible the A419 Wiltshire: The seats based on Chippenham, west Wilts towns, Salisbury & RWB/Marlborough (areas under economic influence of Swindon) & the SW Wiltshire area to go with N Dorset |
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Post by swindonlad on Sept 15, 2016 3:23:19 GMT
And so to conclude the South West.   SW-F (Swindon): 148586 = 1.99 = 2I want to keep the north-south split, although the new wards make it hard to draw a sensible boundary at the western end. SWINDON NORTH - 75640 SWINDON SOUTH - 72946 SW-G (Dorset, Wilts): 902484 = 12.07 = 12All as posted before. BOURNEMOUTH EAST - 71748 BOURNEMOUTH WEST - 77012. A simple realignment with ward changes in Poole would actually have brought the slightly under-size current seat within range, but two very small seats in the Bournemouth area caused problems elsewhere. Besides, it seemed sensible to get the two Branksome wards in the same seat. CHRISTCHURCH - 77771. The two Poole wards in this seat aren't a great fit; but neither are the Verwood wards, which are the alternative. Besides, putting two Poole wards in this seat allowed me to keep the E Dorset seat out of Poole altogether. DEVIZES - 75543. Or 'E Wilts'. EAST DORSET - 77510. Special thanks to Mr P for help with this one. I went through a lot of more-or-less unsatisfactory possibilities in this area, but I'm very happy with the eventual result (and it's a huge improvement on the current 'Mid Dorset & Poole N' that it largely replaces). SOUTH DORSET - 77608 WEST DORSET - 73511 POOLE - 73678 SALISBURY - 73760 SHAFTESBURY AND WESTBURY - 72519. The cross-border seat, but reasonably compact and logical as such seats go. NORTH WILTSHIRE - 77385 WEST WILTSHIRE - 74439 Just catching up with posts, in the West of Swindon Shaw ward would need to be in South as there are no roads linking it to the north Swindon without going outside the constituency (there is a road, but it goes through Wiltshire), unless you put all of West Swindon with the northern part of Swindon (link through Western & Mannington) |
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Post by greenhert on Sept 19, 2016 21:12:30 GMT
My positions on the South West proposed constituencies:
The BCE are on the right track in Dorset, except that Bournemouth North & Christchurch really needs to be Bournemouth East & Christchurch. Bournemouth should not be split north/south.
Truro should really be paired with St Austell, not Newquay, to which it is poorly connected, and the town of Bodmin with almost all of South East Cornwall to reunite the old Bodmin constituency. Newquay should instead be in a 'Newquay & Wadebridge' constituency forming the majority of the pre-2010 North Cornwall seat. Bideford, Bude & Launceston needs to be rejigged a little.
The Devon constituencies are mostly acceptable except that East Devon can remain unchanged and needs no extra wards.
I support their proposals for Somerset and Bristol even though I would have preferred keeping Somerton & Frome intact and removing just one peripheral ward from Taunton Deane.
I believe Nailsworth needs to be kept with Stroud and the Cotswolds should remain intact; otherwise their proposals for Stroud and Gloucester look good. Putting Severn Valley in with Filton & Bradley Stoke helps, and Dursley, Thornbury & Yate will still be in quota. I reluctantly accept their proposals for West Gloucestershire and Tewkesbury since pairing the Forest of Dean with any rural Stroud wards is not possible as there are no links between the two.
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iain
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Post by iain on Sept 19, 2016 21:51:37 GMT
My positions on the South West proposed constituencies: The BCE are on the right track in Dorset, except that Bournemouth North & Christchurch really needs to be Bournemouth East & Christchurch. Bournemouth should not be split north/south. Truro should really be paired with St Austell, not Newquay, to which it is poorly connected, and the town of Bodmin with almost all of South East Cornwall to reunite the old Bodmin constituency. Newquay should instead be in a 'Newquay & Wadebridge' constituency forming the majority of the pre-2010 North Cornwall seat. Bideford, Bude & Launceston needs to be rejigged a little. The Devon constituencies are mostly acceptable except that East Devon can remain unchanged and needs no extra wards. I support their proposals for Somerset and Bristol even though I would have preferred keeping Somerton & Frome intact and removing just one peripheral ward from Taunton Deane. I believe Nailsworth needs to be kept with Stroud and the Cotswolds should remain intact; otherwise their proposals for Stroud and Gloucester look good. Putting Severn Valley in with Filton & Bradley Stoke helps, and Dursley, Thornbury & Yate will still be in quota. I reluctantly accept their proposals for West Gloucestershire and Tewkesbury since pairing the Forest of Dean with any rural Stroud wards is not possible as there are no links between the two. Keeping Cotswold intact would result in a very poorly connected Thornbury, Yate & Dursley, only connected by one ward. |
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Foggy
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Post by Foggy on Sept 19, 2016 22:03:51 GMT
The BCE are on the right track in Dorset, except that Bournemouth North & Christchurch really needs to be Bournemouth East & Christchurch. Bournemouth should not be split north/south. Truro should really be paired with St Austell, not Newquay, to which it is poorly connected, and the town of Bodmin with almost all of South East Cornwall to reunite the old Bodmin constituency. Newquay should instead be in a 'Newquay & Wadebridge' constituency forming the majority of the pre-2010 North Cornwall seat. Bideford, Bude & Launceston needs to be rejigged a little. The Devon constituencies are mostly acceptable except that East Devon can remain unchanged and needs no extra wards. I support their proposals for Somerset and Bristol even though I would have preferred keeping Somerton & Frome intact and removing just one peripheral ward from Taunton Deane. I believe Nailsworth needs to be kept with Stroud and the Cotswolds should remain intact; otherwise their proposals for Stroud and Gloucester look good. Putting Severn Valley in with Filton & Bradley Stoke helps, and Dursley, Thornbury & Yate will still be in quota. I reluctantly accept their proposals for West Gloucestershire and Tewkesbury since pairing the Forest of Dean with any rural Stroud wards is not possible as there are no links between the two. I suppose you're right about Bournemouth. I completely disagree about Cornwall and the Devonwall seat, but you do make a good point about East Devon. Where would the Taunton Deane ward go? It's within the quota already, and so is Yeovil, whilst Bridgwater is over it. It is possible to leave Somerton and Frome intact, but only by rejigging Wells, Bridgwater and NE Somerset in a different way from the proposal. Gloucestershire isn't entirely satisfactory (and nor is Wiltshire) but this is my home region and, compared to what the Commission is trying to do in other parts of the country, I'm really not inclined to complain. |
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Post by greatkingrat on Sept 19, 2016 22:12:06 GMT
What is wrong with East Devon? Even though Exe Valley doesn't have to move, it seems a logical choice to avoid Central Devon spreading over 5 council areas.
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Post by lennon on Sept 19, 2016 22:30:25 GMT
So my quick (minor-ish) modifications for Glocs are as follows (All relative to the BCE proposals):
Forest of Dean - split Coombe Hill ward so that Tewkesbury doesn't need to go into Cheltenham
Cheltenham - Current Constituency (so put Springbank back)
Tewkesbury - The obvious split of Coombe Hill ward, but then also lose the rural Winchcombe and Isbourne wards to the Cotswolds, instead taking Longlevens and Elmbridge from Glocs.
Glocs - The remainder of Glocs Auth (so put back the 2 Quedgeley wards)
Stroud then takes Nailsworth and Minchinhampton back from Cotswolds, and Berkely from Thornbury and Yate
Cotswolds is then the 2 previously Tewkesbury wards + the whole of the district
Kingswood and Filton/Bradley Stoke unchanged from the BCE
Thornbury & Yate just loses that Berkeley ward to Stroud.
Think that this is more coherent (Nailsworth + Minchinhampton in Stroud), and less change from the current map but thoughts appreciated.
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peterl
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Post by peterl on Sept 20, 2016 13:37:31 GMT
Really? So you like the Broadstone, Ferndown and Kinson seat?
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Post by greenhert on Sept 20, 2016 16:37:34 GMT
Really? So you like the Broadstone, Ferndown and Kinson seat? It is not actually my favourite new seat, but it is the best solution for reconnecting Bournemouth with Christchurch as was the case from 1950-74 (look up 'Bournemouth East & Christchurch'), since recreating the 1974-83 constituency of Christchurch & Lymington is not really possible due to the towns in question being in different regions. |
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Foggy
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Post by Foggy on Sept 20, 2016 17:14:16 GMT
Really? So you like the Broadstone, Ferndown and Kinson seat? I don't exactly like it, but I'm prepared to accept it as the one bad seat that can make all the others around it nice and neat. It's certainly an improvement on the current Dorset seat that fits that description. Of course, as greenhert rightly points out Bournemouth and Christchurch (but not Poole) should properly be treated as part of Hampshire, and therefore the South East region. |
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peterl
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Post by peterl on Sept 21, 2016 14:15:50 GMT
Of course, if the concept of regions were scrapped (increasingly irrelevant as we prepare to leave the EU) it would not be a problem. As it is, I think many locals will be upset at the proposals to link these three rather dissimilar areas.
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Foggy
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Post by Foggy on Sept 21, 2016 18:22:09 GMT
Of course, if the concept of regions were scrapped (increasingly irrelevant as we prepare to leave the EU) it would not be a problem. As it is, I think many locals will be upset at the proposals to link these three rather dissimilar areas. There will still be TV regions (which go back to before our membership of the EEC, at least on ITV) for a start. With the strict new rules, I think it'll be necessary to subdivide England into larger units than counties for the purposes of drawing up parliamentary constituencies. I don't think it matters that the three random towns are apparently 'dissimilar' as long as there isn't some geographical feature that the Commission has missed which makes the three parts inaccessible to one another. As I said, it's the one bad seat that is justified by neatness elsewhere, and is infinitely preferable to the existing Mid Dorset and North Poole. |
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