Boundary reviews
Electoral Review of Broxbourne
In 2010, the independent Local Government Boundary Commission
for England (the Commission) commenced the first part of its
electoral review of Broxbourne Borough Council.
It agreed with the Council that there should be a reduction in
the number of elected members from 38 to 30 and a reduction from 13
to 10 wards.
The aim of the review was to make local elections more balanced
by ensuring that all councillors represent a broadly similar number
of people across the Borough and that the Council has the
appropriate number of councillors to represent the area
effectively. For example, Wormley/Turnford ward had 25
per cent more electors per councillor than the average in
Broxbourne, whereas Bury Green ward had 12 per cent fewer
electors. The review was to ensure that every elector’s vote
is worth the same.
The second stage of the review to devise new ward
boundaries for the 10 new wards ended in February 2011
following a period of public consultation. The
Council agreed to forward the following proposals to
the Commission:
The Commission considered all of the proposals received
during the second stage of the review and announced its
recommendations in May 2011 which can be viewed on
the Commission's website.
The period of public consultation on the proposals ended in
August 2011. The Council agreed its response to the
Commission's proposals at a meeting in July 2011. Details can
be viewed in the related links section.
The Commission published its final
recommendations for the new electoral arrangements for the
Borough in October 2011. In a significant departure
from its draft recommendations which included a Goffs Oak and
Bury Green ward, the Commission decided to adopt the Council’s
proposals for a Goffs Oak ward which would comprise the settlement
of Goffs Oak without the Bury Green area. The Commission's
other recommendations were in line with the Council's
proposals.
The Commission also confirmed that the
number of councillors would be reduced by eight members to 30,
with 10 three member wards across the Borough.
The final recommendations can be found on
the Commission's
website.
The new arrangements were introduced through a
Parliamentary Order which provided for the new electoral
arrangements to come into force at the local election in
Broxbourne in May 2012.
As a result of the new warding arrangements the
Council considered the polling districts that will make up the
new wards and the polling stations that will serve the new wards in
the borough. A plan of the proposals
is available to view and
further details can be found in the related links
section.