A number of recommendations have been agreed which will have an impact on some town and parish boundaries and governance arrangements
This is part of the Community Governance Review, which began in November 2019. The recommendations were agreed at an Extraordinary Meeting of Full Council on 9 September.
Earlier this year Conservative led Wiltshire Council's Electoral Review Committee carried out a public survey in relation to the areas included within the review. More than 500 responses were received and following analysis of the feedback; as well as information received from emails; public meetings and information gathering sessions; the committee formed and put forward the draft recommendations. Following a further consultation which received more than 200 responses, which were analysed and considered by the committee, final recommendations were prepared for consideration by Full Council.
The changes to electoral arrangements for some parishes, as a result of the Community Governance Review, will come into effect at the next scheduled ordinary parish council elections in May 2021.
A full replay of the meeting can be viewed.
The council will now be consulting on proposals for new Area Board boundaries, to align these with the Electoral Divisions that are incoming for the May 2021 elections. The consultation begins on 10 September 2020 until 31 October 2020.
The Electoral Review Committee will review all responses to the consultation and prepare final recommendations for consideration by Full Council when it meets on 24 November.
Cllr Richard Clewer, Chair of the Electoral Review Committee, said: This has been a very complex process and a huge logistical challenge. We know that not everyone will be pleased with the outcome and we are completely understanding and sympathetic to any of those sentiments. We met and consulted with so many people and every proposal put forward has been done so with the best of intentions. We have made a concerted effort to ensure local governance is as effective and convenient as it can be, and that it reflects the identity and interests of local communities.
The next stage is to look at the Area Board boundary alignments and I encourage everyone to look at those proposals and have their say.
Finally, I'd like to thank the team behind the scenes for getting us to this point. Their hard work and organisation has kept this process fully on track throughout and that of course has been made even more complicated by the pandemic.
More information will be available on our CGR pages.
Some of the recommendations agreed that affect areas within the Devizes Constituency are:
Recommendation 5
5.1 That the area shown in the report be transferred from the parish of Manningford to the parish of Woodborough.
Reason: Paragraph 84 of the Guidance on Community Governance Reviews
Recommendation 6
6.1 That the parish of Pewsey be represented by a parish council comprising 21 parish councillors, without warding arrangements.
Reasons: Paragraphs 84, 85 of the Guidance on Community Governance Reviews
Recommendation 7
7.1 That the area in the report be transferred from the parish of Pewsey to the parish of Wilcot, Huish and Oare (see
Recommendation 8.3).
7.2 That the Electoral Divisions of Pewsey Vale West and Pewsey be amended to be coterminous with the parish boundaries of Pewsey and Wilcot, Huish and Oare.
Reason: Paragraph 84 of the Guidance on Community Governance Reviews
Recommendation 8
8.1 That the parishes of Wilcot and Huish be merged into a single parish.
8.2 For the combined parish to have no warding arrangements, with nine councillors.
8.3 For the combined parish to be called Wilcot, Huish and Oare.
Reasons: Paragraph 80, 81 of the Guidance on Community Governance Reviews
