Northwood Parish Council
A consultation on ward boundaries for Isle of Wight Council has begun
Today is the start of a 10-week public consultation, during which the Local Government Boundary Commission for England is inviting proposals for new warding arrangements for Isle of Wight Council.
The consultation will close on 9 July 2018.
After considering all representations made during this consultation, the Commission intends to publish draft recommendations in September 2018.
There will then be a further period of consultation on the draft recommendations. Final recommendations are expected to be published in January 2019.
The new electoral arrangements will come into effect at the local elections in May 2021.
If you represent a local organisation or community group on the Isle of Wight, please pass this message on to your members or anyone who you think might be interested in the review. You can share the message by email or through social media by using the buttons at the bottom right of the page.
What is an electoral review?
The electoral review will recommend new electoral arrangements for Isle of Wight Council. It will propose:
- the total number of councillors elected to the council in the future;
- the number of wards
- the number of councillors representing each ward;
- ward boundaries, and;
- the names of wards.
How to get involved
This is a public consultation and we welcome views from individuals and organisations from across the Isle of Wight on where they think new ward boundaries should be drawn.
The Commission is minded to recommend that 40 councillors should be elected to Isle of Wight Council in the future.
This is no change from the current number of councillors.
The Commission is now inviting proposals to help it draw up a pattern of wards to accommodate 40 councillors.
In drawing up a pattern of electoral wards, the Commission must balance three legal criteria, namely:
- to deliver electoral equality: where each councillor represents roughly the same number of electors as others across the Isle of Wight;
- that the pattern of wards should, as far as possible, reflect the interests and identities of local communities;
that the electoral arrangements should provide for effective and convenient local government.
The Commission will treat all submissions equally, and judge each case on its merits and against the legal criteria.
If you wish to put forward a view, we would also urge you to ensure that evidence supports your submission. For example, if you wish to argue that two parishes should be included in the same electoral ward, make sure you tell the Commission why they should be together, providing evidence about community facilities, ties, organisations, and amenities, rather than simply asserting that they belong together.
There is more advice on our website about how you can get involved in the consultation.
Our website features technical guidance that explains the process and our policies, as well as guidance on how to take part in each part of the process.
We have also set up a webpage dedicated to the review of the Isle of Wight, where you can find all the relevant information.
You can also access interactive maps of the current ward boundaries across the Isle of Wight on our specialist consultation portal. The portal also allows you to draw your own boundaries, mark areas of interest on the map and upload documents directly to the site
