The South Glos Council wards will be changing at the next local elections in 2019, with the total number of councillors being cut from 70 to 61 and the number of voters being represented by each councillor becoming more equal.

The Local Government Boundary Commission for England has published their draft recommendations for the new boundaries. You can find all the details, including interactive maps, on their website.The consultation runs until 6th November 2017 and is your last chance to have your say before their proposals are finalised.

These are the criteria the Commission must follow when drawing up electoral arrangements:

• To deliver electoral equality where each councillor represents roughly the same number of electors as others across South Gloucestershire.
• 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.

You need to take account of these if you are suggesting different ward boundaries.

It’s just as important to say if you like the changes proposed as if you don’t. 

Note that the external boundary of South Gloucestershire won’t change, just how the area within it is divided up into wards. Nor will they be changing external Parish boundaries.

However, Parishes and Parish wards within Parishes are being used as the building blocks of the new wards. Because of this, some Parishes will have their internal ward boundaries changed and others will have Parish wards created for the first time.  For example, they propose moving the boundary between the Coalpit Heath and Westerleigh wards of Westerleigh Parish so that all the houses on Henfield Road, The Hollows, Cook’s Lane and Bitterwell Close are in the Coalpit Heath ward. There would still be 7 Parish Councillors for Coalpit Heath ward and 2 for Westerleigh ward.

How will it affect Westerleigh ward?

If these proposals go ahead, Westerleigh ward would disappear. The (slightly enlarged) Coalpit Heath ward of Westerleigh Parish would go into a new 3 member Frampton Cotterell ward, that would also cover the parishes of Frampton Cotterell, Iron Acton, Rangeworthy and Tytherington. The Westerleigh ward of Westerleigh Parish and Dodington South ward of Dodington Parish would move into an enlarged Boyd Valley ward, which would still have 2 members.