Redcar & Cleveland Borough Council Liberal Democrat Group Comments on the draft recommendations for new electoral arrangements in Redcar & Cleveland Borough 2018
To: The Review Officer (Redcar & Cleveland) The Local Government Boundary Commission for England 14 th Floor, Millbank Tower LONDON SW1P 4QP 12 February 2018 Dear Sir/Madam, The Liberal Democrat Group on Redcar and Cleveland Borough Council is broadly supportive of the recommendations of the Local Government Boundary Commission for England (LGBCE) for new electoral arrangements in Redcar & Cleveland. We would like to congratulate and thank the LGBCE for its detailed and thorough approach, and for listening to the views of all parties who took the trouble to make representations at the earlier stages. There are a number of problems with the current arrangements and the new recommendations go a long way towards correcting the anomalies. However, we believe the arrangements could be made even better with a few minor changes. Our comments are set out below for each area as set out in the draft recommendations. Ormesby and Normanby We believe the recommendations are a sensible way of redressing the discrepancies in ward electorate size. Eston, Grangetown, South Bank and Teesville We are particularly pleased that the recommendations provide for the Whale Hill and Eston Town Centre areas to be in one ward. We are pleased with the recommendation that South Bank ward take in the former steel works site. Mickledales and West Dyke We support some of the recommendations of the LGBCE.
We are pleased with the recommendation that the Mickledales Estate be included in a Redcar ward and that the Wheatlands Park Estate be removed from the current Kirkleatham Ward, where it clearly does not belong. However, the proposed Mickledales Ward contains a great deal more than Mickledales Estate, so we propose that the new ward be named Wheatlands Ward or Redcar South East Ward. We recognise the case for not splitting the Ings estate, however, we believe this is not as important as the recommendations make out, and is a price worth paying in order to keep the Racecourse estate with the northern ward of the current West Dyke. To preserve the character of the community, the Racecourse estate would be better retained with the Castle Road/Warwick Road community. The proposals from the LGBCE place the Racecourse estate in a curious enclave, which we believe does not reflect community identity. Racecourse estate residents tend to use the shops on Warwick Road and most primary school pupils attend Ings Farm Primary School, on Stirling Road to the north-east. In addition, residents from the Racecourse estate are active in the East Redcar Residents Association, along with many people from the Castle Road/Borough Road area and from Zetland Ward. The East Redcar Residents Association and Friends of Borough Park groups add to this sense of community identity, with many of the activists living in the Ings and Racecourse estates. The LGBCE s initial proposals would see those activists living in a different ward from that in which they perform their community service. Greenstones Road is the nearest there is to a logical boundary in this area. Residents to the north of Greenstones Road are likely to access play facilities, dog walking etc. at Borough Park, to the north, as would the Racecourse estate. However, residents living south of Greenstones Road have smaller play areas within the estate and Holyhead playing fields, which they are more likely to use, without going north. The Scars area, although part of the Ings, has walkways linking into the Castle Road area to the north, and has always been seen as separate to the new-build Ings and Mickledales to the south. Therefore, we propose that the LGBCE re-consider the original proposals of the Liberal Democrat Group for this area. Dormanstown, Kirkleatham and Newcomen
We are particularly pleased with the recommendation to cut Dormanstown Ward down to an area which more closely reflects the area known as Dormanstown. We are pleased at the very sensible recommendation to include Kirkleatham Village in Kirkleatham Ward. We are pleased that the recommendations will place Newcomen Primary School in Newcomen Ward. This will avoid confusion. Coatham and Zetland Coatham functions as a town centre ward and Zetland is a self-contained ward with the railway acting as a recognisable boundary. We are pleased that the recommendations provide for a continuation of this. Marske, New Marske and Saltburn We are particularly pleased that the Mickledales Estate is to be moved from Longbeck into a Redcar ward (though it will retain its association with Marske, New Marske and Saltburn for parish council purposes). We are concerned about the small size of the Saltburn Ward but we accept that there are no other satisfactory options. Brotton and Loftus We appreciate the recommendations of the LGBCE. We accept that there is a strong case for not separating the Skinningrove and Carlin How villages. However, we remain concerned about the small size of the Loftus Ward, which is at more than 10% variance from the average. We are concerned that population trends may make this problem even worse in years to come. Skelton and Lockwood We broadly support the recommendations of the LGBCE. Our position is that we would prefer not to have any single-member wards. This is why we originally proposed a two-member South Cleveland Ward, which had the added advantage of uniting the parish of Lockwood into a single ward, though it necessitated the separation of Skelton Green from Skelton. However, we are impressed with the innovative recommendation of the LGBCE to split Skelton into two wards with the addition of Boosbeck to the Skelton West Ward.
We accept that one or other of the parish areas (Skelton and Lockwood) has to be divided between borough council wards, and a decision has to be made as to which one it is to be. This is, to a large extent, a subjective matter. Guisborough Although different to our original proposals, we are pleased that the recommendations will create largely urban wards for the town. We are particularly pleased that the recommendations remove the aberration of the current Westworth Ward, which combines urban parts of Guisborough with villages from another parish. We are pleased that the recommendations will create wards wholly contained within the Guisborough Town Council area. However, we propose that the Guisborough Ward should be named Guisborough North Ward. Otherwise the implication would be that the three councillors represent the whole of the town, when in reality they represent only around one-third of it. Please do not hesitate to contact me if you require any clarification of the above. Yours faithfully, Councillor Josh Mason Leader, Liberal Democrat Group, Redcar and Cleveland Borough Council