Ellesmere Port and Neston Liberal Democrats response to the Draft Recommendations on the new electoral arrangements for Cheshire West and Chester 1. Introduction We have carefully considered the Draft Recommendations published in August 2017 as they affect the Neston and Ellesmere Port areas. Broadly speaking we believe that proposed wards in the Ellesmere Port area respect existing community identities and we wish to support the proposed boundaries. However in certain cases we believe that different names are necessary for the proposed wards. Our evidence and alternatives are set out in Section 3 below. We would also support the proposed single-member Willaston & Thornton ward, including the small addition from Ellesmere Port LK1 north of the railway line and adjacent to Childer Thornton. However in the Neston area we believe that there are a number of distinct communities which would be better served by separate wards. Our reasoning and new alternative boundaries for the Neston area are set out in detail in Section 2 below. These proposals are also summarised in the wider response from Cheshire West and Chester Liberal Democrats. 2. Neston area There are several distinct communities in this area: These include the market town of Neston itself, the coastal community of Parkgate, Little Neston, the newer residential area of Riverside and the villages of Ness and Burton. Each has its own centre and different local character and this is reflected by the existing CWAC and Neston Town Council warding arrangements. We recognise that with the reduction of councillors for the area from the current four to the proposed three, new wards are needed but we believe that a three-member ward is likely to result in some parts of the area being neglected in favour of others. We note that single-member ward proposals were submitted to the Commission by Neston Town Council and others and we share that preference. However previous single-ward plans have not always made appropriate choices where communities have been combined. For example, other proposals linked the Riverside area to Parkgate but there are no main routes linking these areas together (there is only one minor connection via Church Lane) and consequently there are no close community ties. By bringing forward fresh proposals at this stage we seek to reflect these different communities sensitively as well as produce wards which have good electoral equality. Page 1 of 8 November 2017
Our fresh proposal for the Neston area is to create 3 single-member wards as follows: Proposed Electorate Electorate Variance ward 2016 2023 2023 Parkgate & Neston 4,351 4,415 +9.6% Neston & Little Neston 4,427 4,408 +9.5% Riverside & Burton 4,372 4,386 +8.9% Electoral equality in all three wards would be within 10% of the CWAC average in 2023. Parkgate and Neston Ward Parkgate, with its own very distinct coastal identity, will form the greater part of this ward, whilst Neston will unite the all areas in the north of Neston served by Liverpool Road and Upper Raby Park Road (see map below). There are good communication routes between the two areas via Liverpool Road/Parkgate Road as well via the Chester High Road (A540), the Runnel and Boathouse Lane. Existing polling districts Electorate 2016 Electorate 2023 Parkgate LH1 1,476 1,466 Parkgate LH2 1,714 1,788 Neston LF1 north part 1,161 1,161 Total 4,351 4,415 Variance +9.6% Parkgate would retain its own town council ward, and a new town council ward would be created for Neston. However as the area around The Priory and Abbots Way is more closely associated with Neston rather than Parkgate, we have taken this opportunity to propose that it is transferred to the Neston town council ward. Page 2 of 8 November 2017
The map below shows detailed boundaries of the proposed Neston town council ward (red and green areas combined). The areas marked in green are currently in Neston ward (part of LF1) whilst the areas marked in red are in the current Parkgate ward (part of LH2). Neston Neston Parkgate All housing areas solely served by Liverpool Road are included in Neston (such as Millfield, Mayfield Gardens, the Ringway and Westlands Close). Where Liverpool Road adjoins Neston town centre both sides of Liverpool Road and Cross Street would be in Neston (where they are currently split between two wards). Page 3 of 8 November 2017
Neston and Little Neston Ward This ward would combine the main part of Neston and a slightly redrawn Little Neston. There are excellent communications via Bushell Road/Mellock Lane between Neston and the centre of Little Neston, as well as via Bridge Street/Burton Road. The housing area around Station Road which is currently divided between two wards would be entirely within the proposed one. There are strong community links between Neston and Little Neston, both of which are served by facilities such as Neston Youth and Community Centre and Mellock Lane Clinic. Existing polling districts Electorate 2016 Electorate 2023 Neston LF1 south part 2,063 2,051 Little Neston LE4 1,665 1,651 Little Neston LE5 east part 699 706 Total 4,427 4,408 Variance +9.5% Neston and Little Neston currently form two distinct town council wards, and we propose that this arrangement is retained, although both town council wards would be smaller. Riverside and Burton Ward Riverside and the villages of Ness and Burton are currently all part of the same CWAC ward, and our proposal seeks to build on this well established relationship. Riverside is a distinct area bounded by the Dee marshes and has undeveloped land to the west, south and partly to the north. The main routes through the area, namely West Vale and Marshlands Road, connect to Burton Road which also links Ness and Burton. We are proposing a small enlargement of Riverside (LE3) to take in the area west of Burton Road (currently in polling district LE5). Having considered a number of options in this area, we feel that Burton Road forms a clear and distinct line separating it from Little Neston to the east. We have also slightly enlarged Ness (LE2) to unite the houses on opposite sides of School Lane. Existing polling districts Electorate 2016 Electorate 2023 Riverside LE3 2,812 2,816 Little Neston LE5 parts 250 250 Ness LE2 734 744 Burton LE1 576 576 Total 4,372 4,386 Variance +8.9% For Town Council purposes we propose separate wards for Riverside and for Ness, as at present. In both cases the town council wards will be slightly enlarged. Burton village is not part of Neston Town Council so is unaffected by the town council ward proposals. Page 4 of 8 November 2017
The detailed map below shows part of the proposed CWAC ward Riverside and Burton (the green and red areas combined). The areas to be transferred from LE5 are highlighted in yellow. The proposed Riverside town council ward is marked in green, whilst the proposed Ness town council ward is marked in red. Little Neston Riverside Ness Page 5 of 8 November 2017
We propose that Neston Town Council wards are redrawn as follows: Proposed Town Electorate Electorate Variance TC ward Cllrs 2016 2023 2023 Parkgate 4 2,782 2,846 4.3% Neston 2 1,569 1,569 +5.6% Neston 3 2,063 2,051 8.0% Little Neston 3 2,364 2,357 +5.7% Riverside 4 3.041 3,045 +2.4% Ness 1 755 765 +2.9% Total 17 12,574 12,633 +0.0% The current compliment of 17 town councillors is maintained, but in six town council wards, rather than the current five. Variance figures in this table relate to the Neston Town Council average of 743 electors per Town Councillor. Electoral equality for each town council ward will vary by less than 10% in 2023. Page 6 of 8 November 2017
The following table summarises all the changes in the Neston area for each existing polling district (or for a part polling district where a division is proposed): Existing Polling District LH1 LH2 (main part) LH2 (minor part) 1 LF1 (north part) Proposed CWAC ward Parkgate & Neston Parkgate & Neston Parkgate & Neston Parkgate & Neston Proposed TC ward Electorate 2016 Electorate 2023 Parkgate 1,476 1,466 Parkgate 1,306 1,380 Neston 408 408 Neston 1,161 1,161 LF1 (south part) Neston & Little Neston Neston 2,063 2,051 LE4 Neston & Little Neston Little Neston 1,665 1,651 LE5 (east part) Neston & Little Neston Little Neston 699 706 LE3 Riverside & Burton Riverside 2,812 2,816 LE5 (west part) 2 Riverside & Burton Riverside 229 229 LE2 Riverside & Burton Ness 734 744 LE5 (south part) 3 Riverside & Burton Ness 21 21 LE1 Riverside & Burton none 576 576 Totals 13,150 13,209 1 Includes the east side of Leighton Road plus The Priory and Abbots Way 2 West side of Burton Road, The Meadows, Girvan Drive, Marshlands Road, The Court, Cliffe Road, Riverview Road 3 LE5 properties on School Lane and on Burton Road opposite Furrocks Lane Page 7 of 8 November 2017
3. Ellesmere Port area We do not wish to make any changes to the proposed ward boundaries or to the ward names for Ledsham & Manor, Netherpool, Overpool & Grange, Strawberry & Sutton, Westminster or Wolverham. In the case of the proposed Great Sutton ward, we note that areas south of Parklands (in LK5 and LK7) have Great Sutton postal addresses, but a significant portion of the ward lying to the north of Parklands (all of LK4 and part of LK5) is postally in Little Sutton. LK4 includes part of the Little Sutton shopping area and is very close to Little Sutton railway station. We conclude that neither Little Sutton nor Great Sutton would be satisfactory names for the entire ward. However a central feature of the ward is the Rivace Valley, so we believe that Rivacre would be a more suitable unifying name for the ward as a whole. Also, we note that prior to 2008 a large part of the proposed ward was in Rivacre Ward. The Draft Recommendations seek to make a distinction between the two Whitby wards by using the names Whitby Heath and Whitby Groves. However polling district LN2 contains all the Grove road names and Whitbyheath. Consequently we feel that these names do not adequately distinguish between the two proposed wards and will lead to confusion. It also appears that the ward names may have been transposed in error on the Draft Recommendations maps. For the more northerly ward approximating LM4, LN1 and LN4 we propose the name Whitby Park, as the Park is the central distinguishing feature. For the more southerly ward approximating LN2, LN5 and LN3 we propose Whitby South, as polling districts LN5 and LN3 cannot be described as the Groves and are not close to Whitbyheath. The table below summarises our proposed names for the Ellesmere Port wards: Draft ward Great Sutton Ledsham & Manor Netherpool Overpool & Grange Strawberry & Sutton Westminster LM4, LN1, LN4 4 LN2, LN5, LN3 Wolverham Our proposal Rivacre Ledsham & Manor Netherpool Overpool & Grange Strawberry & Sutton Westminster Whitby Park Whitby South Wolverham Contact details Ellesmere Port and Neston Liberal Democrats 4 The maps included in the Draft Recommendations appear to have transposed the two Whitby ward names, so we have referred to the constituent polling districts for clarity. Page 8 of 8 November 2017