THE local government Boundary Commission for England will be conducting an electoral review in Torridge — which will discuss proposed changes to Holsworthy’s representation.

The review will be looking into the number of councillors on the council and at all of the ward boundaries, which will come into effect at the 2019 district elections.

The review’s aim is to have each councillor representing a similar number of people in order to make everyone’s vote in council elections worth roughly the same regardless of where they live.

The proposals have suggested that there be a split between Holsworthy and the Holsworthy Hamlets, which will leave the two Holsworthy members to represent the electors in the town.

This will mean the town will have two representatives under the new TDC councillor proposals representing the town. The hamlets will be amalgamated into a larger rural ward incorporating Holsworthy Hamlets and Bradworthy with one member.

Under the boundary commission proposals Holsworthy will consist of Holsworthy town’s two members, but Holsworthy Hamlets, Hollacombe and Sutcombe will be taken out and put into a much larger rural ward called ‘Milton and Tamarside’.

This will comprise those wards plus Bradford, Bridgerule, Cookbury, Milton Damerel, Pancrasweek, Pyworthy, Thornbury with two councillors.

The first section of the review has already determined the correct number of councillors to take decisions and manage the business of the council in an effective way, now and in the future, which will remain at 36.

This has been based on the large geographical area of the Torridge district, the existing workloads of councillor and all known current and future housing developments.

The second part of the review concerns the makeup of wards across the district. Currently more than 60% of Torridge’s wards are severely imbalancedand must be changed in order to be acceptable to the boundary commission.

Councillors have voted on their preferred options and the major changes to be implemented, based on these proposals, include: Holsworthy Hamlets is split out from Holsworthy town, leaving the two Holsworthy members to represent the electors in the town.

As well as this eleven ‘new’ rural wards will be created, which will require naming.

The independent local government boundary commission has also come up with a plan but the council feels the ward sizes in their proposals are far too large.

A public consultation run by the commission and based on their proposals will end on October 31. The consultation is open to anyone who wants to have their say on new council wards, ward boundaries and ward names across Torridge.

Members of the public are able to leave their views regarding the proposals on the commission’s website www.consultation.lgbce.org.uk

Alternatively Torridge has a dedicated electoral review web page on www.lgbce.org.uk

The commission has said they want their proposals to reflect the interests and identities of local communities across Torridge. They are looking to hear as much evidence as possible in order to develop their final recommendations. If anyone would like to make a submission to the commission they are able email [email protected] or write to: The Review Officer (Torridge), Local Government Boundary Commission for England, 14th floor, Millbank Tower, London, SW1P 4QP.

The closing date is October 31.