Gosport councillors pleased by proposed changes to ward boundaries

A POLITICAL shake-up could be on the cards as council wards in Gosport are set to be redrawn.
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Local Government Boundary Commission for England has proposed new ward boundaries for Gosport Borough Council.

The commission aims to have each councillor representing the same number of residents, with 14 wards and two councillors per ward shrinking the current council structure.

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Excluding Lee East, Lee West and Grange, every ward is set to either be changed or discarded.

The Local Government Boundary Commission has launched a 10-week consultation on the proposed changes. Picture: Shaun Roster.The Local Government Boundary Commission has launched a 10-week consultation on the proposed changes. Picture: Shaun Roster.
The Local Government Boundary Commission has launched a 10-week consultation on the proposed changes. Picture: Shaun Roster.
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For example, it has been proposed that Bridgemary North and Bridgemary South will become one single ward, with homes south of Brewers Lane falling under Rowner and Holbrook instead.

Alverstoke and Brockhurst will swallow up what is currently the Privett ward, and Leesland and Forton will take the Christchurch ward off the map.

Now, a consultation has been launched for residents to have their say on the proposals.

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Launching the consultation Professor Colin Mellors, chairman of the boundary commission, said: ‘We want people in Gosport to help us – we have drawn up proposals for new wards in Gosport. We want to make sure these new electoral arrangements reflect communities and also want them to be easy to understand and convenient for local people.

Residents and local organisations can help us do that. We would like them to let us know whether they agree with our proposals before we take final decisions.

‘Just tell us what you think and give us some details why you think that.

‘It’s really simple, so do get involved.’

All 28 seats will be up for grabs in next year’s local elections.

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Gosport’s Conservative council leader, Cllr Graham Burgess, said: ‘I welcome the more detailed layout of the wards and the discussion of possible ward names.

‘As I’m looking at it, this does look good for the town and I look forward to seeing exactly how everything will fall into place.’

Liberal Democrat leader, Cllr Peter Chegwyn, added: ‘This generally looks very good, and it’ll be better to have 28 councillors as opposed to 34.

‘I can see next year’s elections turning into a straight fight between us and the Conservatives.’

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To comment on the proposals, people can go to consultation.lgbce.org.uk/have-your-say/24316 or email [email protected].

A message from the Editor, Mark Waldron

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