1.—(1) This Order may be cited as the County of Herefordshire District Council (Electoral Changes) Order 2002.
(2) This Order shall come into force—
(a)for the purpose of proceedings preliminary or relating to any election to be held on 1st May 2003, on 15th October 2002;
(b)for all other purposes, on 1st May 2003.
(3) In this Order—
“district” means the district of Herefordshire;
“existing” in relation to a ward, means the ward as it exists on the date this Order is made; and
any reference to “the map” is a reference to the map prepared by the Department for Transport, Local Government and the Regions marked “Map of the County of Herefordshire District Council (Electoral Changes) Order 2002”, and deposited in accordance with regulation 27 of the Local Government Changes for England Regulations 1994(1).
2.—(1) The existing wards of the district(2) shall be abolished.
(2) The district shall be divided into forty wards which shall bear the names set out in column (1) of Schedule 1.
(3) The wards shall comprise the areas described in column (2) of that Schedule by reference to parishes or, where an area is not so described, the area designated on the map by reference to the name of the ward and demarcated by red lines; and the number of councillors to be elected for each ward shall be the number specified in respect of the ward in column (3) of that Schedule.
(4) Where a boundary is shown on the map as running along a road, railway line, footway, watercourse or similar geographical feature, it shall be treated as running along the centre line of the feature.
3.—(1) The ordinary elections of all councillors of the district of Herefordshire shall be held simultaneously on the ordinary day of election of non-metropolitan district councillors in 2003(3) and every fourth year after 2003.
(2) The term of office of councillors shall be four years; and all councillors shall retire on the fourth day after the ordinary day of election of councillors in the year of retirement and the newly-elected councillors shall come into office on the day on which their predecessors retire.
4.—(1) The existing wards of the parish of Hereford(4) shall be abolished.
(2) The parish shall be divided into seven parish wards which shall bear the names set out in column (1) of Schedule 2; each parish ward shall comprise the area of the district ward specified in respect of the parish ward in column (2) of that Schedule; and the number of councillors to be elected for each parish ward shall be the number specified in respect of the parish ward in column (3) of that Schedule.
5.—(1) The existing wards of the parish of Ledbury shall be abolished.
(2) The number of parish councillors to be elected for the parish of Ledbury shall be eighteen.
6.—(1) The existing wards of the parish of Leominster shall be abolished.
(2) The parish shall be divided into two parish wards which shall bear the names Leominster North and Leominster South; each parish ward shall comprise the area of the district ward bearing the same name; and the number of councillors to be elected for each parish ward shall be eight.
7. The parish of Lower Bullingham shall be divided into two parish wards which shall bear the names set out in column (1) of Schedule 3; each parish ward shall comprise the area of the district ward specified in respect of the parish ward in column (2) of that Schedule; and the number of councillors to be elected for each parish ward shall be the number specified in respect of the parish ward in column (3) of that Schedule.
8.—(1) The existing wards of the parish of Ross-on-Wye shall be abolished.
(2) The parish shall be divided into two parish wards which shall bear the names set out in column (1) of Schedule 4; each parish ward shall comprise the area of the district ward specified in respect of the parish ward in column (2) of that Schedule; and the number of councillors to be elected for each parish ward shall be six.
9. The parish of Ross Rural shall be divided into two parish wards which shall bear the names set out in column (1) of Schedule 5; each parish ward shall comprise the area of the district ward specified in respect of the parish ward in column (2) of that Schedule; and the number of councillors to be elected for each parish ward shall be the number specified in respect of the parish ward in column (3) of that Schedule.
10. The number of parish councillors to be elected for the parish of Withington shall beten.
11. The following provisions are hereby revoked—
article 7 of and Schedule 3 to the Hereford and Worcester (Structural, Boundary and Electoral Changes) Order 1996(5);
the City of Hereford (Electoral Arrangements) Order 1977(6);
the District of Leominster (Electoral Arrangements) Order 1978(7);
the District of South Herefordshire (Electoral Arrangements) Order 1977(8);
the District of South Herefordshire (Electoral Arrangements) Order 1991(9);
the District of Malvern Hills (Electoral Arrangements) Order 1976(10); and
the District of Herefordshire (Electoral Changes) Order 1997.
Signed by authority of the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions
Alan Whitehead
Parliamentary Under Secretary of State,
Department for Transport, Local Government and the Regions
31st January 2002