The District of Thanet (Electoral Changes) Order 2001

Statutory Instruments

2001 No. 3556

LOCAL GOVERNMENT, ENGLAND

The District of Thanet (Electoral Changes) Order 2001

Made

1st November 2001

Coming into force in accordance with article 1(2)

Whereas the Local Government Commission for England, acting pursuant to section 15(4) of the Local Government Act 1992(1), has submitted to the Secretary of State a report dated May 2001 on its review of the district of Thanet together with its recommendations:

And whereas the Secretary of State has decided to give effect to those recommendations:

Now, therefore, the Secretary of State, in exercise of the powers conferred on him by sections 17(2) and 26 of the Local Government Act 1992, and of all other powers enabling him in that behalf, hereby makes the following Order:

Citation, commencement and interpretation

1.—(1) This Order may be cited as the District of Thanet (Electoral Changes) Order 2001.

(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 Thanet;

“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 District of Thanet (Electoral Changes) Order 2001”, and deposited in accordance with regulation 27 of the Local Government Changes for England Regulations 1994(3).

Wards of the district of Thanet

2.—(1) The existing wards of the district(4) shall be abolished.

(2) The district shall be divided into twenty-three wards which shall bear the names set out in column (1) of the Schedule.

(3) The wards shall comprise the areas 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 (2) of the 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.

Elections of the council of Thanet

3.—(1) The ordinary elections of all councillors of the district of Thanet shall be held simultaneously on the ordinary day of election of non-metropolitan district councillors in 2003(5) 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.

Wards of the parish of Birchington

4.—(1) The existing wards of the parish of Birchington shall be abolished.

(2) The parish shall be divided into two parish wards which shall bear the names Birchington North and Birchington South; and each parish ward shall comprise the area of the district ward bearing the same name.

(3) The number of councillors to be elected for the Birchington North parish ward shall be four, and for the Birchington South parish ward shall be six.

Wards of the parish of Broadstairs and St Peters

5.—(1) The existing wards of the parish of Broadstairs and St Peters shall be abolished.

(2) The parish shall be divided into five parish wards which shall bear the names Beacon Road, Bradstowe, Kingsgate, St Peters and Viking; and each parish ward shall comprise the area of the district ward bearing the same name.

(3) The number of councillors to be elected for each of the St Peters and Viking parish wards shall be four, for each of the Beacon Road and Bradstowe parish wards shall be three, and for the Kingsgate parish ward shall be one.

Revocation

6.  The District of Thanet (Electoral Arrangements) Order 1978 is hereby revoked.

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

1st November 2001

article 2

SCHEDULE NAMES AND NUMBERS OF COUNCILLORS

(1)	(2)
Name of Ward	Number of Councillors
Beacon Road	2
Birchington North	2
Birchington South	3
Bradstowe	2
Central Harbour	3
Cliffsend and Pegwell	2
Cliftonville East	3
Cliftonville West	3
Dane Valley	3
Eastcliff	3
Garlinge	2
Kingsgate	1
Margate Central	2
Nethercourt	2
Newington	2
Northwood	3
St Peters	3
Salmestone	2
Sir Moses Montefiore	2
Thanet Villages	3
Viking	3
Westbrook	2
Westgate-on-Sea	3

Explanatory Note

(This note is not part of the Order)

This Order gives effect to recommendations by the Local Government Commission for England for electoral changes in the district of Thanet. The changes have effect in relation to local government elections to be held on and after 1st May 2003.

Article 2 abolishes the existing wards of the district and provides for the creation of 23 new wards. That article and the Schedule also make provision for the names of, and number of councillors for, the new wards.

Article 3 provides for the election of all councillors of the district of Thanet to take place in 2003 and every 4 years after that year.

Articles 4 and 5 make electoral changes in the parishes of Birchington, and Broadstairs and St Peters.

Article 6 revokes the District of Thanet (Electoral Arrangements) Order 1978.

The areas of the new district wards are demarcated on the map described in article 1(3). Prints of the map may be inspected at all reasonable times at the offices of Thanet District Council and at the offices of the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions, 2nd Floor, Ashdown House, 123 Victoria Street, London SW1E 6DE.

(1)

1992 c. 19.

(2)

Section 17 is amended by section 39(4) and (5) of the Police and Magistrates' Courts Act 1994 (c. 29).

(3)

S.I. 1994/867, to which there are amendments not relevant to this Order.

(4)

See the District of Thanet (Electoral Arrangements) Order 1978 (S.I. 1978/1439).

(5)

For the ordinary day of election of councillors of local government areas, see section 37 of the Representation of the People Act 1983 (c. 2), amended by section 18(2) of the Representation of the People Act 1985 (c. 50) and section 17 of, and paragraphs 1 and 5 of Schedule 3 to, the Greater London Authority Act 1999 (c. 29).