The County of Worcestershire (Electoral Changes) Order 2005

Statutory Instruments

2005 No. 174

LOCAL GOVERNMENT, ENGLAND

The County of Worcestershire (Electoral Changes) Order 2005

Made

1st February 2005

Coming into force in accordance with article 1(2) and 1(3)

Whereas the Boundary Committee for England(1), acting pursuant to section 15(4) of the Local Government Act 1992(2), has submitted to the Electoral Commission(3) recommendations dated September 2004 on its review of the county of Worcestershire:

And whereas the Electoral Commission have decided to give effect to those recommendations:

And whereas a period of not less than six weeks has expired since the receipt of those recommendations:

Now, therefore, the Electoral Commission, in exercise of the powers conferred on them by sections 17(4) and 26(5) of the Local Government Act 1992, and of all other powers enabling them in that behalf, hereby make the following Order:

Citation and commencement

1.—(1) This Order may be cited as the County of Worcestershire (Electoral Changes) Order 2005.

(2) This Order, with the exception of articles 4 and 5, shall come into force –

(a) for the purpose of proceedings preliminary or relating to any election to be held on the ordinary day of election of councillors in 2005, on the day after that on which it is made;

(b) for all other purposes, on the ordinary day of election of councillors in 2005.

(3) Articles 4 and 5 shall come into force –

(a) for the purpose of proceedings preliminary or relating to the election of a parish councillor for the parishes of Droitwich Spa and Evesham to be held on the ordinary day of elections in 2007, on 15th October 2006;

(b) for all other purposes, on the ordinary day of elections in 2007.

Interpretation

2.  In this Order –

“county” means the county of Worcestershire;

“existing”, in relation to an electoral division or ward, means the electoral division or ward as it exists on the date this Order is made;

references to wards, unless the context otherwise requires, are references to district, borough and city wards in the county(6);

any reference to the map is a reference to the map marked “Map referred to in the County of Worcestershire (Electoral Changes) Order 2005”, of which prints are available for inspection at –

(a)

the principal office of the Electoral Commission; and

(b)

the offices of Worcestershire County Council; and

any reference to a numbered sheet is a reference to the sheet of the map which bears that number.

Electoral divisions of the county of Worcestershire

3.—(1) The existing electoral divisions of the county(7) shall be abolished.

(2) The county shall be divided into fifty-two electoral divisions which shall bear the names set out in column (1) of the Schedule.

(3) The electoral divisions shall comprise the areas described in column (2) of the Schedule by reference to wards, parishes, or parish wards or, where an area is not so described, the area designated on the map by reference to the name of the electoral division and demarcated by red lines; and the number of councillors to be elected for each electoral division shall be the number specified in respect of the electoral division in column (3) 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.

Wards of the parish of Droitwich Spa

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

(2) The parish shall be divided into seven parish wards which shall bear the names Droitwich Central, Droitwich Chawson, Droitwich Copcut, Droitwich East, Droitwich Tagwell, Droitwich West and Droitwich Witton; and the wards shall comprise the areas designated on sheet 4 by reference to the name of the ward and demarcated by orange lines.

(3) The number of councillors to be elected for each of the Droitwich East and Droitwich West parish wards shall be four, and for each of the Droitwich Central, Droitwich Chawson, Droitwich Copcut, Droitwich Tagwell and Droitwich Witton parish wards shall be two.

Wards of the parish of Evesham

5.—(1) The existing wards of the parish of Evesham shall be abolished.

(2) The parish shall be divided into six parish wards which shall bear the names Bengeworth, Evesham Avon, Evesham South, Evesham Twyford, Great Hampton and Little Hampton; and the wards shall comprise the areas designated on sheet 4 by reference to the name of the ward and demarcated by orange lines.

(3) The number of councillors to be elected for each of the Bengeworth, Evesham South and Little Hampton parish wards shall be five, and for each of the Evesham Avon, Evesham Twyford and Great Hampton parish wards shall be three.

Maps

6.  Worcestershire County Council shall make a print of the map marked “Map referred to in the County of Worcestershire (Electoral Changes) Order 2005” available for inspection at its offices by any member of the public at any reasonable time.

Electoral registers

7.  The Electoral Registration Officer(8) for each district, borough or city in the county shall make such rearrangement of, or adaptation of, the register of local government electors as may be necessary for the purposes of, and in consequence of, this Order.

Revocation

8.  Article 8 of the Hereford and Worcester (Structural, Boundary and Electoral Changes) Order 1996(9) is revoked.

Sealed with the seal of the Electoral Commission on the 1st day of February 2005

L.S.

Sam Younger

Chairman of the Commission

1st February 2005

Peter Wardle

Chief Executive to the Commission

1st February 2005

article 3

SCHEDULE NAMES AND AREAS OF ELECTORAL DIVISIONS AND NUMBERS OF COUNCILLORS

Column (1)	Column (2)	Column (3)
Name of Electoral Division	Area of Electoral Division	Number of Councillors
In the district of Bromsgrove
Alvechurch	Alvechurch ward; Wythall South ward	1
Beacon	Beacon ward; Hillside ward; Waseley ward	1
Bromsgrove Central	Norton ward; St Johns ward	1
Bromsgrove East	Linthurst ward; Slideslow ward; Tardebigge ward	1
Bromsgrove South	Charford ward; Stoke Heath ward; Stoke Prior ward	1
Bromsgrove West	Sidemoor ward; Whitford ward	1
Clent Hills	Furlongs ward; Hagley ward; Uffdown ward	1
Woodvale	Catshill ward; Marlbrook ward; Woodvale ward	1
Wythall	Drakes Cross and Walkers Heath ward; Hollywood and Majors Green ward	1
In the district of Malvern Hills
Croome	Kempsey ward; Ripple ward; Upton upon Severn parish	1
Hallow	Baldwin ward; Broadheath ward; Hallow ward; Martley ward	1
Malvern Chase	Chase ward; Wells ward	1
Malvern Langland	Pickersleigh ward; Priory ward	1
Malvern Link	Alfrick and Leigh ward; Link ward	1
Malvern Trinity	Dyson Perrins ward; West ward	1
Powick	Longdon ward; Morton ward; Powick ward; Hanley Castle parish	1
Tenbury	Lindridge ward; Teme Valley ward; Tenbury ward; Woodbury ward	1
In the borough of Redditch
Arrow Valley East	Church Hill ward; Matchborough ward; Winyates ward	2
Arrow Valley West	Abbey ward; Greenlands ward; Lodge Park ward	2
Redditch North	Batchley ward; Central ward; West ward	2
Redditch South	Astwood Bank and Feckenham ward; Crabbs Cross ward; Headless Cross and Oakenshaw ward	2
In the city of Worcester
Bedwardine		1
Claines		1
Gorse Hill and Warndon	Gorse Hill ward; Warndon ward	1
Nunnery		1
Rainbow Hill		1
Riverside		1
St John		1
St Peter	Battenhall ward; St Peter’s Parish ward	1
St Stephen		1
Warndon Parish	Warndon Parish North ward; Warndon Parish South ward	1
In the district of Wychavon
Bowbrook	Hadzor parish; Himbleton parish; Hindlip parish; Huddington parish; Martin Hussingtree parish; North Claines parish; Oddingley parish; Tibberton parish; Salwarpe parish; Droitwich Copcut parish ward of Droitwich Spa parish	1
Bredon	Bredon ward; Eckington ward; South Bredon Hill ward; Bricklehampton parish; Elmley Castle parish; Great Comberton parish; Little Comberton parish; Netherton parish; Wick parish	1
Broadway	Broadway and Wickhamford ward; Aston Somerville parish; Charlton parish; Cropthorne parish; Fladbury parish; Hinton on the Green parish; Sedgeberrow parish	1
Droitwich East	Droitwich East ward; Droitwich Tagwell and Droitwich Witton parish wards of Droitwich Spa parish	1
Droitwich West	Droitwich Central ward; Droitwich West ward; Droitwich Chawson parish ward of Droitwich Spa parish	1
Evesham North West	Great Hampton ward; Little Hampton ward; Evesham Avon parish ward of Evesham parish	1
Evesham South	Bengeworth ward; Evesham South ward	1
Harvington	Harvington and Norton ward; Abberton parish; Abbots Morton parish; Church Lench parish; Cookhill parish; Inkberrow parish; Rous Lench parish; Evesham Twyford parish ward of Evesham parish	1
Littletons	Badsey ward; Bretforton and Offenham ward; Honeybourne and Pebworth ward; The Littletons ward	1
Ombersley	Dodderhill ward; Hartlebury ward; Ombersley ward; Elmbridge parish; Elmley Lovett parish; Hampton Lovett parish; Hanbury parish; Stock and Bradley parish; Westwood parish	1
Pershore	Pershore ward; Pinvin ward	1
Upton Snodsbury	Drakes Broughton ward; Norton and Whittington ward; Upton Snodsbury ward; Crowle parish	1
In the district of Wyre Forest
Bewdley	Bewdley and Arley ward; Rock ward	1
Chaddesley		1
Cookley, Wolverley and Wribbenhall	Cookley ward; Wolverley ward; Wribbenhall ward	1
St Barnabas		1
St Chads		1
St Georges and St Oswald		1
St Johns		1
St Marys		1
Stourport-on-Severn	Areley Kings ward; Lickhill ward; Mitton ward	2

Explanatory Note

(This note is not part of the Order)

This Order gives effect to recommendations by the Boundary Committee for England, a committee of the Electoral Commission, for electoral changes in the county of Worcestershire.

The changes have effect in relation to local government elections to be held on and after the ordinary day of election of councillors in 2005.

Article 3 abolishes the existing electoral divisions of the county and provides for the creation of 52 new electoral divisions. That article and the Schedule also make provision for the names and areas of, and numbers of councillors for, the new electoral divisions.

Articles 4 and 5 make electoral changes in the parishes of Droitwich Spa and Evesham.

Article 7 obliges the Electoral Registration Officer for each district, borough or city in the county of Worcestershire to make any necessary amendments to the electoral register to reflect the new electoral arrangements.

Article 8 revokes article 8 of the Hereford and Worcester (Structural, Boundary and Electoral Changes) Order 1996.

The areas of the new electoral divisions and of the new parish wards in the parishes of Droitwich Spa and Evesham are demarcated on the map described in article 2. Prints of the map may be inspected at all reasonable times at the offices of Worcestershire County Council and at the principal office of the Electoral Commission at Trevelyan House, Great Peter Street, London SW1P 2HW.

(1)

The Boundary Committee for England is a committee of the Electoral Commission, established by the Electoral Commission in accordance with section 14 of the Political Parties, Elections and Referendums Act 2000 (c. 41). The Local Government Commission for England (Transfer of Functions) Order 2001 (S.I. 2001/3962) transferred to the Electoral Commission the functions of the Local Government Commission for England.

(2)

1992 c. 19. This section has been amended by S.I. 2001/3962.

(3)

The Electoral Commission was established by the Political Parties, Elections and Referendums Act 2000 (c. 41). The functions of the Secretary of State, under sections 13 to 15 and 17 of the Local Government Act 1992 (c. 19), to the extent that they relate to electoral changes within the meaning of that Act, were transferred with modifications to the Electoral Commission on 1st April 2002 (S.I. 2001/3962).

(4)

This section has been amended by section 89(3) of the Local Government Act 2000 (c. 22), S.I. 2001/3962 and also otherwise in ways not relevant to this Order.

(5)

This section has been amended by S.I. 2001/3962.

(6)

See the District of Bromsgrove (Electoral Changes) Order 2003 (S.I. 2003/158), the District of Malvern Hills (Electoral Changes) Order 2003 (S.I. 2003/3224), the Borough of Redditch (Electoral Changes) Order 2002 (S.I. 2002/2986), the City of Worcester (Electoral Changes) Order 2002 (S.I. 2002/3225), the District of Wychavon (Electoral Changes) Order 2002 (S.I. 2002/2987) and the District of Wyre Forest (Electoral Changes) Order 2002 (S.I. 2002/2985).

(7)

See the Hereford and Worcester (Structural, Boundary and Electoral Changes) Order 1996 (S.I. 1996/1867).

(8)

As to electoral registration officers and the register of local government electors, see sections 8 to 13 of the Representation of the People Act 1983 (c. 2).

(9)

S.I. 1996/1867.