Issue - meetings

As detailed in the recommendation.

The Cabinet Member for Corporate Management introduced the final proposals on the community review and explained that an updated version of the report had been circulated to Members.

The County Council had a statutory duty to keep Town and Community Council boundaries and electoral arrangements for communities within its area under review.  The County Council had not previously undertaken a comprehensive community review, only limited reviews affecting a small number of Town and Community Councils.

The Head of Legal and Democratic Services explained the background to the draft proposals with the final version being considered by County Council on 30 April 2014 where subject to one amendment being made, to remove the objection by Councillor Steele-Mortimer to the proposal for Trelawnyd and Gwaenysgor which he had not made, the draft final proposals were agreed.

Following approval, the final proposals would be published in the press and on the Council’s website.  Where the final proposals involved changes to external community boundaries, a report recommending those changes would be submitted to the Local Democracy & Boundary Commission for Wales.  There were seven such towns and communities where changes were proposed to the external boundary, namely Broughton & Bretton, Halkyn, Higher Kinnerton, Hope, Leeswood, Mold and Penyffordd.  In considering those changes the Commission would also consider any consequential changes to the internal ward boundaries.  The Commission would then make recommendations to the Welsh Government. 

The Commission had been due to review the boundaries within Flintshire and report back by May 2017.  However, following the publication of the Public Services Commission report the Commission had suspended its scheduled programme of reviews and there was no clear indication of when the Commission would consider the boundaries in Flintshire.

RESOLVED:

(a)       That the draft final proposals contained in Appendix B be approved; and

(b)       That the final agreed proposals be published in the press and on the Council’s website with the seven communities where the external boundary is proposed to change being recommended to the Local Democracy & Boundary Commission for Wales.