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| Proposal 1 |
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| Proposal 2 |
The General Purposes Committee of Brent Council, which consists of Cabinet members plus Cllr Colwill leader of the Conservative Group, will be discussing plans for new ward divisions on Wednesday LINK.
The proposals are the Council's response to the Local Government Boundary Review and would reduce the number of Brent councillors from 63 to 57. There are two options on the table with the main difference being whether there should be 3 wards with 2 councillors each or 2 wards with 3 councillors each after the great majority of wards have been allocated 3 councillors each. There is an attempt to have boundaries that reflect existing communities with their own centre.
These are the proposals:
The following ward
proposals are the same for both proposals and are for 3 member wards.
Ward 1 – Wembley
Central ward
This ward is predominantly made up
of the current Wembley Central ward but incorporates some of the current
Alperton and Tokyngton wards. The community centre of the ward remains Wembley
Central.
Ward 2 – Queensbury
ward
The boundary for this ward remains unchanged
from the current Queensbury ward. When forecasting the electorate for 2024, it
was projected to be 12,906 which represents a marginal variance from the mean
electorate. There is also an established local community identity in this area.
Ward 3 – Mapesbury
ward
The ward takes in the entirety of the current
Mapesbury ward but takes in some of the current Dudden Hill Ward. The community
centre would incorporate parts of Willesden and Cricklewood.
Ward 4 – Sudbury
ward
This ward is predominantly made up of the
current Sudbury ward but takes in some of the current Wembley Central ward. The
community centre of the ward remains Sudbury.
Ward 5 – Willesden
Green ward
This ward is predominantly made up
of the current Willesden Green ward as it is one of the established
communities; for electoral equality it would take in some of Dudden Hill ward.
Ward 7 - Northwick
Park ward
This ward is predominantly made up
of the current Northwick Park ward but also incorporates some of the current
Sudbury ward. The community centre remains Northwick Park.
Ward 8 – Queens Park ward This ward is
predominantly made up of the current Queens Park ward as it is one of the
established communities; for electoral equality it takes in some of the current
Kensal Green ward.
Ward 9 – Kilburn ward The boundary for this
proposed ward remains unchanged from the current Kilburn ward. When forecasting
the electorate for 2024 was projected to be 12,581 which is a marginal variance
from the mean electorate.
Ward 10 – Kingsbury ward This ward is
predominantly made up of the current Fryent ward but also encompasses some of
the current Welsh Harp and Barnhill wards. The community centre for this ward
would be Kingsbury hence the suggested a name change.
Ward 11 -
Brondesbury Park This ward is
predominantly made up of the current Brondesbury Park ward but also
incorporates some of the current Kensal Green ward. The community centre
remains Brondesbury Park.
Ward 12 –
Tokyngton ward This ward is
predominantly made up of the current Tokyngton ward but also incorporates some
of the current Stonebridge ward. The current CST1 polling district has been
moved into this ward as the North Circular Road forms the boundary for this
proposed ward. The community centre remains Tokyngton.
Ward 13 –
Kenton ward The ward takes in the
entirety of the current Kenton ward and also takes in some of the current
Northwick Park and Barnhill wards. The new boundary for this ward runs along
the two railway lines thus forming a natural ward boundary. The community
centre remains Kenton.
Ward 14 –
Dollis Hill ward This ward is
predominantly made up of the current Dollis Hill ward but would also
incorporate some of the current Dudden Hill ward. The community centre remains
Dollis Hill.
Ward 16 –
Neasden ward This ward is made up of
the current Welsh Harp ward but also incorporates some of the current Barnhill
and Dudden Hill wards. As this ward covers one of the established communities
of Neasden a name change for the ward is proposed.
Ward 17 –
Wembley Park ward This ward is
predominantly made up of the current Barnhill ward but also incorporates some
of the current Tokyngton and Stonebridge wards. As this ward covers one of the
established communities of Wembley Park a name change for the ward is proposed.
Ward 18 –
Alperton ward This ward is
predominantly made up of the current Alperton ward but also incorporates some
of the current Wembley Central ward. The community centre remains Alperton.
Ward 19 –
Preston ward This ward is
predominantly made up of the current Preston ward but also incorporates some of
the current Tokyngton ward. The community centre remains Preston.
The following are for
proposal 1 and are for 3 member wards
Ward 6 –
Stonebridge ward
This ward is predominantly made up
of the current Stonebridge ward but also incorporates some of the current
Tokyngton and Harlesden wards. The community centre remains Stonebridge.
Ward 15 – Harlesden
ward
This ward is predominantly made up of the
current Harlesden ward as it is one of the established communities for
electoral equality it takes in some of the current Kensal Green and Willesden
Green wards.
The following are for
Proposal 2 and are for 2 member wards
Ward 6 – Stonebridge
ward
This is predominantly made up of the current
Stonebridge ward but also incorporates some of the current Tokyngton ward. The
community centre remains Stonebridge.
Ward 15 – Harlesden ward
This ward is
predominantly made up of a more concentrated area of the current Harlesden ward
as it is one of the established communities for electoral equality it takes in
some of the current Kensal Green ward.
Ward 20 – Church
End ward
This ward is made up of the current
Harlesden and Stonebridge wards in equal measure but also incorporates small
parts of the current Kensal Green and Willesden Green wards. The community
centre would focus around Church End which could suggest a name change.
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| 2024 Electorate |
I have to say that these proposals from Brent's Chief Executive, Carolyn Downs, seem very sensible.
ReplyDeleteI had thought of applying my mind to this problem, and making some comments / suggestions of my own to the Local Government Boundary Review consultation exercise, but my only comment now will be to support these proposals.
The General Purposes Committee is the right body of our elected councillors to consider these proposals; but the make-up of the committee as it has been at Brent Council in recent years is totally wrong.
The majority of its members, including its Chair, should be councillors who are NOT members of the Cabinet. In that way, there is a proper separation of powers, which provides "checks and balances" which are so important to the proper operation of local democracy.
For anyone interested, I set out the arguments for this in a guest blog two years ago:
http://wembleymatters.blogspot.co.uk/2016/10/does-councillor-butt-have-too-much-power.html
Following my usual policy of letting councillors and Council Officers know what a local citizen, outside of the Civic Centre "bubble", thinks on important issues, I have emailed the text of my comment above to Brent's Chief Executive, for her information.
DeleteI concluded the email by saying:
'I commend you, and the Council’s GIS and Electoral Services teams, for the proposals you have put forward.
However, on my second point, I can understand that there are practical difficulties over improving the make-up of General Purposes Committee, given the current balance (or imbalance!) of power on Brent Council.'
There's no reason for wards having to be 3-member anymore. The idiotic situations in "Barnhill + Wembley Stadium ward", and Kensal Green, could have been completely avoided if some 2-member wards were deployed.
ReplyDelete