Have your say
A consultation on ward boundaries for Wokingham has begun
Have your say now via the consultation portal
Tuesday 30th August marked the start of a 10-week public consultation inviting proposals for new council wards and ward boundaries for Wokingham Borough Council.
The consultation will close on 7 November 2022.
After the Boundary Commission has considered all representations made to them during this consultation, they intend to publish draft recommendations in February 2023.
A further period of consultation with then be held on the draft recommendations. The final recommendations are expected to be published in June 2023.
The new electoral arrangements will come into effect at the local elections in May 2024.
If you represent a local organisation or community group in Wokingham, please pass this message on to your members or anyone who you think might be interested in the review.
Current wards in Wokingham
Credit: contains Ordnance Survey data (c) Crown copyright and database rights 2022
What is an electoral review?
The electoral review will recommend new electoral arrangements for Wokingham. It will propose:
- the total number of councillors elected to the council in the future;
- the number of wards;
- the number of councillors representing each ward;
- ward boundaries; and
- the names of wards.
How to get involved
This is a public consultation and the Boundary Commission welcomes views from individuals and organisations across Wokingham on where they think new ward boundaries should be drawn.
The Commission is minded to recommend that 54 councillors should be elected to Wokingham Borough Council in the future.
This is no change from the current number of councillors.
The Commission is now inviting proposals to help draw up a pattern of wards to accommodate 54 councillors.
In drawing up new electoral wards, the Commission must balance three legal criteria, namely:
- to deliver electoral equality: where each councillor represents roughly the same number of electors as others across the borough;
- that the pattern of wards should, as far as possible, reflect the interests and identities of local communities;
- that the electoral arrangements should provide for effective and convenient local government.
The Commission will treat all submissions equally, and judge each case on its merits and against the legal criteria.
If you wish to put forward a view, you are urged to ensure that evidence supports your submission.
For example, if you wish to argue that two areas should be included in the same electoral ward, make sure you state why they should be together, providing evidence about community facilities, ties, organisations, and amenities, rather than simply asserting that they belong together.
There is more advice on The Boundary Commission website about how you can get involved in the consultation.
The website features technical guidance that explains the process and policies, as well as guidance on how to take part in each part of the process.
You can access interactive maps of the current ward boundaries across Wokingham on the specialist consultation portal. The portal also allows you to comment and upload documents directly to the site.
