Councillors grapple with boundary objections
CORNWALL Councillors will make the case against proposed boundary changes to the areas covered by Cornwall’s six MPs which some say will “slice and dice” communities.
The Boundary Commission for England (BCE) has set out proposals for boundary changes to Parliamentary constituencies across the UK. These are aimed to increase the number of constituencies in England whilst also attempting to equalise the populations of each constituency area.
Whilst the new proposals have scrapped the previous suggestion of a ‘Devonwall’ constituency which would straddle the border between Devon and Cornwall, some of the proposals aimed at equalising Cornwall’s constituencies have proved controversial.
Amongst the most contentious proposals are plans to shift some Clay Country villages out of the St Austell and Newquay constituency and move them into the South East Cornwall constituency.
Similarly, plans to place Threemilestone and Chacewater into the Camborne and Redruth constituency from Truro and Falmouth have also met opposition.
Last August, Cornwall Council made a submission to the BCE listing its suggested amendments to the proposals. These were drawn up following a number of meetings of councillors, along with public consultation.
In the first round of BCE consultation, more than 34,000 submissions were made, of which 158 relate to Cornwall, including the submission from Cornwall Council. A second round of consultation is now underway and includes a hearing next week in Exeter, where the BCE will hear evidence in support of any submissions.
One of the key suggestions put forward by Cornwall Council is to move
Roche and Bugle from the proposed South East Cornwall constituency to the St Austell and Newquay constituency. In order to balance the number of electors in St Austell and Newquay, the council has suggested that St Columb Major, St Mawgan and St Wenn should be moved from there to the North Cornwall constituency.
However, other people who have responded to the consultation have suggested that the Fowey, Tywardreath and Par division should be moved from St Austell and Newquay into the South East Cornwall constituency in exchange for Roche and Bugle. If that was done, then St Columb Major, St Mawgan and St Wenn would remain in St Austell and Newquay.
At a meeting of the council’s constitution and governance committee this week, Dick Cole, leader of Mebyon Kernow and councillor for St Dennis and St Enoder in Clay Country, urged the council to ensure it made a strong representation at the hearing next week. He said: “The Boundary Commission came up with a proposal to slice and dice Clay Country.
“We are hoping that they will agree to put it back together again. I think it is very important that officers go [to the hearing] and speak to show how serious we think the issues are, particularly in Clay Country.”
The other main submission from Cornwall Council is to move Threemilestone and Chacewater from Camborne and Redruth and into the Truro and Falmouth constituency, which the council says has “notable support”.
To counterweight this, the council has proposed that Constantine, Mabe and Mawnan should move from Truro and Falmouth into the Camborne and Redruth constituency.