Medway is set to have new boundaries for its council wards.
The Local Government Boundary Commission is the independent body that draws these boundaries. It has reviewed Medway to make sure councillors will represent about the same number of electors, and that ward arrangements will help the council work effectively.
The commission has published final recommendations for changes in Medway. It says residents should be represented by 59 councillors. This is four more than current arrangements.
There will be 24 wards with one, two or three councillors per ward. The boundaries of all wards will change.
Guaranteeing electoral fairness
Publishing the recommendations Professor Colin Mellors, Chair of the Commission, said: “We are very grateful to people in Medway. We looked at all the views they gave us. They helped us improve our earlier proposals. We believe the new arrangements will guarantee electoral fairness while maintaining local ties.”
People and organisations made more than 600 comments to help decide the new wards.
Changes in response to what local people said include:
- moving from a three member Halling, Cuxton and Strood Riverside ward to a two member Cuxton, Halling and Riverside ward, based on the strong community evidence provided to the Commission
- based on the responses received during the most recent phase of consultation, proposing new boundaries for Watling
The commission has made further changes to its earlier proposals.
Parliament now needs to agree the changes. The new arrangements will then apply for the 2023 council elections.