The Local Government Boundary Commission has launched a review of the electoral arrangements for Westmorland and Furness a council with a public consultation currently underway until the 4th of November.
Under the review the number of councillors will remain unchanged at 65 councillors but the ward areas names and number councillors per ward will see changes made.
Currently some wards have 2 or 3 councillors with a few served by just one and the number of voters in wards varying.
The review will work to create new wards and ward areas and the number of councillors in wards to balance the number of electors per councillors to around 2500 electors per councillors.
Following questions on the impact of the review of Westmorland and Furness Council by the commission on town and parish councils, it has emerged that Penrith is likely to see changes to the current two Westmorland and Furness Wards with 2 councillors with potential a third ward and additional councillors added to address a current economic deficit representation in the area.
These changes will result in changes also been made to the town councils current 6 wards also so that they reflect the new Westmorland and Furness Ward areas.
Currently the town council wards are based on the former Eden council ward areas covering the town with 15 town councillors across the six wards.
A spokesperson for the Local Government Boundary Commission said:
“We have a duty to review all local authorities in England, including newly-formed authorities. We aim to make sure that, for each principal authority: each councillor represents a similar number of electors, boundaries are appropriate, and reflect community ties and identities and reviews are informed by local needs, views and circumstances.
“We can’t pre-empt the outcome of the public consultation regarding the electoral review of Westmorland and Furness Council. We are aware that the current wards covering Penrith require councillors to represent many more electors than elsewhere in Westmorland and Furness, so a change to improve this is possible as part of our ongoing review.
“When changes are made to the electoral boundaries of the unitary authority, we also have to change town and parish council ward boundaries, so that each town or parish council ward is within a single Westmorland and Furness ward.”
Any changes made the Local Government Boundary Commission will be put before Parliament for final approval and the changes come into effect at the 2027 local elections that will be first full elections of the new Westmorland and Furness Council since it came into existence on the 1st of April 2023 having served for a year as a shadow council along side the former district and county council after the elections in May 2022 for the current 65 seats on the council.
The town council last held full elections for its 15 seats in the six wards in May 2023 with the councillors elected to serve until May 2027.
The current Westmorland and Furness Wards also sit within the areas of the former district councils with the council also operating three locality boards reflecting the former districts alongside three planning committees covering Eden, South Lakeland and Furness area.
The commission review will not include the former district areas as internal ward boundary restrictions unless the consultation responses show a strong case for doing so and could lead to new wards straddling the former district areas leading to changes to the Westmorland and Furness Council area board and planning committee system.
Full details of the review by the Local Government Boundary Commission and how you can make comment, and proposals are on the commission's website at: https://goto.penrith.town/Review-of-Westmorland-and-Furness