QUESTION: When is Gorse Hill Community Centre not in Gorse Hill?

Answer: When the government tells you so.

As part of upcoming changes to Swindon’s ward boundaries, the community centre and Gorse Hill Junior School would no longer be part of Gorse Hill.

Instead they would be part of Upper Stratton.

It is just one of the changes which the Boundary Commission is proposing, as it prepares to redraw the political map of the town next year.

Now councillors are claiming that the changes are ill-thought through, and that some residents are angry about their community being recast by outsiders.

Coun Rochelle Russell (Lab, Gorse Hill and Pinehurst) said: “Residents are quite concerned. Politics is politics, neither here nor there. But I didn’t realise there’d be such a strong reaction to these ward changes. There are people that are very, very unhappy.

“Swindon is one of those places where people’s sense of place is quite embedded.

“All right, schools and community centres aren’t moving. But people do have a strong sense of what they are and where they’re named.

“This is what happens when people outside the community pick up maps and draw lines on them.

“What I’d say is if this is an issue, then you should say something. We do all have the opportunity to say to the Boundary Commission: this isn’t the best idea you’ve ever had.

“On the ground, it might not change anything. But in established communities this can have real resonance.

“If you’ve lived in ‘Gorse Hill’ for 40 years, and then found yourself elsewhere, you’d be annoyed about it.”

The commission is the government body tasked with making sure the country’s voting districts are fair, by containing roughly the same amount of people-per-councillor.

This means, because the population of the town has shifted over the years, the wards need to be re-drawn - and renamed.

Penhill councillor Paul Baker (Lab) said: “We’re a strong community and we’ll lose our voice. They don’t know the estate.

“We’re Penhill. We’ve always been Penhill. Why should we lose our identity?

“There will be three councillors for such a massive area: Gorse Hill, Pinehurst and Penhill. That’s a hell of an area for them to have to spread themselves.

“I suppose the Boundary Commission know what they’re doing. But they’re being a bit silly in my humble opinion. But what do I know? I’m just a councillor.”

Fellow ward councillor Andy Harrison (Lib Dem), agreed, and said: “It’s about the convenience of numbers, not about the communities which these councillors, once elected, would be serving.”

Other councillors are fairly sanguine about the changes, like coun Peter Heaton-Jones (Con, Abbey Meads).

He said the changes “make sense” in his ward, but urged any residents who oppose the plans to have their say.

The changes are still out to consultation, which is due to end on June 20, 2011.

For more information go to the Local Government Boundary Commission www.lgbce.org.uk/all-reviews/south-west/wiltshire/swindon-electoral-review.

To have your say on the proposals, write to The Review Officer (Swindon), Local Government Boundary Commission for England, Layden House, 76-86 Turnmill Street, London, EC1M 5LG, or email reviews@lgbce.org.uk

Population changes and new developments means review due

THE Local Government Boundary Commission is the government body tasked with making sure England’s voting districts are fair.

In order for everyone’s vote to count equally, there should be roughly the same number of residents per councillor everywhere in the town.

But at the moment there is a postcode lottery.

The last time Swindon’s wards were reviewed was 1999.

But since then the population of the town has changed, creating a great deal of inequality.

For instance, in Abbey Meads now, there are 4,235 residents per councillor.

But in Penhill there are 2,192 residents per councillor.

The aim with this review is to make sure all wards have around 2,800.

It would cut the number of wards from 21 to 19, and reduce the total headcount of councillors from 59 to 57.

All the new wards would have three councillors, whereas at the moment some have two or even just one.

As part of the changes to the names and shapes of wards, the name Gorse Hill would disappear from the map.

Instead three councillors would represent a long, thin strip called Pinehurst, which would also take in the Penhill area.

Other names to disappear would be Moredon, Toothill and Westlea, and Abbey Meads.

The wards of Priory Vale and St Andrew’s will be created in the north west by splitting Abbey Meads in two, while other existing wards would be spliced together.

What do you think about the proposed boundary changes?

Comment online at swindonadvertiser.co.uk