Bradley Stoke town council consultation

We are reviewing the way decisions are made on local issues in your area and we want to hear your views. We want to know if you would like the number of town council wards within Bradley Stoke Town Council to be increased.

The enclosed map shows the proposed boundaries for the new parish area and internal wards. You can view the map here. 

The current arrangements

Bradley Stoke Town Council currently has three internal wards.  The table below shows the current electoral arrangements for the town council.

Town Ward	Electors	Number of Councillors	Elector to Councillor ratio
North	6530	6	1088:1
South	6883	7	983:1
Stoke Brook	1603	2	801:1

The two large wards can cause issues with long ballot papers, expensive by-elections and a large area for councillors to represent.

The consultation options

There are two possible options. They are:

Option 1: The number of town wards for Bradley Stoke Town Council is increased.

We are not proposing to change the overall number of councillors on the town council.

We are proposing to increase the number of town wards from three to five.  The enclosed map outlines the proposed new internal town wards.  The table below sets out the revised electoral arrangements if there was support for change.

Proposed Town Ward	Electorate	Proposed Number of Councillors	Elector to Councillor ratio
Primrose Bridge	2590	3	863:1
Woodlands	3936	4	984:1
Webbs Wood	3636	3	1212:1
Willowbrook	2424	3	808:1
Stoke Brook	1603	2	801:1

Having an increased number of smaller town wards provides for the following benefits:

• Improved accountability of councillors to the residents of their specific parish ward.
• It will enable councillors to focus on residents issues specifically affecting their parish ward. In turn, residents will feel improved local representation.
• Enables distinct communities within the parish to be recognised.
• In the event of a by-election, costs would be reduced as they would affect smaller geographical areas.

Option 2: No change. 

This would mean that Bradley Stoke Town Council continued to have three town wards.

Why are we carrying out the review?

As part of the planning for this review we wrote to all parish and town councils asking if they would like to make any changes to their arrangements.  Bradley Stoke Town Council has asked if we could consult on increasing the number of internal wards. The number of town wards were reduced as a result of a district boundary review which was undertaken by the Local Government Boundary Commission for England in 2018.  Prior to that review the town council had six internal wards.

What happens next?

All the responses to the consultation will be reviewed and used in a report to go to our Regulatory Committee towards the end of September 2022. If a decision is made to change the internal warding arrangements, the change would take effect from the local elections in May 2023.

Have your say

There are several ways for you to tell us about your views on this important local issue. You can:

• Complete an online response here
• Download a copy of the consultation questionnaire here and return to Freepost COMMUNITY GOVERNANCE REVIEW
• Email: electoral.services@southglos.gov.uk
• Write to Freepost COMMUNITY GOVERNANCE REVIEW*

* Please ensure COMMUNITY GOVERNANCE REVIEW is in capitals for this to work at the Royal Mail sorting centre.

The consultation closes on 21st August 2022

If you have any further questions or require any additional information, including translations or accessible versions of this document please email: electoral.services@southglos.gov.uk or phone: 01454 868009.