Status: Past
Battle Town Council has requested that Rother District Council, as the principal council, undertakes a community governance review to consider Battle Town Council’s electoral arrangements, specifically in terms of the number of town councillors
LOCAL GOVERNMENT AND PUBLIC INVOLVEMENT IN HEALTH ACT 2007
COMMUNITY GOVERNANCE REVIEW – ROTHER DISTRICT COUNCIL
Battle Town Council has requested that Rother District Council, as the principal council, undertakes a community governance review to consider Battle Town Council’s electoral arrangements, specifically in terms of the number of town councillors. This is considered relevant for the following reasons:
- Battle Town Council currently comprises only 10 Councillors out of a requirement of 17. The filling of the vacancies have been promoted via various media without success. This has implications on the level of commitment required by the remaining Members but also has a severe impact on BTC’s potential to adopt the general power of competence. To qualify for the general power of competence, in addition to a qualified Clerk, there must be 2/3rd of Councillors elected, not co-opted.
- Following the Boundary Review of Rother District Council in 2016, the Local Government Boundary Commission for England made consequential changes to the warding arrangements for Battle Town Council which come into being from May 2019. The current four wards, Telham, Netherfield, Marley and Watch Oak, will be replaced by two wards Battle North and Battle South, each returning 10 and 7 Councillors respectively.
Battle Town Council is suggesting a revised arrangement of 13 Councillors, a reduction of four Members, which it believes is an achievable number under the new warding arrangements.
Whilst Battle Town Council understands the effect of The Rother (Electoral Changes) Order 2016 will be to replace the current four wards with two, it has suggested that those two wards are sub-divided further to create four wards. The four wards will broadly replicate the current warding arrangements, save for two amendments indicated in blue on the accompanying plans. The changes are proposed to ensure the community identity is retained and electors feel properly represented.
As a consequence of any proposed subsequent amendments to the ward boundaries, there shall also need to be an identical amendment to the polling districts. The current electorate for each of the polling districts in Battle Town Council is:
Telham: 439
Watch Oak: 2,464
Marley: 1,719
Netherfield: 658
It is anticipated that the proposed amendments to the polling districts shall have a very limited effect on the current electorate figures.
Rother District Council has resolved to carry out a community governance review specifically relating to the electoral arrangements in respect of the Town of Battle.
Related Documents
Battle Community Governance Review Terms of Reference
Parish Ward Current Boundary 2 Detailed
Proposed Parish Boundary Amendment 1 Detailed
Proposed Parish Boundary Amendment 1
Proposed Boundary Amendment 2 Detailed
How to Take Part in this Consultation
This consultation closed on Friday 27th July 2018
