Review under way into some town and parish council areas

At its meeting on 21 September, Wiltshire Council's Electoral Review Committee approved for a Community Governance Review to commence on the following areas:

• Beechingstoke, Marden, Patney, Woodborough, Stanton St Bernard, North Newnton, Wilsford
• Calne Without, Calne, Heddington, Cherhill, Compton Bassett, Hilmarton and Bremhill
• Malmesbury and St Paul Malmesbury Without.

The Community Governance Review can make a number of changes to parish area and parish electoral arrangements, such as:

• The alteration to, merger or grouping of, creation or abolition of parishes
• The naming of parishes and adoption of alternative styles for new parishes (the naming process can also be undertaken under S75 of the LGA 1972)
• Parish council size. e.g. the number of councillors to be elected, and warding arrangements
• Any other electoral arrangements.

The review will be overseen by the council's Electoral Review Committee, and when their work is complete they will make formal recommendations to Full Council, which will make a final decision.

A series of online public surveys and meetings are due to take place for people to find out more information. The surveys, which get under way from 15 November, can be accessed at Community Governance Reviews.

Online meetings via Microsoft Teams are also taking place at the following times over the coming weeks:

• Beechingstoke online meeting, 23 November 2021 at 6pm: Joining link for Beechingstoke online meeting (opens new window)
• Calne Without online meeting, 2 December 2021 at 6pm: Joining link for Calne Without online meeting (opens new window)
• Malmesbury online meeting, 14 December 2021 at 6pm: Joining link for Malmesbury online meeting (opens new window)

Cllr Ian Blair-Pilling, Chair of the Electoral Review Committee, said: "It's important that local governance and the platform for decision-making is as strong, effective and efficient as possible, so that the needs of local communities are met.

"I'd encourage everyone in the affected areas to engage with us and get involved in the local surveys and meetings so that their views and voices are heard as the process continues.

"More formal consultation will take place in the new year, but gathering people's initial feedback over the coming weeks will help the committee understand the views of local residents and formulate options to best suit the communities."

More information about the review can be found at Community Governance Reviews. That webpage also contains details of the Community Governance Review that took place in 2019 to 2020.