Agenda and minutes

There were no apologies for absence.

To invite Councillors to declare any Disclosable Pecuniary Interests or Other Disclosable Interests they may have in items on the agenda, and to confirm the nature of those interests.

There were no declarations of interest.

RESOLVED that

The minutes of the meeting of the Electoral Matters Committee held on 11^th July 2019 be held as a correct record and signed by the Chair.

Members are invited to consider submissions that have been received in respect of polling districts, places and stations.

The Electoral Services Manager presented the report and explained that all submissions and summaries from the initial consultation, which ran from 17^th July to 28^th August 2019, had been included within the various appendices.  The full submissions were available should Members wish to look at them in more detail.  Members were reminded that under legislation the Council was required to hold a formal review of Polling District and Polling Places at regular intervals.

The proposals within the report set out Officers’ proposals arising from the review and initial consultation.  Members were asked to consider the proposals and make recommendations for the final consultation, which would be carried out from 12^th September to 7^th October 2019.  The results of which would inform the final results of the review. 

The types of venues used were discussed and the Electoral Services Manager explained the pitfalls and benefits of using various venues, including cost, accessibility for those with a disability and suitability for those staff facilitating the polling stations.

In respect of the proposed Polling District boundary changes Members were reminded that these had not been reviewed for a considerable time and electoral officers with the help of GIS officers had reviewed the polling District boundaries and recommended a number of small changes.  These merely affected Polling District boundaries and not Ward, Parish or County Division ones, therefore simply affecting where electors would go to vote.

Members went on to consider each ward and the changes/comments received, with the following being agreed by the Committee:

Abbey Ward ABA and ABC

Members discussed the impact of new developments on this ward and agreed that, whilst there were difficulties in accessing the Baptist Church for a small number of electors, the suggested amendment was sensible.  However, the Electoral Services Manager agreed that with the continued developments in the area, this would be something to consider in the future.

Batchley and Brockhill Ward BYD and BYB

Members were in agreement with this change is it affected a small number of electors.

Central Ward CEA, CEB and CEC

This made perfect sense to Members and all were in agreement to the change.

Crabbs Cross CCB and CCC

Members were in agreement with the suggested changes.

Headless Cross and Oakenshaw HOA, HOB and HOC

Members were in agreement with the suggested changes.

Lodge Park LPB and LPA

Members were in agreement with the suggested change to address the small anomaly along Holloway Lane.

Winyates WIA and WIB

It was noted that no residents or properties were affected by this change and therefore it was agreed by Members.

The Electoral Services Manager then took Members through the proposals for final consultation (as detailed in Appendix 1) line by line, with the following comments being noted in respect of those where changes had been proposed:

Astwood Bank and Feckenham AFB

It was noted that the public house had been approached, but had not been interested in being used as a polling station.  After discussing a number of  ...  view the full minutes text for item 7.

Members are invited to note that the next meeting of the Electoral Matters Committee will take place on Tuesday 22^nd October 2019.

It was confirmed that the next meeting of the Electoral Matters Committee would be held on Tuesday 22^nd October 2019;