Agenda item

To consider the report of the Director of Legal and Governance, (copy enclosed).

The Committee considered the report of the Director of Legal and Governance seeking Members’ consideration of the outcome of the Community Governance review of electoral arrangements for Little Totham and Norh Fambridge Parish Councils and revisions of parish boundaries for Heybridge Parish and Maldon Town Council.

The Chairperson deferred to the Lead Elections and Democratic Services Manager to present the details. Building on work on a District-wide electoral review, all Parish and Town Councils had been contacted to establish whether there were any particular issues required to be dealt with through the mechanism of a Community Governance Review. Members were advised that four requests had been received and these were set out in the report.

The report set out the requirements of Community Governance Reviews and reported that the Council was satisfied that the requests were sound in the context of the law and associated Guidance as set out in paragraph 3.13 of the report. The proposed boundary changes and the impact of these were set out in Appendix A to the report. In addition, Appendix B provided details of the Community Governance Review documents published for consultation. The Committee was therefore requested to consider making the necessary Re-Organisation Orders, effective from May 2027:

·                Heybridge Parish Council Revision of the boundary with Great Totham to include the North Heybridge Garden Suburb wholly within the Parish of Heybridge.

·                Little Braxted Parish Council Increase in its membership from five to six.

·                Maldon Town Council Revision of the boundary to account for the impact of new development at Maldon West in terms of parish boundary with Woodham Mortimer / Hazeleigh.

·                North Fambridge Parish Council Increase in its membership from five to seven.

The Chairperson put the recommendations set out in the report and these were duly seconded.

In response to a comment raised, the Lead Elections and Democratic Services Manager explained that although this work had started with the Boundary Commission in February 2025 they gave the Council notice of implications of the English Devolution white paper and because of this and the Local Government Reorganisation (LGR) process it was felt the review should be paused for the foreseeable future. In light of LGR all Parish and Town Councils had been contacted to see if any wanted a Community Governance review and this report set out the four received and being worked on at this present time.

The Chairperson moved the recommendations, thanked Officers for their hard work and wished all Councils good luck going forward. The recommendations were duly agreed.

RESOLVED

(i)             That the consultation responses for the Community Governance reviews be considered;

(ii)        That the Council is satisfied that the requests meet the law and associated Guidance with respect to the object of achieving effective and convenient community governance, and authorises the making of a Reorganisation of Community Governance Order under the Local Government and Public Involvement in Health Act 2007 to:

A)        change the parish boundary between Heybridge and Great Totham to include the North Heybridge Garden Suburb wholly within the Parish of Heybridge to be effective from the next ordinary elections in May 2027.

B)        increase the membership of Little Braxted Parish Council from five to six Councillors, to be effective from the next ordinary elections in May 2027.

C)        change the parish boundary between Maldon West and Woodham Mortimer & Hazleigh to include the Crest Nicholson development wholly within the Parish of Maldon West to be effective from the next ordinary elections in May 2027.

D)        increase the membership of North Fambridge Parish Council from five to seven Councillors, to be effective from the next ordinary elections in May 2027.