Community Governance Review – final recommendations approved by council
Test Valley Borough Council has approved its final recommendations for changes to existing parish arrangements in the area following a community governance review.
A community governance review looks at whether any changes should be made to local community (parish) governance arrangements. The review considers a number of issues, including whether to create a new parish or alter the boundary of an existing parish, for example. The purpose of the review is to help ensure that local governance arrangements are more convenient and effective and better reflect the needs of local communities.
The first round of public consultation took place between November 2017 and January 2018, and the feedback from this led to the preparation of a set of “Draft Recommendations”. At a meeting of the full Council on 26 April 2018, councillors approved the Draft Recommendations and gave the go-ahead to undertake a second round of consultation from 4 May to 6 July 2018.
A cross-party group of Test Valley borough councillors considered all representations received and full Council approved their final recommendations on 5 September 2018.
The most substantial changes involve transferring Augusta Park and Burghclere Down to Andover Town. Smaller changes have also been agreed for a number of other areas. The authority will now seek consent from the Local Government Boundary Commission for England (LGBCE) before implementing the new arrangements.
Corporate Portfolio Holder, Councillor Maureen Flood, said: “I would to thank everyone who took the time to submit their feedback during the public consultation on the proposals. I would also like to thank all of the councillors and officers who have undertaken a huge amount of work to get us to where we are now. I am pleased that we are in a position to submit our recommendations to the LGBCE and look forward to their response.”
The final recommendations are available to view in full at www.testvalley.gov.uk/cgr. The new arrangements will come into force at the local elections scheduled for May 2019, subject to approval from LGBCE.