Dear Sirs,

Response to the LGBCE’s second ward boundary draft proposal for Bear Flat

It is with great concern that the Bear Flat Association submits its response to the LGBCE’s

second ward boundary draft proposal.

The central tenet of our response to the first draft is that Bear Flat is a close community,

linked by Wellsway, and that we do not want the community split between wards. This

position was reached through a community survey and resident’s open meeting which

resulted in a clear wish for the Bear Flat community to remain united within a ward. This

was demonstrated with both quantitative data and a host of residents’ comments in support of

this view, all of which was presented in our response.

It is therefore of huge disappointment to us that, in the LGBCE’s second draft, our

community remains split. Whilst we understand that the task of redefining ward boundaries

is difficult, it would appear that Bear Flat is the only Bath community singled out for

dismemberment, and we would urge the LGBCE to reconsider its proposal for Bear Flat.

The Problem

The cause of our distress …..

Bear Flat is a distinct and close community centred on and linked by Wellsway (A367) as the

centre of shopping and amenities. The community comprises:

Poets Corner, and the Devonshires to the east,

Bloomfield Avenue and the Maples to the west,

Beechen Cliff Road, Hayes Place and Hayesfield Park to the north

St Lukes, Hatfield, Bloomfield Park, Egerton and Hensley to the south

The roads lying along Bear Flat – Wellsway and the lower part of Bloomfield Road

Bear Flat residents right across this area are represented by the Bear Flat Association, the

second largest residents’ association in Bath. For example, the BFA set up and make up the

active membership of the Friends of Bloomfield Green to the south west and Friends of

Alexandra Park to the north east of the community.

If the second draft for ward boundaries were to be implemented, Bear Flat would find itself

divided between a joint Widcombe / Lyncombe Ward to the east, Oldfield Ward to the west

and north, and Moorlands Ward to the south. This clearly fails two of the three statutory

considerations of the Commission, namely to reflect (Bear Flat’s) community identity /

interests and to provide for effective and convenient local government. It is also directly

opposed to the strong majority of residents who voted against a split – see the survey results

in our February 2018 submission - and completely ignores all of the recommendations made

by the BFA in this first submission.

Poets’ Corner and Bear Flat …..

In your letter of 15 May 2018 to the CEO of B&NES Council, you say that

Our draft recommendations were for single councillor Lyncombe and Widcombe

wards. We have been persuaded by the objections from the Bear Flat, Poets

Corner, Magdalen Avenue and Entry Hill areas and now propose a two-

councillor Widcombe and Lyncombe ward.

Our first submission did not in any way suggest a two-councillor Widcombe and Lyncombe

ward that splits the Bear Flat community. Your words, highlighted in bold, suggest that Bear

Flat and Poets Corner are distinct areas. This is just not true. This claim has been made,

totally spuriously, by the Widcombe Association

):

From local knowledge and having regard to our previous points about community

identity we suggest as follows. Lyncombe Ward (immediately west of Widcombe

Ward) probably has one of the least evident community identities… the eastern

side of Lyncombe Ward relates quite well with Widcombe Ward, with shared

interests in Alexandra Park and Beechen Cliff School…Our main suggestion,

therefore, reflecting the agreed reduction in the number of Councillors, is that

Lyncombe Ward should cease as an electoral locality ... As well as better

balancing representation numerically this change would provide a strong and

identifiable boundary along the heavily trafficked major A367 (Wellsway).

This is arrant nonsense and shows no local knowledge of Bear Flat. We comment below at

some length as we believe that this error-strewn submission has acquired currency as the

current recommendation and needs to be countered.

Whilst the current Lyncombe Ward as a whole may not have a clear ‘communityidentity’, Bear Flat – falling within north Lyncombe - most certainly does. As

indicated above, the community is active and vibrant, and is represented by one of

Bath’s largest residents’ associations, the BFA. To be fair, the Widcombe

Association does note in its second submission of February 2018, that

Bear Flat has an effective and active identity, which could be readily retained

whether or not this locality…were included within Widcombe in the interests of

electoral quality. WA would not oppose either but continue to engage

constructively with those areas.

However, the offer to ‘continue to engage constructively’ with Bear Flat is

disingenuous. We are not aware of any such previous engagement, only WA’s

attempts to take over parts of our community.

Poets Corner, Alexandra Park and Beechen Cliff School on the eastern side ofLyncombe Ward do not ‘relate quite well with Widcombe Ward’. The Bear Flat and

Widcombe communities have very different needs. The only association that engages

with Poets’ Corner and the rest of Bear Flat is the BFA, running community events,

engaging with B&NES Council on local issues and lobbying on behalf of the

community.

There are few, if any, ‘shared interests in Alexandra Park and Beechen Cliff School’.

o Regarding Alexandra Park, the Friends of Alexandra Park (closely associated

with the BFA) have never had any interest shown from the Widcombe

Association or Widcombe residents. Community events at the Park are

organised by the Friends and / or by the BFA and include an annual Picnic in

the Park, Carols at Christmas, flower planting and keeping the Park well

maintained. Widcombe has shown no interest in this. One or two Widcombe

respondents to the February 2018 submission who live close by, referred to

dog walking in the Park, hardly constituting ‘shared interests’.

o Regarding Beechen Cliff School, interests are definitely not shared. Staff,

pupils and former pupils who live in Bear Flat and the School are important to

us. A major concern in Bear Flat, both sides of Wellsway, is growing school

traffic as the school roll at Beeechen Cliff School increases and its catchment

area grows further outside Bath. We work with the School, the community and

the local council to try and solve such problems. In 2015, the BFA initiated

termly meetings, chaired by our Lyncombe councillor, between the school

Head and the BFA, Widcombe Association and Greenway Lane RA so that

residents’ issues could be aired informally, before they became problems.

Unlike the BFA, the concern of Widcombe and Greenway has principally been

to restrict school activity or ensure that it takes place as far away from their

residents as possible.

The notion that Wellsway‘would provide a strong and identifiable boundary’ showszero understanding of Bear Flat. As stressed in our first submission, Wellsway is a

local centre of shops, amenties and public transport that helps define the community.

It is the main artery of the present Lyncombe ward. Many of the current wards in Bath

are radial, as amenities have developed at the city end of radial roads, such as

Wellsway, as well as Prior Park Road and Widcombe Hill, the Widcombe Ward’s

arteries.. Using Wellsway as a ward boundary is totally inappropriate and suggests

desperation and some degree of cynicism by the Widcombe Association to preserve a

two-councillor Widcombe Ward. The very clear physical boundaries are the steep

roads and 400 footcliff that divides the north and east sides of Bear Flat (including

Alexandra Park and Beechen Cliff School) from Widcombe.

The only organisation to suggest the splitting of Bear Flat is the Widcombe Association ….

In all of the submissions, from political parties, organisations and residents, the only

respondent to suggest the split down Wellsway has been the Widcombe Association. The

main political parties all commented on the distinctiveness of the Bear Flat community. The

Liberal Democrats suggested that Alexandra Park and Beechen Cliff School should be in

Lyncombe, not Widcombe and the Conservatives recognised a strong community, at least in

LY3. We can only see this as an attempt to preserve Widcombe as a two-councillor ward.

The WA accepts that it must lose WO2. The new Riverside developments significantly

change elector numbers and, indeed, it is absurd that some streets west of Brougham Hayes,

which should be in an Oldfield Park or Westmoreland ward, are in the same ward as Prior

Park College and the top of Widcombe Hill, both 8-9 km away by road. By comparison, the

present Lyncombe ward has model ward boundaries. There are 1,140 electors in WO2.

Coincidentally, there are 1,191 in the Poets. The proposed Widcombe ward in the LGBCE’s

first draft has 2,352 electors of which half were Poets. Also the WA is inconsistent. It says

that ‘Lyncombe made no sense (where is Lyncombe ?)’ but it is perfectly OK in the second

draft once the Poets and its 1,191 are within Widcombe Ward.

The latest proposed boundary change satisfies the criteria only arithmetically. It fails

completely in terms of community and governance issues. It does not seem to have occurred

to the proposer of this split that the residents of Bear Flat might not want to be in Widcombe

ward. At least Councillor Gilchrist (Widcombe) reflects:

I'm sort of OK with the inclusion of Bear Flat/Poets Corner (i.e. east of

Wellsway), but can understand if they are aggrieved to be separated from the

neighbours west of Wellsway.

You will have noticed that the responses from Widcombe residents are very similar. The

Widcombe Association took upon itself the Commission’s role to decide ward boundaries for

other wards, not just their own area, and persuaded members to write approving their decision

[see the appendix for Widcombe Association correspondence]. We consulted Lower Oldfield

Park Residents Association in WO2, who did not feel any affinity with Widcombe and, as

small parts of about 32% of the present Widcombe ward, feel utterly ignored. Bear Flat’s

Poets’ Corner does not want to sacrifice itself to a Widcombe Association power grab and

end up as a neglected majority.

Interestingly, among the responses from Widcombe residents in February 2018 using the

Widcombe Association’s template for residents’ letters are several concluding that they agree

with their Association’s proposals, as directed in the template, but adding that they don’t

think Bear Flat should be part of a Widcombe ward. We can only agree.

Defining the Borders of the Bear Flat Community

Wellsway is not a logical boundary

We do not see Wellsway as a barrier but as a central amenity for the whole Bear Flat

community. Whereas in the LGBCE’s first draft proposal, Wellsway was used as the

boundary between Lyncombe and Widcombe, in the second draft, the boundary straddles

Wellsway, with the Bear pub and some shops move to W&L together with a small piece of

Bloomfield Green (some houses with a postal address in Bloomfield Road and with rear exits

in Wellsway will have boundary crossing their land). We assume that this is an attempt to

soften the view of Wellsway as a hard boundary. However, this misses the point that it still

divides the overall Bear Flat community.

North-East and East: The Bear Flat / Widcombe boundary

The real boundary is Beechen Cliff, which towers 400 feet above the city centre, and also

above Widcombe’s centre. The only major road from Widcombe to Bear Flat is

Wellsway/Wells Road (A367). It is two stops on the bus to get from the city centre to Bear

Flat along Wells Road (the northerly extension of Wellsway), but there are no public

transport links directly between Lyncombe and Widcombe wards. The present Lyncombe

ward has Wellsway as its spine and about seven different bus routes run along it, serving the

Bear Flat community well. Recalling our close association with Beechen Cliff School, local

pressure has led to Bear Flat now being a stop on the Odd Down Park-and-Ride bus route,

allowing school children to commute onto Bear Flat using public transport.

Historic woodcut of

Beechen Cliff from

Widcombe. Alexandra

Park now lies atop the

cliff, with Bear Flat out

of view on the other

side.

It is not clear on maps, but Holloway is not a vehicular thoroughfare between Bear Flat and Widcombe – it stops before St Mark’s Church and a separate road, St Mark’s Place, runs to

the bottom of Lyncombe Hill and the A36 main road.

The only other road route from the southern end of Bear Flat to Widcombe is up Lyncombe

Hill and on to Greenway Lane, an awkward back route that does not and could never support

the public transport links that the Commission considers as an important factor in drawing up

ward boundaries.

West: Bloomfield Avenue and the Maples

Bloomfield Avenue, Maple Grove and Maple Gardens are the Victorian, Edwardian and

modern housing to the west of Wellsway. The Commission’s second draft proposal places

this area in Oldfield Ward. The reason that the current boundary between LY3 and OF1 and

OF2 runs round this areas is that Maple Grove (at Linear Park, now the Two-Tunnels cycle

route) and Maple Gardens are cul-de-sacs. You can only access them by road from

Bloomfield Avenue, which is entered from Wellsway by the Bear Hotel or from Oldfield

Road. The area backs on to Bloomfield Green and the Bloomfield allotments, and there are

footpaths into these open, recreational spaces. It makes no sense to split this area from Bear

Flat. It has been part of LY3 for at least 40 years because it relates to and actively engages

with the rest of the Bear Flat area, most of which uses the Green and holds most leases for the

allotments. As an aside, the current Chair, Treasurer and Membership Secretary of the BFA

all live in this area.

North-West: Hayesfield Park

The area bounded by Hayesfield Park and Wellsway is currently in Lyncombe and has been

at least since 1975, but has been placed in Oldfield Ward in the 2nd

draft proposal. A move to

Oldfield Park would not be welcomed by residents, who look to Bear Flat for its amenities.

This was made clear in our February response and has been made very clear to us by the

Hayesfield Park residents since the publication of the 2nd

draft proposal.

South-West: Egerton, Hensley and Bloomfield Park

The Commission’s 2nd

draft proposal places this south-west area of Bear Flat in Moorlands

Ward. Again, this area identifies with Bear Flat and has easy access to Bloomfield Green and

allotments. The small Hensley and Egerton Residents’ Association has made clear to us its

desire to staywithin the Bear Flat community. We would argue strongly that the natural

boundary remains Chantry Mead Road running into Bloomfield Park. Setting the boundary

between Bear Flat and Moorlands along Englishcombe Lane allows both sides of Bloomfield

Park to remain in LY1 and as part of Bear Flat.

South: Hatfield Road and Greenway Lane

The southern boundary of Bear Flat can reasonably be seen as just north of Greenway Lane

(Greenway Lane has its own residents’ association and traditionally aligns itself to

Widcombe) and Hatfield Road (inclusive of its housing). In terms of establishing a

boundary, whilst we do have BFA members in Entry Hill and Lynbrook, we are not aware

that Entry Hill residents are unhappy in Lyncombe. Their respondents definitely did not want

to move to Combe Down, but only Widcombe or Combe Down was on offer after the first

draft.

Alexandra Park, Beechen Cliff School and Lyncombe Farm allotments

We also strongly believe that there is no justification for Alexandra Park, Beechen Cliff

School or the Lyncombe Farm Allotments remaining in a Widcombe ward. Alexandra Park is

a public park, but is maintained by a Bear Flat group - the Friends of Alexandra Park - and

which has had absolutely no input from Widcombe. The Liberal Democrats made the point

that vehicle access to all three sites is from Shakespeare Avenue or Kipling Avenue (in the

case of the School, whose postal address is Kipling Avenue). The allotments are leased and

managed by Bear Flat residents. All of the allotments in B&NES were granted Local Green

Space status in 2015, entirely as a result of the work of a Bear Flat resident who has acts as

Secretary to the local Allotment Association and wrote proposals for all 26. As noted above,

work on limiting vehicle parking in the Park will come to fruition this summer as a result of

work by BFA, the Friends of Alexandra Park and a Lyncombe councillor. Neither residents

nor councillors from Widcombe have shown the slightest interest in this vital work on a part

of their ward.

The Park sees growing visitor numbers as Bath tourism increases. It is important, not just for

the local community, that there is local involvement to work with B&NES Parks Department

to keep the Park in the best possible condition and to develop new amenities.

We would draw the boundary along the path at the top of Beechen Cliff, acknowledging that

there has been Widcombe input in landscaping the cliff side, but interest stops there. The

whole of the Park, School grounds and Lyncombe allotments would be in an enlarged Bear

Flat area. The remainder of the lower land leading up to the part from Widcombe and

Lyncombe would remain in the new Widcombe & Lyncombe ward.

Bordering areas

We referred to Entry Hill and the streets off it above. Although they are in LY1 at the

moment, we think it simpler to leave them in Lyncombe, even though we know some

residents are involved with the Bear Flat community. It is clear from the February responses

that they look towards the centre, either Bear Flat or Widcombe Parade, for amenities and do

not have any link with Combe Down.

Magdalen and Park Avenues, off Holloway, have residents who are involved with both Bear

Flat and Widcombe communities. They are free to join both associations and we think it is

better that they stay in Widcombe, since Bear Flat can satisfy electoral quality requirements.

Bear Flat Community and Governance

“ The third factor the Commission must consider, by law, in making recommendations

for the new electoral arrangements is the need to secure effective and convenient local

government” – from the LGBCE guidance Making your case.

Of course, it is easier if how a community defines itself is broadly within ward boundaries,

but what does this mean in practice ?

The BFA has worked closely with the local councillor, B&NES Transport Department and

the community to achieve residents parking. The final consultation will be complete in a

matter of days. The area involved is based on the Department’s subdivisions of Bath, and is

remarkable close to our own area – see the map below. BFA funded the survey, under

B&NES instruction.

A consultation on clean air is currently taking place. Bath is one of 29 towns and cities that

have been given until 2021 to propose radical action. BFA has managed to get itself on the

same footing as the central areas as pollution on Wellsway is as bad as in many central areas.

This is an issue which it shares with the Victorian and Edwardian suburban areas such as

Oldfield Park, not with more central areas such as Widcombe.

You rightly contrast unparished Bath with the parished areas of B&NES. The BFA gives

space at its monthly Community Market for councillors to meet residents in a more relaxed

atmosphere and councillors have welcomed our input and the opportunity to bounce ideas off

us. Councillors are bound to take up every issue raised by resident. Sometimes it’s difficult to

see the wood for the trees, and we can often suggest ways in which the community can help

itself. This can save valuable resources and solutions can be effected more quickly. We have

been told by all the councillors we work with that we make their roles easier, thus improving

local government in the area. This is one more practical way in which the community is

helping itself, and one more reason why threatening the community’s relationship with a

single councillor makes absolutely no sense.

The proposed new Residents’ Parking Zone for Bear Flat

Our Proposed Solution

Whilst we are deeply frustrated by the prospect of a split community and strongly disagree

with the the mis-information, that, in our view, has led to this point, we are not arguing

against Bear Flat becoming one part of a Widcombe/Lyncombe or Widcombe/Bear Flat

double ward (or indeed any other ward), provided that the Bear Flat community remains

intact.

In our February submission, we offered several alternatives that keep Bear Flat intact. We did

not offer a Lyncombe/Widcombe ward because the Widcombe Association had pre-empted

discussion by pitching for the Poets area, as without it they wouldn’t have had enough

electors to make up a single ward. Now that the Commission has proposed a different

Lyncombe / Widcombe double ward that problem is partially removed as Widcombe has

greater flexibility to make up its electoral numbers without laying claim to Poets’ Corner.

We want to keep the north part of Lyncombe ward as a distinct electoral unit, for the reasons

discussed above. This could be in either a new Bear Flat single ward or as part of a double

ward with our neighbours, Oldfield Park. Either way, it would involve reverting to 29 wards.

The average ward size reverts from 2,269 electors to 2,191 (2017) and 2,357 to 2,275 (2023).

We will use 2017 figures to show boundaries.

A Bear Flat Single Councillor Ward

The changes to the current proposal would be as follows.

Bear Flat Widcombe &

Lyncombe

Oldfield Park Moorlands

Electors

proposed

0 4942 2279 2569

Oldfield Rd 15 -15

Wellsway 200 -100 -100

Hayes Place 22 -22

Hayesfield Park 42 -42

Poets area inc

Bruton Ave,

Beechen Cliff

Rd,

1191 -1191

Bloomfield Ave

Maple Gr, Gdns

348 -348

Hensley Rd,

Gdns, Egerton

141 -141

Bloomfield Pk,

Grove

183 -183

Hatfield, St

Luke’s

48 -16 -16 -16

Bloomfield Rd 118 -34 -34 -50

New electorate 2308 3579 1724 2179

This puts Bear Flat 5% over the 2017 average and 1% over the 2023 average (the average

increase in electors from 2017 to 2023 is negligible at only 0.5% excluding the three wards

with substantial new building).

The three neighbouring wards are obviously affected by this.

Widcombe & Lyncombe (W&L) would be short of the average ward figure of 4,381 for

2017. The Commission’s second draft, creating a double ward, precludes any thought of

combining wards. They would have to lose electors to reduce to around 2,700 to stay within a

double ward with us. In view of all that has been written about Widcombe’s historic

entitlements, this is unlikely to be a fruitful line of enquiry.

However, their neighbouring wards, Bathwick and Combe Down, are respectively 6% and

7% over the average (based on 28 wards) in 2023. That is 698 electors, and rather more if

there are 29 wards. There is therefore ample scope to restore W&L to close to 4,868 electors

in 2023 by switching electors from Bathwick and Combe Down. Having criticised the

Widcombe Association for a smash-and-grab raid on Lyncombe ward to bolster their

electoral numbers, we don’t want to fall into the same trap. Suffice to say that the lowest

allowable electorate (ie 10% less than average) in a double ward in 2023 is only 4,096.

Moorlands would remain a little below the average electorate, even after Bloomfield Road,

Bloomfield Place, Bloomfield Grove, Hensley Road and Gardens, and Egerton Road have

moved back into the north Lyncombe area where they belong, as we explain below.

The new Oldfield Park ward would be about 250 electors short of the minimum for a ward.

However, the other part of the three-councillor ward originally proposed, Westmoreland,

increases from 3,583 electors in 2017 to 4,727 in 2023. There is scope for some electors to

move from Westmoreland to Oldfield Park to achieve wards within limits by 2023, especially

as the proposed boundary between Oldfield Park and Westmoreland is not clear cut.

This would mean having three single wards – Bear Flat, Moorlands and Oldfield Park, with

13 double wards in the rest of Bath. Bear Flat and Moorlands satisfy the conditions for

electoral equality and Oldfield Park would by 2023, on the basis of electors moving from

Westmoreland, which will have gained 1,144 by 2023.

We have been in touch with residents associations in Oldfield Park. The largest, the Lower

Oldfield Park RA, is delighted with the scrapping of the proposed triple ward and no longer

being an odd westerly outpost of Widcombe ward. Both BFA and LOPRA would, ideally,

like to be part of a double ward.

We know Oldfield residents use Bear Flat amenities. Oldfield Park has been a major area for

Bath University students to live and regular buses take them up to their campus from Oldfield

Park. The Bear Flat Co-op supermarket, and other Bear Flat shops, give student discounts.

Although broadly happy with the new boundaries, LOPRA are surprised that their ward

crosses the river and is a little removed from Moorland Road, which is really the centre of the

Oldfield community.

We do not see Moorlands as a natural partner, but Oldfield Park would consider being a

partner with them. Most people seem to prefer to be in a double ward, so Bear Flat plus

Oldfield Park or Oldfield Park plus Moorlands would cut Bath to only one single out of 29.

Possible constituency names

Lyncombe is only really an accurate name in a ward that includes Lyncombe Hill, Lyncombe

Vale and roads off. We have lived with Lyncombe for many years, though everyone knows

us as Bear Flat. If we become a single councillor ward, it would be entirely logical to call it

‘Bear Flat Ward’. Alternatively, ‘Bloomfield Ward’ would also be logical. We note that the

Liberal Democrats proposed a Bloomfield double ward, from Moorlands through Bloomfield

to include Alexandra Park and Beechen Cliff School.

If Bear Flat were to form part of an Oldfield Park double ward, a number of those who

criticised the triple-ward Oldfield Park in the February responses suggested that a ‘West and

East Oldfield Park’ might be a good idea. Since the proposed single ward Oldfield Park does

not reach the local centre, Moorland Road, perhaps introducing East might be more accurate.

This does not seem to be a problem for the local Residents Associations consulted.

Electoral quality

The following table summarises the electoral viability of our proposednew ward options.

Proposed

new wards

Bear Flat Bear Flat/

Oldfield Park

Notes

After adjustment to

create Bear Flat 2308 4032 Taken from table

above after restoring

LY3 and LY1 (part)

Move 250 from

Westmoreland 4282 Westmoreland has

variations of -798 for

2017 but 176 for

2023 (based on 29

councillors)

Average ward (with

29) in 2017

2191 4381

Average ward (with

29) in 2023

2275 4551

Minimum ward

(-10%) 2017

1972 3943

Minimum ward

(-10%) 2023

2047 4096

Summary

In summary, we reject the ill-informed proposal, made in the first draft, to split the close and

long-established Bear Flat community to suit the machinations of the Widcombe Association.

We deplore that fact that the split was worsened in the second draft.

We would like the number of Bath wards to revert to 29 to allow Bear Flat to be a single

ward or part of a double ward with Oldfield Park. A double ward is more attractive in many

ways, though the proposed Oldfield Park ward reaches to the other side of the Avon. There is

real contact between Oldfield Park and Bear Flat and you can easily move between the two

areas by car and public transport. This also offers Bath 14 double wards, with only

Moorlands as a single ward.

We would prefer a single Bear Flat ward or, if the electoral maths proves too difficult, an

Oldfield Park / Moorlands double ward. Oldfield Park would still need to add electors from

Westmoreland for the double ward to have an acceptable negative variance by 2023.

Our overwhelming concern, and that of the residents, is for the north part of Lyncombe

to remain as a significant part of a ward. 6,578 votes were cast in the 2015 local elections

to elect two councillors, 20% more than most other double wards. Only the Westmoreland

ward, with a charismatic local independent councillor was anywhere near. Most wards were

well over 1,000 votes behind. The BFA hustings for the local election packed the local

church hall with standing room only. This is good, strong community that cares about

politics and community affairs. We urge you not to carve it up.

Yours faithfully

G E Somerset

Chair, Bear Flat Association

11th

June 2018

APPENDIX:

WIDCOMBE ASSOCIATION PRO-FORMA LETTER

Ward Boundary Consultation

From [..........]

Local Government Boundary Commission

ref: BANES ........

Dear Sirs

I am writing as a resident of Bath & North East Somerset living in [ .......] .

I would like to comment on the draft proposals for new wards in the City

of Bath.

I feel that the proposed changes for the Widcombe ward area are not

satisfactory and do not meet the stated aims of the LGBC, other than in

respect of voter equality. The draft proposals result in the strong, vibrant

and connected community of Widcombe being split across five wards for

local council representation. This would greatly complicate

communications and community engagement on local issues, eroding the

efficient working of our local government.

In the [ ...... ] area we are very much part of Widcombe yet these

proposals move us to another, disconnected, ward. We have strong social,

transport and amenity links to Widcombe and this is our community. We

believe that we should be included in an extended Widcombe & Lyncombe

ward. We believe wards can be designed to still achieve the equality of

voters objective whilst better reflecting our local community.

I believe the ward proposals should be reconsidered to better reflect our

strong local community and achieve consistency of local representation

with predominately two councillor wards ( for example by combining

Widcombe & Lyncombe).

I am aware that the Widcombe Association has proposed an alternative

way to achieve the stated aims for ward design, including electoral

equality, and commend these proposals to you.

Yours faithfully

[.........]