The independent Local Government Boundary Commission for England has published its final recommendations for new electoral arrangements for Camden Council.
Today’s publication follows three rounds of public consultation and draws new boundaries for each council ward across Camden.
All but one of the current council wards in Camden will change as a result of the review.
The Commission’s final recommendations propose that Camden should be represented by 55 councillors in the future: one more than the current arrangement. The recommendations also propose that those councillors should represent fifteen three-councillor wards and five two-councillor wards.
Professor Colin Mellors, Chair of the Commission, said, “We are extremely grateful to people across Camden who took part in the review. The Commission has looked at all the evidence that was put forward during the consultation.
“We believe these recommendations deliver electoral fairness for voters as well as reflecting community ties throughout Camden.”
In response to local feedback during public consultation, the Commission has made changes to some of the proposals it published in October 2019.
In the north west of the borough, the Commission has changed the proposals it published in the autumn in response to public feedback. The final recommendations mean that the area covered by the MILAM Residents Association will now not be divided between wards as previously proposed. In a similar way, the Commission has also amended its recommendations so that the Hilgrove Estate will not be divided between council wards.
In response to local views expressed during public consultation for Highgate, the Commission now proposes that the area be represented by a Highgate ward to be represented by three councillors. The Commission accepted that its previous proposal a two-councillor ward alongside a one-councillor ward would have divided local communities.
Elsewhere in the borough, the Commission has made minor changes to its proposals in response to representations made by local people and groups. A report on the full recommendations and changes made to the proposals is available on the Commission’s website atwww.lgbce.org.uk.
The proposed new arrangements must now be implemented by Parliament. A draft Order – the legal document which brings into force the recommendations – will be laid in Parliament in the coming months. The draft Order provides for the new electoral arrangements to come into force at the council elections in 2022.
