New ward boundaries that will see number of councillors rise in Hartlepool have been criticised

The independent Local Government Boundary Commission for England published its final recommendations for new electoral arrangements for Hartlepool Borough Council earlier this month.

Instead of 11 wards and 33 councillors, the town is set to have 12 wards and 36 elected members on the borough council.

The new map has been drawn up following two rounds of public consultation and has not changed since the draft recommendations.

Council chief executive Gill Alexander confirmed the recommendations from the commision at a meeting of the Full Council, which faced criticism.

Coun Shane Moore said: “I was very disappointed to see the report that came back from the boundary commission had not taken into consideration any of the representations we as a council made.

“As ward councillors and as a council we know our residents, our areas and our community a lot better than somebody sat down in London.

“It’s a shame they didn’t take our recommendations and it’s a shame they are going to be splitting some existing communities, but I hope as a collective we will do our best to ensure all of those communities are brought into new folds and we do our best by them.”

The commission says all but one of the town’s current council wards will change as a result of the review.

They include the creation of a new Throston ward, while Fens is set to be removed from the ward it shared with Rossmere to form a new Fens and Greatham ward.

More than 100 residents, associations and political groups gave their views on how the ward map should be drawn, including submissions from the the council, Hartlepool Labour Party and Hartlepool Independent Group.

The new boundaries will now go before Parliament for final confirmation ahead of coming into effect for next year’s local elections.

Professor Colin Mellors, chair of the boundary commission, previously said they were extremely grateful to people who took part in the review and believe the recommendations ‘deliver electoral fairness for voters as well as reflecting community ties throughout Hartlepool.’

Nic Marko , Local Democracy Reporting Service