PAPER C

 

 

                                                                                                                Purpose : for Decision

                        REPORT TO THE COUNCIL

 

Date :              9 JULY 2003

 

Title :               POSSIBLY EXTENSION OF THE EASTERN BOUNDARY OF WOOTTON BRIDGE PARISH COUNCIL

                       

REPORT OF THE PORTFOLIO HOLDER FOR RESOURCES

IMPLEMENTATION DATE : 9 July 2003

SUMMARY/PURPOSE

 

1.                  The purpose of this paper is to consider the results of the recent survey undertaken to establish the views of residents in the Fishbourne and Kite Hill areas regarding the extension of the Eastern boundary of Wootton Bridge Parish Council. A decision on whether or not to continue with the emparishment of the area is sought.

 

CONFIDENTIAL/EXEMPT ITEMS

 

2.                  None. The surveys to date have been carried out with the full participation of Wootton Bridge Parish Council, the Members of the Isle of Wight Council within whose electoral divisions the existing and possible extended areas falls, and the Portfolio holder for Resources. All Registered Electors have also been consulted.

 

BACKGROUND

 

3.                  A request for a review of the area of Wootton Bridge Parish Council was received in August 2002 from that Council. This request was stimulated by a number of requests for assistance to that Council from residents residing on the Eastern side of Wootton Creek, which is outside the existing boundary of the Parish. Some residents had also questioned why they were not covered by the Parish Council, and one had written to Andrew Turner MP, asking if the Fishbourne area could be emparished in some way.

 

STRATEGIC CONTEXT

 

4.                  The Isle of Wight Council has an existing policy of supporting the creation of Parish Councils, where there is demand from the electorate. The extension or creation of Parish Councils will fit comfortably with one of the aspirations of the Isle Of Wight Community Strategy 2002 –2012, viz: “To help local communities become more involved in making local decisions.”

 

CONSULTATION

 

5.                  The consultation to date has been through two stages. Firstly a questionnaire was sent to all electors in the Binstead electoral division, asking their views about emparishment on various levels, to include joining with Wootton Bridge Parish Council, forming a stand alone Binstead and Fishbourne Parish Council, or possibly becoming part of an eventual Ryde Town Council. The results of this consultation are attached in Appendix A.

 

6.                  The results of the first consultation were such that the second phase concentrated solely on the proposal to enlarge Wootton Bridge Parish Council, to include the Fishbourne and Kite Hill areas. Again, all electors within the proposed area were consulted, and the results are attached in Appendix B.

 

FINANCIAL/BUDGET IMPLICATIONS

 

7.                  Some expenditure has already been incurred with the consultation process, all of which has been met from within existing budgets.

 

8.                  Were the extension of Wootton Bridge Parish Council to move forward, then further consultation, to include a public meeting, would be required to define the exact boundaries, as required by the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister. Little additional expenditure would be anticipated, as changes to Polling Districts can be effected easily via our existing computer systems.

 

LEGAL IMPLICATIONS

 

9.                  Under the Local Government and Rating Act 1997 this Council can review the boundaries or establishment of Parish or Town Councils on the Island and make recommendations to the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister for any suggested changes. This provision was used for the successful establishment of the East Cowes Town Council. However in using this provision that Council needs to seek and consider the views of the residents of the proposed areas.

 

OPTIONS

 

10.             There are two possible options available:

 

·           Conclude that there is insufficient support of the emparishment of the Binstead Electoral area or any part thereof;

 

·           Conclude that there is sufficient response to the emparishment of part of the Binstead Electoral area and make recommendations as to the arrangements (such as area, number of Councilors etc) that should be in place.

 

EVALUATION/RISK MANAGEMENT

 

11.             Given that response to the surveys indicate a clear majority are against the emparishment of this part of Fishbourne, a recommendation of the first option is put forward.

 

12.             This options accords with the Councils policy of creating Parish Councils “where there is a demand.”

 

13.             Risks are minimal with this process. Officers must ensure that any recommendation for emparishment is put forward to the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister in accordance with the provisions contained within the Local Government and Rating Act 1997. Failure to follow the guidelines would not rule out any proposed alterations, but the recommendations would need to be resubmitted.

 

14.             Should the Council to approve the recommendation, Members should be aware that under the Local Government and Rating Act 1997, a public petition may be put to the Secretary of State via the Isle of Wight Council if it is signed by 10% or 250 electors for the area in question. This could call for the establishment of a Parish Council, and whilst the Isle of Wight Council could add its comments to the proposal, it cannot block a valid petition.

 

RECOMMENDATIONS

 

15.             It is recommended that the Council conclude that there is insufficient support of the emparishment of the Binstead Electoral area or any part thereof.

 

BACKGROUND PAPERS

 

16.             Appendix A – the results of the first survey

 

17.             Appendix B – the results of the second survey.

 

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION

 

18.             None

 

Contact Point :           Clive Joynes, Electoral Services Officer (01983) 823341

 

MIKE FISHER

Strategic Director Corporate Services

REG BARRY

Portfolio Holder Resources

 

Appendix A

WOOTTON BRIDGE BOUNDARY REVIEW

SURVEY ANALYSIS

 

A total of 2649 survey forms were sent to all electors living within the Binstead Electoral Division of the Isle of Wight Council asking them their views on the possible extension of the existing boundary of the Wootton Bridge Parish Council to include the area bounded by the Northern edge of Firestone Copse, along with all of the properties in Elenors Grove and Fishbourne Lane, and all properties between those roads and Wootton Creek itself.

 

RESPONSE RATES

 

Of the 2649 forms, a total of 788 were returned, giving an overall return percentage of 29.75.

 

Of this total, 595 forms had been sent to electors in the Fishbourne area, with 278 being returned (46.72%).

 

In the Binstead area, 2054 forms were dispatched, with 510 being returned (24.83%).

 

OVERALL ANAYSIS

 

Of the 788 forms which were returned for the area as a whole, 258 (32.74%) said they supported the formation of a Parish Council to cover the area in question, whilst 530 (67.26%) were against.

 

Those who were in favour of emparishment were also generally in favour of joining the existing Wootton Bridge Parish Council, with 176 (68.22%) choosing this option as opposed to the formation of an entirely new Parish Council, which was the choice of 78 electors (31.78%).

 

Of those who opted for the creation of a new Parish Council, the majority chose a “Binstead and Fishbourne” Parish Council – this was preferred by 51 people (65.38%).

 

BINSTEAD AREA ANALYSIS

 

510 forms were returned form the Binstead area, with 394 (77.25%) being against the emparishment of the area by whatever means, whilst 116 (22.75%) were in favour.

 

Of those in favour of emparishment, a small majority of 58 persons against 56 were in favour of creating a new Parish Council as opposed to joining with Wootton Bridge Parish Council.

 

Of those who opted for the creation of a new Parish Council, the majority chose a “Binstead and Fishbourne” Parish Council – this was preferred by 46 people (79.31%).

 

FISHBOURNE AREA ANALYSIS

 

The electors of the Fishbourne area returned 278 forms, with 142 people (51.08%) being in favour of the emparishment of the area, with 136 (48.92%) against.

 

A majority of those in favour of emparishment, 120 electors (84.51%), would choose to join with the existing Wootton Bridge Parish Council, whilst 20 (14.08%) would prefer the creation of a new Parish Council.

 

Of those who opted for the creation of a new Parish Council, 11 electors (55%) preferred the “Stand Alone” Fishbourne option, with 5 (25%) choosing to create a “Binstead and Fishbourne” Parish Council.

 

CONCLUSIONS

 

Clearly the residents of the Binstead area are not in favour of the creation of a Parish Council, and those that are, are divided over the merits of either joining with Wootton Bridge Parish Council of forming a separate “Binstead & Fishbourne” Parish Council.

 

However, a majority, albeit small, of electors in the Fishbourne area have opted for emparishment, with a very clear majority of those choosing to join with the existing Wootton Bridge Parish Council by enlarging its area and moving its Eastern boundary.

 

In view of the above small majority a further survey of all the electors just in the Fishbourne area on the narrower question on the possibility of the Wootton Bridge Parish Council area being extended to include Fishbourne.  Appendix B details the response to this survey.

 

Appendix B

WOOTTON BRIDGE BOUNDARY REVIEW

SURVEY ANALYSIS

 

A total of 633 survey forms were sent to all electors living within the previously identified area of Fishbourne asking them their views on the possible extension of the existing boundary of the Wootton Bridge Parish Council to include the area bounded by the Northern edge of Firestone Copse, along with all of the properties in Elenors Grove and Fishbourne Lane, and all properties between those roads and Wootton Creek itself. The second phase of the survey also included Quarr Abbey.

 

Response Rates

 

Of the 633 forms, a total of 318 were returned, giving an overall return percentage of 50.24%.

 

The previous survey had a response of 278 forms from the Fishbourne area, so the second survey drew a slightly better response rate.

 

Two further forms were not counted; one had the postcode removed, and the other had no mark in either of the response boxes, nor any other indication of the respondents intent.

 

Analysis of responses

 

Of the 318 forms returned, 119 (37.24%) were in favour of joining with Wootton Bridge Parish Council, whilst 199 (62.58%) were against the proposal.

 

Of the 13 roads surveyed, only two (Firestone Glade and Quarr Lane) expressed an overall preference for joining with Wootton Bridge Parish Council.

 

Conclusions

 

The majority opinion of the Fishbourne and Kite Hill area electors who responded to the survey is that they do not wish to become part of Wootton Bridge Parish Council.

 

At the outset of this consultation process we stated that any recommendation to be put before the full council would reflect this outcome, and therefore the recommendation will be one of discontinuing with the emparishment of this (or any other) part of the Binstead electoral division.