1998 No. 2344
LOCAL GOVERNMENT, ENGLAND AND WALES
The Borough of Castle Morpeth (Electoral Changes) Order 1998
Made 21st September 1998
Coming into force in accordance with article 1(2)

Whereas the Local Government Commission for England, acting pursuant to section 15(4) of the Local Government Act 1992, has submitted to the Secretary of State a report dated March 1997 on its review of the borough of Castle Morpeth together with its recommendations:
1992 c. 19.
The non-metropolitan district of Castle Morpeth has the status of a borough.
And whereas the Secretary of State has decided to give effect to those recommendations:
Now, therefore, the Secretary of State, in exercise of the powers conferred on him by sections 17 and 26 of the Local Government Act 1992, and of all other powers enabling him in that behalf, hereby makes the following Order:
Section 17 is amended by section 39(4) and (5) of the Police and Magistrates' Courts Act 1994 (c. 29).

1 Citation, commencement and interpretation
1 This Order may be cited as the Borough of Castle Morpeth (Electoral Changes) Order 1998.
2 This Order shall come into force for all purposes on 6th May 1999, except that for the purpose of all proceedings preliminary or relating to an election to be held on or after that date this Order shall come into force on 10th October 1998.
3 In this Order–
“the borough” means the borough of Castle Morpeth;
“existing”, in relation to a ward, means the ward as it exists on the date this Order is made; and
any reference to “the map” is a reference to the map prepared by the Department of the Environment, Transport and the Regions, marked “Map of the Borough of Castle Morpeth (Electoral Changes) Order 1998”, and deposited in accordance with regulation 27 of the Local Government Changes for England Regulations 1994.
S.I.1994/867, to which there are amendments not relevant to this Order.

2 Wards of Castle Morpeth
1 The existing wards of the borough shall be abolished.
see The Borough of Castle Morpeth (Electoral Arrangements) Order 1975 (S.I.1975/1667).
2 The borough shall be divided into twenty wards which shall bear the names set out in column (1) of Schedule 1.
3 The wards shall comprise the areas described in column (2) of that Schedule by reference to parishes, or parishes and parish wards, or, where no area is so described, the area designated on the map by reference to the name of the ward and demarcated by red lines; and the number of councillors to be elected for each ward shall be the number specified in respect of the ward in column (3) of that Schedule.
4 Where a boundary is shown on the map as running along a road, railway line, footway, waterway or other similar geographical feature, it shall be treated as running along the centre line of the feature.

3 Wards of the parish of Morpeth
1 The existing wards of the parish of Morpeth shall be abolished.
2 The parish shall be divided into five parish wards which shall bear the names set out in column (1) of Schedule 2; each parish ward shall comprise the area of the borough ward specified in respect of that parish ward in column (2) of that Schedule and the number of councillors to be elected for each parish ward shall be three.

4 Wards of the parish of Ponteland
1 The existing wards of the parish of Ponteland shall be abolished.
2 The parish shall be divided into four parish wards which shall bear the names set out in column (1) of Schedule 3; each parish ward shall comprise the area of the borough ward specified in respect of that parish ward in column (2) of that Schedule and the number of councillors to be elected for each parish ward shall be three.

5 Parish of Stannington
The existing wards of the parish of Stannington shall be abolished and the number of councillors to be elected for the council of that parish shall be eight.

6 Revocation
The Borough of Castle Morpeth (Electoral Arrangements) Order 1975 is hereby revoked.
Signed by authority of the Secretary of State
Hilary Armstrong Minister of State, Department of the Environment, Transport and the Regions 21st September 1998

SCHEDULE 1 BOROUGH OF CASTLE MORPETH: NAMES AND AREAS OF WARDS AND NUMBERS OF COUNCILLORS
Article 2
(1)	(2)	(3)
Name of ward	Area of ward	Number of councillors
Chevington	The parish of East Chevington and the parish ward of West Chevington of the parish of Tritlington and West Chevington	2
Ellington	The parishes of, Cresswell, Ellington and Linton	2
Hartburn	The parishes of Belsay, Capheaton, Hartburn, Meldon, Netherwitton and Wallington Demense	1
Hebron, Hepscott and Mitford	The parishes of Hebron, Hepscott and Mitford	1
Heddon-on-the-Wall	The parish of Heddon-on-the-Wall	1
Longhorsley	The parishes of Longhorsley and Thirston and the parish ward of Tritlington of the parish of Tritlington and West Chevington	1
Lynemouth	The parish of Lynemouth	1
Morpeth Central		2
Morpeth Kirkhill		2
Morpeth North		2
Morpeth South		2
Morpeth Stobhill		2
Pegswood	The parishes of Longhirst and Pegswood	2
Ponteland East		2
Ponteland North		2
Ponteland South		2
Ponteland West		2
Stamfordham	The parishes of Matfen and Stamfordham	1
Stannington	The parishes of Stannington and Whalton	1
Ulgham	The parishes of Ulgham, Widdrington, and Widdrington Station and Stobswood	2

SCHEDULE 2 WARDS OF THE PARISH OF MORPETH: NAMES AND AREAS
Article 3
(1)	(2)
Name of parish ward	Area of parish ward
Central	The Morpeth Central ward
Kirkhill	The Morpeth Kirkhill ward
North	The Morpeth North ward
South	The Morpeth South ward
Stobhill	The Morpeth Stobhill ward

SCHEDULE 3 WARDS OF THE PARISH OF PONTELAND: NAMES AND AREAS OF PARISH WARDS
Article 4
(1)	(2)
Name of parish ward	Area of parish ward
East	The Ponteland East ward
North	The Ponteland North ward
South	The Ponteland South ward
West	The Ponteland West ward

(This note is not part of the Order)
This Order gives effect to recommendations by the Local Government Commission for England for electoral changes in the borough of Castle Morpeth.
Article 2 abolishes all of the existing wards of the district and provides for the creation of 20 new wards. That article and Schedule 1 also make provision for the names and areas of, and numbers of councillors for, the new wards.
Articles 3 to 5 make electoral changes in the parishes of Morpeth, Ponteland and Stannington.
The areas of the new borough and parish wards are demarcated on the map described in article 1(3). Prints of the map may be inspected at all reasonable times at the offices of Castle Morpeth Borough Council and at the offices of the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions, which are located at 2nd Floor, Ashdown House, 123 Victoria Street, London SW1E 6DE.