The District of South Cambridgeshire (Electoral Changes) Order 2002

Statutory Instruments

2002 No. 2374

LOCAL GOVERNMENT, ENGLAND

The District of South Cambridgeshire (Electoral Changes) Order 2002

Made

11th September 2002

Coming into force in accordance with article 1(2)

Whereas the Boundary Committee for England(1), acting pursuant to section 15(4) of the Local Government Act 1992(2), has submitted to the Electoral Commission(3) a report dated April 2002 on its review of the district of South Cambridgeshire together with its recommendations:

And whereas a period of not less than six weeks has expired since the receipt of those recommendations:

And whereas the Electoral Commission have decided to give effect to those recommendations:

Now, therefore, the Electoral Commission, in exercise of the powers conferred on them by sections 17(4) and 26(5) of the Local Government Act 1992, and of all other powers enabling them in that behalf, hereby make the following Order:

Citation and commencement

1.—(1) This Order may be cited as the District of South Cambridgeshire (Electoral Changes) Order 2002.

(2) This Order, with the exception of article 6(1) shall come into force—

(a) for the purpose of proceedings preliminary or relating to any election to be held on 6th May 2004, on 15th October 2003;

(b) for all other purposes, on 6th May 2004.

(3) Article 6(1) shall come into force on the day after that on which this Order is made.

Interpretation

2.  In this Order—

“district” means the district of South Cambridgeshire;

“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 marked “Map referred to in the District of South Cambridgeshire (Electoral Changes) Order 2002”, of which prints are available for inspection at—

(a) the principal office of the Electoral Commission; and

(b) the offices of South Cambridgeshire District Council; and

any reference to a numbered sheet is a reference to the sheet of the map which bears that number.

Wards of the district of South Cambridgeshire

3.—(1) The existing wards of the district(6) shall be abolished.

(2) The district shall be divided into thirty-four 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; 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, watercourse or similar geographical feature, it shall be treated as running along the centre line of the feature.

Elections of the council of South Cambridgeshire

4.—(1) Elections of the councillors for all wards of the district shall be held simultaneously on the ordinary day of election of councillors in 2004(7)(8).

(2) The councillors holding office for any ward of the district immediately before 10th May 2004 shall retire on that date and the newly elected councillors for those wards shall come into office on that date.

(3) The order of retirement of councillors shall be as set out in Schedule 2.

(4) Where the number of councillors elected in 2004 for any ward of the district is two or more—

(a) the first to retire shall, subject to paragraphs (6) and (7), be the councillor elected by the smallest number of votes; and

(b) the second to retire shall, subject to those paragraphs, be the councilor elected by the next smallest number of votes.

(5) In the case of an equality of votes between any persons elected which makes it uncertain which of them is to retire in any year, the person to retire in that year shall be determined by lot.

(6) If an election of councillors for any ward is not contested, the person to retire in each year shall be determined by lot.

(7) Where under this article any question is to be determined by lot, the lot shall be drawn at the next practicable meeting of the council after the question has arisen and the drawing shall be conducted under the direction of the person presiding at the meeting.

Wards of the parish of Little Wilbraham

5.—(1) The existing wards of the parish of Little Wilbraham shall be abolished.

(2) The parish shall be divided into two parish wards which shall bear the names Little Wilbraham and Six Mile Bottom; and the wards shall comprise the areas designated on sheet 1 by reference to the name of the ward and demarcated by orange lines.

(3) The number of councillors to be elected for the Little Wilbraham parish ward shall be five and for the Six Mile Bottom parish ward shall be two.

Parish Elections

6.—(1) The term of office of every parish councillor elected on the ordinary day of election of councillors in 2003 for the parishes of Caldecote, Kingston, Meldreth, Swavesey and Toft shall be three years.

(2) Elections of all parish councillors for the parishes of Caldecote, Kingston, Meldreth, Swavesey and Toft shall be held simultaneously on the ordinary day of election of parish councillors in 2006 and every fourth year after 2006.

(3) Elections of all parish councillors for the parishes of Arrington, Croydon, Great Wilbraham, Guilden Morden, Hatley, Hauxton, Little Gransden, Little Shelford, Little Wilbraham, Longstanton, Longstowe, Shingay cum Wendy, Stapleford, Steeple Morden, Stow cum Quy, Thriplow and Whittlesford shall be held simultaneously on the ordinary day of election of councillors in 2004 and every fourth year after 2004.

(4) Elections of all parish councillors for the parishes of Babraham, Balsham, Bar Hill, Bassingbourn cum Kneesworth, Bourn, Carlton, Caxton, Cottenham, Croxton, Eltisley, Fulbourn, Gamlingay, Girton, Great Abington, Great Shelford, Hildersham, Landbeach, Linton, Litlington, Little Abington, Melbourn, Oakington, Pampisford, Rampton, Shepreth, Waterbeach, Weston Colville, West Wickham, West Wratting and Willingham shall be held simultaneously on the ordinary day of election of councillors in 2006 and every fourth year after 2006.

(5) The ordinary elections of parish councillors for the parishes of Barrington, Barton, and Grantchester in 2006 shall not take place; and any such parish councillor holding office immediately before 8th May 2006 who would, but for this paragraph, have retired on that date shall, unless he resigns his office or it otherwise becomes vacant, continue to hold office until the fourth day after the ordinary day of election of councillors in 2007.

(6) The ordinary elections of parish councillors for the parishes of Fen Ditton, Harston, Haslingfield, Horningsea, Great and Little Chishill, Great Eversden and Little Eversden, Harlton, Heydon, Histon, Impington, Newton, Sawston and Whaddon in 2007 shall not take place; and any such parish councillor holding office immediately before 7th May 2007 who would, but for this paragraph, have retired on that date shall, unless he resigns his office or it otherwise becomes vacant, continue to hold office until the fourth day after the ordinary day of election of councillors in 2008.

(7) Elections of all parish councillors for the parishes of Barrington, Barton and Grantchester shall be held simultaneously on the ordinary day of election of parish councillors in 2007 and every fourth year after 2007.

(8) Elections of all parish councillors for the parishes of Fen Bitton, Harston, Haslingfield, Horningsea, Great and Little Chishill, Great Eversden and Little Eversden, Harlton, Heydon, Histon, Impington, Newton, Sawston and Whaddon shall be held simultaneously on the ordinary day of election of parish councillors in 2008 and every fourth year after 2008.

(9) The term of office of parish councillors elected in accordance with any of paragraphs (2), (3), (4), (7) and (8) above shall be four years; and they shall retire on the fourth day after the ordinary day of election of councillors in the year of retirement and the newly-elected councillors shall come into office on the day on which their predecessors retire.

(10) Rule 8 of the Local Elections (Parishes and Communties) Rules 1986(9) (filling of casual vacancies) shall have effect, in the case of a casual vacancy occuring before 7th May 2007 in the office of a parish councillor for the parishes of Barrington, Barton and Grantchester as if the references in paragraphs (1) and (4) of that rule to the day on which that councillor would regularly have retired were a reference to 8th May 2006; and in the case of a casual vacancy occurring before 6th May 2008 in the office of a parish councillor for the parishes of Ditton, Harston, Haslingfield, Horningsea, Great and Little Chishill, Great Eversden and Little Eversden, Harlton, Heydon, Histon, Impington, Newton, Sawston and Whaddon Grantchester as if the references in paragraphs (1) and (4) of that rule to the day on which that councillor would regularly have retired were a reference to 7th May 2007.

Maps

7.  South Cambridgeshire District Council shall make a print of the map marked “Map referred to in the District of South Cambridgeshire (Electoral Changes) Order 2002” available for inspection at its offices by any member of the public at any reasonable time.

Electoral Registers

8.  The Electoral Registration Officer for the district shall make such rearrangement of, or adaptation of, the register of local government electors as may be necessary for the purposes of, and in consequence of, this Order.

Revocation

9.  The District of South Cambridgeshire (Electoral Arrangements) Order 1975(10) is revoked, save for articles 5 and 6.

Signed by the members of the Electoral Commission

Pamela Gordon

Commissioner

11th September 2002

Glyn Mathias

Commissioner

11th September 2002

Neil McIntosh

Commissioner

11th September 2002

Karamjit Singh

Commissioner

11th September 2002

Sam Younger

Commissioner

11th September 2002

Graham Zellick

Commissioner

11th September 2002

Article 3

SCHEDULE 1 NAMES AND AREAS OF WARDS AND NUMBERS OF COUNCILLORS

(1)	(2)	(3)
Name of Ward	Area of Ward	Number of Councillors
Balsham	The parishes of Balsham, Carlton, Castle Camps, Horseheath, Shudy Camps, West Wickham, West Wratting and Weston Colville	2
Bar Hill	The parishes of Bar Hill, Boxworth, Dry Drayton and Lolworth	2
Barton	The parishes of Barton, Coton, Grantchester and Madingley	1
Bassingbourn	The parishes of Bassingbourn cum Kneesworth, Litlington, Shingay cum Wendy and Whaddon	2
Bourn	The parishes of Bourn, Caxton, Croxton and Eltisley	3
Caldecote	The parishes of Caldecote, Childerley, Kingston and Toft	1
Comberton	The parish of Comberton	1
Cottenham	The parishes of Cottenham, Oakington and Westwick, and Rampton	3
Duxford	The parishes of Duxford and Ickleton	1
Fowlmere and Foxton	The parishes of Fowlmere and Foxton	1
Fulbourn	The parish of Fulbourn	2
Gamlingay	The parishes of Arrington, Croydon, Gamlingay, Hatley, Little Gransden and Longstowe	2
Girton	The parish of Girton	2
Hardwick	The parish of Hardwick	1
Harston and Hauxton	The parishes of Harston and Hauxton	1
Haslingfield and The Eversdens	The parishes of Great Eversden, Harlton, Haslingfield and Little Eversden	1
Histon and Impington	The parishes of Histon and Impington	3
Linton	The parishes of Bartlow, Hildersham and Linton	2
Longstanton	The parish of Longstanton	1
Melbourn	The parishes of Great and Little Chishill, Heydon and Melbourn	2
Meldreth	The parishes of Meldreth and Shepreth	1
Milton	The parish of Milton	2
Orwell and Barrington	The parishes of Barrington, Orwell and Wimpole	1
Papworth and Elsworth	The parishes of Conington, Elsworth, Fen Drayton, Graveley, Knapwell, Papworth Everard and Papworth St. Agnes	2
Sawston	The parish of Sawston	3
Swavesey	The parish of Swavesey	1
Teversham	The parish of Teversham	1
The Abingtons	The parishes of Babraham, Great Abington, Hinxton, Little Abington and Pampisford	1
The Mordens	The parishes of Abington Pigotts, Guilden Morden, Steeple Morden and Tadlow	1
The Shelfords and Stapleford	The parishes of Great Shelford, Little Shelford, Newton and Stapleford	3
The Wilbrahams	The parishes of Fen Ditton, Great Wilbraham, Horningsea, Little Wilbraham and Stow cum Quy	1
Waterbeach	The parishes of Landbeach and Waterbeach	2
Whittlesford	The parishes of Thriplow and Whittlesford	1
Willingham and Over	The parishes of Over and Willingham	3

Article 4 (3)

SCHEDULE 2 ORDER OF RETIREMENT OF COUNCILLORS

(1)	(2)	(3)	(4)
Name of Ward	Number of councillors to retire in 2006	Number of councillors to retire in 2007	Number of councillors to retire in 2008
Balsham	1	1	0
Bar Hill	1	1	0
Barton	0	1	0
Bassingbourn	1	0	1
Bourn	1	1	1
Caldecote	1	0	0
Comberton	0	1	0
Cottenham	1	1	1
Duxford	0	1	0
Fowlmere and Foxton	0	1	0
Fulbourn	1	1	0
Gamlingay	1	0	1
Girton	1	0	1
Hardwick	0	1	0
Harston and Hauxton	0	0	1
Haslingfield and The Eversdens	0	0	1
Histon and Impington	1	1	1
Linton	1	0	1
Longstanton	0	0	1
Melbourn	1	0	1
Meldreth	1	0	0
Milton	1	1	0
Orwell and Barrington	0	1	0
Papworth and Elsworth	0	1	1
Sawston	1	1	1
Swavesey	1	0	0
Teversham	0	1	0
The Abingtons	0	1	0
The Mordens	0	0	1
The Shelfords and Stapleford	1	1	1
The Wilbrahams	0	0	1
Waterbeach	1	0	1
Whittlesford	0	0	1
Willingham and Over	1	1	1

Explanatory Note

(This note is not part of the Order)

This Order gives effect to recommendations by the Boundary Committee for England, a committee of the Electoral Commission, for electoral changes in the district of South Cambridgeshire. The changes have effect in relation to local government elections to be held on and after 6th May 2004.

Article 3 abolishes the existing wards of the district and provides for the creation of 34 new wards. That article and Schedule 1 also make provision for the names and areas of, and numbers of councillors for, the new wards.

Article 4 makes provision for a whole council election in 2004 and for reversion to the existing system of elections by thirds in subsequent years. Schedule 2 provides for the order for retirement of councillors.

Article 5 makes electoral changes in the parish of Little Wilbraham.

Article 6 provides for elections of parish councils in the district.

Article 8 obliges the Electoral Registration Officer to make any necessary amendments to the electoral register to reflect the new electoral arrangements.

Article 9 revokes the District of South Cambridgeshire (Electoral Arrangements) Order 1975 (S.I. 1975/1991), with the exception of articles 5 and 6.

The areas of the new parish wards are demarcated on the map described in article 2. Prints of the map may be inspected at all reasonable times at the offices of South Cambridgeshire District Council and at the principal office of the Electoral Commission at Trevelyan House, Great Peter Street, London SWIP 2HW.

(1)

The Boundary Committee for England is a committee of the Electoral Commission, established by the Electoral Commission in accordance with section 14 of the Political Parties, Elections and Referendums Act 2000 (c. 41). The Local Government Commission for England (Transfer of Functions) Order 2001 (S.I. 2001/3962) transferred to the Electoral Commission the functions of the Local Government Commission for England.

(2)

1992 c. 19. This section has been amended by S.I. 2001/3962.

(3)

The Electoral Commission was established by the Political Parties, Elections and Referendums Act 2000 (c. 41). The functions of the Secretary of State, under sections 13 to 15 and 17 of the Local Government Act 1992, to the extent that they relate to electoral arrangements within the meaning of that Act, were transferred with modifications to the Electoral Commission on 1st April 2002 (S.I. 2001/3962).

(4)

This section has been amended by S.I. 2001/3962. There are amendments to this section made otherwise than by S.I. 2001/3962 that are not relevant to this Order.

(5)

This section has been amended by S.I. 2001/3962.

(6)

See the District of South Cambridgeshire (Electoral Arrangements) Order 1975 (S.I. 1975/1991).

(7)

Article 4 provides for a single election of all the councillors and for reversion to the system of elections by thirds, as established by articles 5 and 6 of the District of South Cambridgeshire (Electoral Arrangements) Order 1975 (S.I. 1975/1991).

(8)

For the ordinary day of election of councillors of local government areas, see section 37 for the Representation of the People Act 1983 (c. 2), amended by section 18(2) of the Representation of the People Act 1985 (c. 50) and section 17 of, and paragraphs 1 and 5 of Schedule 3 to, the Greater London Authority Act 1999 (c. 29).

(9)

S.I. 1986/2215, to which there are amendments not relevant to this Order.

(10)

S.I. 1975/1991.