The District of West Oxfordshire (Electoral Changes) Order 2001

Statutory Instruments

2002 No. 48

LOCAL GOVERNMENT, ENGLAND

The District of West Oxfordshire (Electoral Changes) Order 2001

Made

20th December 2001

Coming into force in accordance with article 1(2) and (3)

Whereas the Local Government Commission for England, acting pursuant to section 15(4) of the Local Government Act 1992(1), has submitted to the Secretary of State a report dated August 2001 on its review of the district of West Oxfordshire together with its recommendations;

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 section 17(2)and 26 of the Local Government Act 1992, and of all other powers enabling him in that behalf, hereby makes the following Order;

Citation, commencement and interpretation

1.—(1) This Order may be cited as the District of West Oxfordshire (Electoral Changes) Order 2001.

(2) This article and articles 2, 3, 6 and 7 shall come into force—

(a) for the purpose of proceedings preliminary or relating to any election to be held on 2nd May 2002, on the day after that on which it is made;

(b) for all other purposes, on 2nd May 2002.

(3) Articles 4 and 5 shall come into force—

(a) for the purpose of proceedings preliminary or relating to elections of parish councillors for the parishes of Carterton and Witney, on 1st May 2003, on 15th October 2002;

(b) for all other purposes, on 1st May 2003.

(4) In this Order—

“district” means the district of West Oxfordshire;

“existing”, in relation to a ward, means the ward as it exists on the date this Order is made;

any reference to “the map” is a reference to the map prepared by the Department for Transport, Local Government and the Regions marked “Map of the District of West Oxfordshire (Electoral Changes) Order 2001”, and deposited in accordance with regulation 27 for the Local Government Changes for England Regulations 1994(3); 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 West Oxfordshire

2.—(1) The existing wards of the district (4)shall be abolished.

(2) The district shall be divided into twenty-seven 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, where an area is not 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, watercourse or similar geographical feature, it shall be treated as running along the centre line of the feature.

Elections of the council of West Oxfordshire

3.—(1) Subject to the following provisions of this article, the election of councillors for wards of the district shall be by thirds.

(2) Elections of all councillors for all wards of the district shall be held simultaneously on the ordinary day of election of councillors in 2002(5)

(3) The councillors holding office for any ward of the district immediately before 6th May 2002 shall retire on that date and the newly-elected councillors for those wards shall come into office on that date.

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

(5) Where the number of councillors elected in 2002 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 councillor elected by the next smallest number of votes.

(6) 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.

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

(8) 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.

(9) Except as otherwise provided in the preceding paragraphs of this article, the term of office of councillors shall be four years; and all councillors 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.

Wards of the parish of Carterton

4.—(1) The existing wards of the parish of Carterton shall be abolished.

(2) The parish shall be divided into five parish wards which shall bear the names Gateway, Milestone, Rock Farm, Shillbrook and Upavon; and the wards shall comprise the areas designated on sheet 3 by reference to the name of the ward and demarcated by orange lines.

(3) The number of councillors to be elected for the Upavon parish ward shall be five, for each of the Milestone, Rock Farm and Shillbrook parish wards shall be three and for the Gateway parish ward shall be two.

Wards of the parish of Witney

5.—(1) The existing wards of the parish of Witney 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 3; each parish ward shall comprise the area of the district ward specified in respect of the parish ward in column (2) of that Schedule; and the number of councillors to be elected for each parish ward shall be the number specified in respect of the parish ward in column (3) of that Schedule.

Parish Elections

6.—(1) The term of office of every parish councillor elected on the ordinary day of election of councillors in 2000 for the parish of Asthal shall be two years.

(2) The term of office of every parish councillor elected on the ordinary day of election of councillors in 1999 for the parishes of Ducklington and Shilton shall be three years.

(3) Elections of all parish councillors for the parishes of Ascott Under Wychwood, Asthal, Aston, Cote, Shifford and Chimney, Bampton, Bladon, Brize Norton, Burford, Cassington, Curbridge, Ducklington, Fulbrook, Lew, Sandford St Martin, Shilton, Shipton under Wychwood, Standlake, Steeple Barton, Swinbrook and Widford, shall be held simultaneously on the ordinary day of election of councillors in 2002 and every fourth year after 2002.

(4) The ordinary elections of parish councillors for the parishes of Chadlington and Spelsbury in 2003 shall not take place; and any such parish councillor holding office immediately before 1st May 2003 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 2004.

(5) Elections of all parish councillors for the parishes listed in Schedule 4 shall be held simultaneously on the ordinary day of election of councillors in 2004 and every fourth year after 2004.

(6) The term of office of parish councillors elected in accordance with any of paragraphs (3) and (5) 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.

(7) Rule 8 of the Local Elections (Parishes and Communities) Rules 1986(6) (filling of casual vacancies) shall have effect, in the case of a casual vacancy occurring before 10th May 2004 in the office of a parish councillor for the parishes of Chadlington and Spelsbury 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 10th May 2004.

Revocation

7.  The District of West Oxfordshire (Electoral Arrangements) Order 1977 is hereby revoked.

Signed by authority of the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions

Alan Whitehead

Parliamentary Under Secretary of State,

Department for Transport, Local Government and the Regions

20th December 2001

Article 2

SCHEDULE 1 NAMES AND AREAS OF WARDS AND NUMBERS OF COUNCILLORS

(1)	(2)	(3)
Name of ward	Area of ward	Number of Councillors
Alvescot and Filkins	The parishes of Alvescot, Broadwell, Filkins and Broughton Poggs, Grafton and Radcot, Holwell, Kelmscott, Kencot, Langford, Little Farringdon and Westwell	1
Ascott and Shipton	The parishes of Ascott-under-Wychwood, Lyneham and Shipton-under-Wychwood	1
Bampton and Clanfield	The parishes of Bampton, Black Bourton and Clanfield	2
Brize Norton and Shilton	The parishes of Asthal, Brize Norton, Shilton, and Swinbrook and Widford	1
Burford	The parishes of Burford, Fulbrook and Taynton	1
Carterton North East		2
Carterton North West		2
Carterton South		2
Chadlington and Churchill	The parishes of Chadlington, Chilson, Churchill, Cornbury and Wychwood, Sarsden and Spelsbury	1
Charlbury and Finstock	The parishes of Charlbury, Fawler and Finstock	2
Chipping Norton	The parishes of Chipping Norton	3
Ducklington	The parishes of Curbridge, Ducklington and Lew	1
Eynsham and Cassington	The parishes of Cassington Eynsham and South Leigh	3
Freeland and Hanborough	The parishes of Freeland and Hanborough	2
Hailey, Minster Lovell and Leafield	The parishes of Crawley, Hailey, Leafield, Minster Lovell and Ramsden	2
Kingham, Rollright and Enstone	The parishes of Chastleton, Cornwell, Enstone, Great Tew, Heythrop, Kingham, Little Tew, Over Norton, Rollright, Salford and Swerford	2
Milton-under-Wychwood	The parishes of Bruern, Fifield, Idbury and Milton-under-Wychwood	1
North Leigh	The parishes of North Leigh	1
Standlake, Aston and Stanton Harcourt	The parishes of Aston, Cote, Shifford and Chimney, Harwick-with-Yelford, Northmoor, Standlake and Stanton Harcourt	2
Stonesfield and Tackley	The parishes of Combe, Glympton, Kiddington with Asterleigh, Rousham, Stonesfield, Tackley and Wootton	2
The Bartons	The parishes of Sandford St Martin, Steeple Barton, Westcot Barton and Worton	1
Witney Central		2
Witney East		3
Witney North		2
Witney South		3
Witney West		2
Woodstock and Bladon	The parishes of Bladon, Blenheim and Woodstock	2

Article 3(4)

SCHEDULE 2 ORDER OF RETIREMENT OF COUNCILLORS

(1)	(2)	(3)	(4)
Name of ward	Number of Councillors to retire in 2003	Number of Councillors to retire in 2004	Number of Councillors to retire in 2006
Alvescot and Filkins	1	0	0
Ascott and Shipton	0	0	1
Bampton and Clanfield	1	0	1
Brize Norton and Shilton	0	0	1
Burford	0	0	1
Carterton North East	1	0	1
Carterton North West	1	0	1
Carterton South	1	0	1
Chadlington and Churchill	0	1	0
Charlbury and Finstock	1	1	0
Chipping Norton	1	1	1
Ducklington	0	0	1
Eynsham and Cassington	1	1	1
Freeland and Hanborough	0	1	1
Hailey, Minster Lovell and Leafield	1	1	0
Kingham, Rollright and Enstone	1	1	0
Milton-under-Wychwood	0	1	0
North Leigh	0	1	0
Standlake, Ashton and Stanton Harcourt	0	1	1
Stonesfield and Tackley	1	1	0
The Bartons	0	0	1
Witney Central	1	1	0
Witney East	1	1	1
Witney North	1	1	0
Witney South	1	1	1
Witney West	1	1	0
Woodstock and Bladon	0	1	1

Article 5

SCHEDULE 3 WARDS OF THE PARISH OF WITNEY NAMES AND AREAS OF WARDS AND NUMBERS OF COUNCILLORS

(1)	(2)	(3)
Name of ward	Area of ward	Number of Councillors
Central	The district ward of Witney Central	3
East	The district ward of Witney East	4
North	The district ward of Witney North	3
South	The district ward of Witney South	4
West	The district ward of Witney West	3

Article 6(7)

SCHEDULE 4 PARISHES IN WHICH ELECTIONS ARE TO BE HELD IN 2004

• Chadlington

• Charlbury

• Churchill

• Freeland

• Hanborough

• Kingham

• Milton under Wychwood

• Minster Lovell

• North Leigh

• Northmoor

• Over Norton

• Rollright

• Salford

• Sarsden

• South Leigh

• Spelsbury

• Stanton Harcourt

• Tackley

• Wootton

• Woodstock

Explanatory Note

(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 district of West Oxfordshire. The changes have effect in relation to local government elections to be held on and after 2nd May 2002.

Article 2 abolishes the existing wards of the district and provides for the creation of 27 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 3 makes provision for a whole council election in 2002 and for reversion to elections by thirds in subsequent years. Schedule 2 regulates the order of retirement of councillors.

Articles 4 and 5 make electoral changes in the parishes of Carterton and Witney.

Article 6 makes changes to parish elections in the district.

Article 7 revokes the district of West Oxfordshire (Electoral Arrangements) Order 1977.

The areas of the new district and parish wards are demarcated on the map described in article 1(4). Prints of the map may be inspected at all reasonable times at the offices of West Oxfordshire District Council and at the offices of the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions, 2nd Floor, Ashdown House, 123 Victoria Street, London SW1E 6DE.

(1)

1992 c. 19.

(2)

Section 17 is amended by section 39(4) and (5) of the Police and Magistrates' Courts Act 1994 (c. 29).

(3)

S.I. 1994/867, to which there are amendments not relevant to this Order.

(4)

See the District of West Oxfordshire (Electoral Arrangements) Order 1977 (S.I. 1977/681).

(5)

For the ordinary day of election of councillors of local government areas, see section 37 of 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).

(6)

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