The Borough of Warrington (Electoral Changes) Order 2002

Statutory Instruments

2002 No. 2237

LOCAL GOVERNMENT, ENGLAND

The Borough of Warrington (Electoral Changes) Order 2002

Made

29th August 2002

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(1), has submitted to the Secretary of State a report dated November 2001 on its review of the borough(2) of Warrington together with its recommendations:

And whereas the Electoral Commission(3) have decided to give effect to those recommendations:

And whereas a period of not less than six weeks beginning with the submission of the report has expired:

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 Borough of Warrington (Electoral Changes) Order 2002.

(2) This Order shall come into force—

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

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

Interpretation

2.  In this Order—

“borough” means the borough of Warrington;

“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 marked “Map of the Borough of Warrington (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 Warrington Borough Council; and

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

Wards of the borough of Warrington

3.—(1) The existing wards of the borough(7) shall be abolished.

(2) The borough shall be divided into twenty-two 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 parish wards, 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 Warrington

4.—(1) Elections of all councillors for all wards of the borough shall be held simultaneously on the ordinary day of election of councillors in 2004(8)(9).

(2) The councillors holding office for any ward of the borough immediately before 6th 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 borough 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.

(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 Burtonwood

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

(2) The parish shall be divided into five parish wards which shall bear the names Callands, East, Old Hall, West and Westbrook; 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 Callands parish ward shall be five, for the Westbrook parish ward shall be four, for each of the East and West parish wards shall be three, and for the Old Hall parish ward shall be one.

Wards of the parish of Poulton-with-Fearnhead

6.—(1) The existing wards of the parish of Poulton-with-Fearnhead shall be abolished.

(2) The parish shall be divided into six parish wards which shall bear the names Brook Acre, Bruche, Cinnamon Brow, Fearnhead, Longbarn and St Oswalds; and the wards shall comprise the areas designated on sheet 4 by reference to the name of the ward and demarcated by orange lines.

(3) The number of councillors to be elected for the Bruche parish ward shall be four, for each of the Cinnamon Brow and Fearnhead parish wards shall be three, for each of the Brook Acre and St Oswalds parish wards shall be two, and for the Longbarn parish ward shall be one.

Numbers of parish councillors

7.  The number of parish councillors to be elected for each of the parish wards of Houghton and St Oswalds of the parish of Winwick shall be five.

Maps

8.  Warrington Borough Council shall make a print of the map marked “Map of the Borough of Warrington (Electoral Changes) Order 2002” available for inspection at its offices by any member of the public at any reasonable time.

Electoral registers

9.  The Electoral Registration Officer(10) for the borough 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

10.  The Borough of Warrington (Parishes and Electoral Changes) Order 1997(11)(12) is revoked, save for articles 2, 4, 5 and 6.

Signed by the members of the Electoral Commission

Pamela Gordon

Commissioner

29th August 2002

Glyn Mathias

Commissioner

13th August 2002

Neil McIntosh

Commissioner

7th August 2002

Karamjit Singh

Commissioner

7th August 2002

Sam Younger

Commissioner

7th August 2002

Graham Zellick

Commissioner

15th August 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
Appleton	The parish of Appleton	3
Bewsey and Whitecross		3
Birchwood	The parish wards of Chatfield, Gorse Covert, Locking Stumps and Oakwood of the parish of Birchwood	3
Burtonwood and Winwick		2
Culcheth, Glazebury and Croft	The parishes of Croft, and Culcheth and Glazebury	3
Fairfield and Howley		3
Grappenhall and Thelwall	The parish of Grappenhall and Thelwall	3
Great Sankey North	The parish ward of Great Sankey North of the parish of Great Sankey	2
Great Sankey South	The parish ward of Great Sankey South of the parish of Great Sankey	3
Hatton, Stretton and Walton	The parishes of Hatton, Stretton and Walton	1
Latchford East		2
Latchford West		2
Lymm	The parish of Lymm	3
Orford		3
Penketh and Cuerdley	The parishes of Cuerdley and Penketh	3
Poplars and Hulme		3
Poulton North		3
Poulton South		2
Rixton and Woolston	The parishes of Rixton-with-Glazebrook and Woolston	3
Stockton Heath	The parish of Stockton Heath	2
Westbrook		2
Whittle Hall		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
Appleton	1	1	1
Bewsey and Whitecross	1	1	1
Birchwood	1	1	1
Burtonwood and Winwick	0	1	1
Culcheth, Glazebury and Croft	1	1	1
Fairfield and Howley	1	1	1
Grappenhall and Thelwall	1	1	1
Great Sankey North	1	1	0
Great Sankey South	1	1	1
Hatton, Stretton and Walton	0	0	1
Latchford East	1	1	0
Latchford West	1	1	0
Lymm	1	1	1
Orford	1	1	1
Penketh and Cuerdley	1	1	1
Poplars and Hulme	1	1	1
Poulton North	1	1	1
Poulton South	1	0	1
Rixton and Woolston	1	1	1
Stockton Heath	0	1	1
Westbrook	1	0	1
Whittle Hall	1	1	1

Explanatory Note

(This note is not part of the Order)

The Order gives effect to recommendations by the Local Government Commission for England for electoral changes in the borough of Warrington. The recommendations were submitted to the Secretary of State, but the functions of the Secretary of State under sections 13 to 15 and 17 of the Local Government Act 1992 so far as they relate to electoral changes were transferred with modifications to the Electoral Commission under the Local Government Commission for England (Transfer of Functions) Order 2001 (S.I. 2001/3962), with effect from 1st April 2002. That Order provides that recommendations submitted to the Secretary of State before 1st April would have effect as if they had been submitted to the Electoral Commission.

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 borough and provides for the creation of 22 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 established system of elections by thirds in subsequent years.

Schedule 2 provides for the order of retirement of councillors.

Articles 5 to 7 make electoral changes in the parishes of Burtonwood, Poulton-with-Fearnhead and Winwick.

Article 9 obliges the Electoral Registration Officer to make any necessary amendments to the electoral register to reflect the new electoral arrangements.

Article 10 revokes the Borough of Warrington (Parishes and Electoral Changes) Order 1997 (S.I. 1997/781), with the exception of articles 2, 4, 5 and 6.

The areas of the new borough and 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 Warrington Borough Council and at the principal office of the Electoral Commission at Trevelyan House, Great Peter Street, London SW1P 2HW.

(1)

1992 c. 19. This section has been amended by the Local Government Commission for England (Transfer of Functions) Order 2001 (S.I. 2001/3962).

(2)

The non-metropolitan district of Warrington has the status of a borough.

(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 changes 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 Boroughs of Halton, Thurrock and Warrington (Changes to Years of Elections) Order 2002 (S.I. 2002/1670). This provides in the case of Warrington for the borough and parish elections that would otherwise have taken place in 2003 to take place in 2004.

(7)

See the Borough of Warrington (Parishes and Electoral Changes) Order 1997 (S.I. 1997/781).

(8)

Article 4 provides for a single election of all the councillors and for reversion to the system of elections by thirds, as established by article 4 of the Borough of Warrington (Parishes and Electoral Changes) Order 1997 (S.I. 1997/781).

(9)

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).

(10)

As to electoral registration officers and the register of local government electors, see sections 8 to 13 of the Representation of the People Act 1983 (c. 2).

(11)

S.I. 1997/781.

(12)

S.I. 1997/781 and S.I. 2002/1670. Article 8 of S.I. 1997/781 made provision in respect of elections in certain parishes. Article 3 of S.I. 2002/1670 makes new provisions in respect of those parishes. S.I. 2002/1670 is not affected by this Order.