MP apology demand over parish boundary split
‘Almighty childish strop’ over rejection of plan to halve parishes
An MP should apologise for trying to split two parishes and then ‘throwing a childish strop’ when the effort failed, according to local councillors.
As part of recently-scrapped plans to create fewer and more equal sized constituencies in time for the 2015 General Election, the Boundary Commission for England had proposed that South Gloucestershire residents be assigned to three new constituencies.
But Liberal Democrat MP Steve Webb argued that the existing Thornbury and Yate constituency should be kept, with the addition of the wards of Pilning and Severn Beach, Almondsbury, and Winterbourne, taken from the existing Filton and Bradley Stoke constituency.
However local councillors argued that because parish boundaries do not always align with ward boundaries, some parishes would have been split in half under the LibDem plan, particularly Almondsbury and Winterbourne.
Almondsbury parish covers the wards of Almondsbury and Patchway, while Winterbourne parish covers Winterbourne and Frenchay & Stoke Park wards - yet Patchway and Frenchay & Stoke Park wards would have remained in the existing Filton and Bradley Stoke constituency under the alternative LibDem scheme.
At the end of last year, the Boundary Commission came out against the LibDem plan to split these parishes stating that this “would risk breaking significant ties with other wards” – resulting in Steve Webb rejecting the entire boundary review in a Parliamentary vote last week.
Chairman of Winterbourne Parish Council Cllr Tim Bowles, who is also one of Winterbourne’s Conservative district councillors, has called on Steve Webb to apologise, saying:
“I was pleased that the Boundary Commission rejected Steve Webb’s selfish demand to split Winterbourne parish in two, but am now dismayed that he has reacted by voting against the entire boundary review process.
Steve Webb should now apologise on behalf of local LibDems for putting self-interest before the community interests of both Almondsbury and Winterbourne parishes, which would have been carved up had the LibDems’ damaging plan prevailed.”
Fellow Winterbourne district councillor John Godwin added:
“It’s incredibly disappointing that Steve Webb and his fellow LibDem MPs have u-turned on the principle of equal votes and cutting the cost of politics by reducing the number of MPs before 2015.”
Long-serving Almondsbury district councillor and former parish council chairman Sheila Cook added:
“Reforming constituency boundaries was clearly linked with the referendum on the Alternative Vote, which South Gloucestershire Council has confirmed cost £156,794 to stage.
Steve Webb’s almighty childish strop begs the question - are there any promises to local people he won’t break?”