Have your say on a new political map for Surrey County Council

A new pattern of electoral divisions is being developed for Surrey County Council. The Local Government Boundary Commission (“Commission”) has decided that the number of councillors in Surrey should remain 81 and now wants to hear what residents and organisations think about their local area.

The Commission is the independent body that draws these boundaries. It is reviewing Surrey to make sure councillors represent about the same number of electors, and that division arrangements help the council work effectively. It wants to be sure that its proposals reflect community ties and identities.

The Commission is interested in views on which communities should be part of the same division. What facilities do people share, such as parks, leisure centres or schools and shopping areas? What issues do neighbouring communities face that they have in common, such as high numbers of visitors or heavy traffic? Have there been new housing or commercial developments that have changed the focus of communities? And are there roads, rivers, railways or other features that people believe form strong boundaries between neighbourhoods?

The Commission will use local views to help it draw up proposals for new division boundaries. There will be a further round of consultation once the Commission has drawn up those proposals.

This electoral review will make recommendations for the electoral arrangements of the county council only. The Commission will seek to use the district ward boundaries where possible as the building blocks for the new county council divisions. 

A 10-week consultation inviting proposals will run until 8 May 2023.

Visit the Commission’s consultation website to learn more and express your view.

Buckland Parish Council considered this consultation when it met on Monday 13th March 2023 and the draft minutes of that meeting include the following:

“Boundary Commission Review of Surrey County Council Divisions

• Council noted:
  • the Local Government Boundary Commission for England (LGBCE) had launched a consultation, with a May 8^th closing date, to invite suggestions for new divisional boundaries for Surrey County Council;
  • Mole Valley District will be represented by 6 county councillors; and
  • as MVDC has 13 wards, any divisional pattern will require one or more wards to be split between different divisions.
• Council resolved to submit a response, drawing upon the response submitted to the recent LGBCE review of MVDC wards, to ask for;
  • the 3Bs of Buckland, Betchworth and Brockham to be allocated to the same division;
  • for the 3Bs to be allocated to a division wholly focused on rural parishes;
  • consideration being given to keeping the newly formed ward of 4B’s and H (formerly the 3Bs and Boxhill and Headley wards) intact, consistent with the wish for potential synergies between the 5 communities to be optimised.”