Last chance to give your views on proposed boundary changes as Grantham and Bourne set to make up new constituency
The public is being given a final chance to have its say on changes to constituencies proposed by the Boundary Commission which could see Bourne being included in a Grantham constituency and Stamford included in a new constituency with Rutland.
The proposed Grantham constituency would include Bourne to the southern boundary while the likes of Great Gonerby, Barrowby, Barkston and Long Bennington, currently in the Sleaford and North Hykeham constituency, would come under Grantham.
The Boundary Commission says most of the criticism of its proposed Grantham constituency has come from the Sleaford area, including the Heckington Rural and Osbournby wards where it has been argued that the natural community and transport connections are with Sleaford.
The commission says it does not believe these counter proposals are an improvement on its original proposal.
There have also been objections to the name of the new constituency from the Bourne area with some people asking for it to be called Grantham and Bourne. This has been supported by the Conservative Party, the Green Party and Grantham MP Gareth Davies, but the Boundary Commission does not support this.
The commission proposes that Stamford should become part of a Rutland and Stamford constituency. The shake-up is part of a scheme to even out the number of voters for each MP - each constituency should have between 69,700 and 77,000 electors.
Grantham and Stamford MP Gareth Davies has said he would prefer there to be no change to his constituency but understands changes are necessary.
Mr Davies said: "I do understand the need across our region and the country for more equal representation, ultimately to ensure greater fairness in our electoral system.
"I therefore reluctantly accept that the current 81,502 electorate size for Grantham and Stamford constituency needs to be reduced to meet with national guidelines."
After this final consultation has closed on December 5, the Commission will analyse the responses and form its final recommendations. These will be submitted to Parliament by July 1, 2023.
The public are invited to view and comment on the new map at bcereviews.org.uk.
Tim Bowden, Secretary to the Boundary Commission for England, said: “Today we are announcing the publication of our revised proposals. Last year we published our initial proposals for new constituency boundaries - our first go at what the map should look like.
"We are delighted with the huge number of comments from members of the public on our initial proposals, many which included valuable evidence about local communities.
"Today’s publication is the culmination of months of analysis and we have revised nearly half of our initial proposals based on what people have told us. We now believe we are close to the best map of constituencies that can be achieved under the rules we are working to.
"However, we still want people to tell us what they think of this latest map before we submit our final recommendations to Parliament next year. This is our final consultation and I encourage you to participate in the 2023 Boundary Review.”