New political map of Wigan Council wards being drawn up

The Local Government Boundary Commission for England (LGBCE) is looking at the areas councillors in Wigan and Leigh represent and has launched a consultation to hear the public’s views.

Currently there are 75 elected members in the chamber, three for each of the borough’s 25 wards.

It also wants to make sure the wards help the council work effectively and that the boundaries reflect local ties and identities and so has launched a 10-week public consultation.

Commission chair Prof Colin Mellors said: “We want people in Wigan to help us. We are starting to draw up new wards for Wigan. We want our proposals for new electoral arrangements to reflect communities. We also want them to be easy to understand and convenient for local people.

“Residents and local organisations can help us understand community ties and identities at this early stage of the process. It’s easy to get involved. Go to our website. Or you can e-mail or write to us.”

The LGBCE will be hoping its local review is more straightforward than recent Westminster plans, which involved Ashton ward being moved into a Leigh South and Atherton constituency, immediately sparked a negative cross-party backlash in both Makerfield and Leigh.

The commission wants to know which parts of the borough should be part of the same ward and wants to know where there are shared facilities such as parks, leisure centres or schools and shopping areas, which neighbouring communities have similar issues such as high numbers of visitors or heavy traffic, or which communities have had their focus changed by new housing or commercial developments.

The commission will use the feedback it receives to draw up proposals for new boundaries, after which there will be more consultation.

Residents have until August 23 to give their views and can have their say at https://consultation.lgbce.org.uk/node/28212

Feedback can also be emailed to [email protected] or posted to The Review Officer (Wigan), LGBCE, PO Box 133, Blyth, NE24 9FE.

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