We have decided to review the set-up of the most local form of government in this area. This is called a Community Governance Review (CGR). It is good practice to carry one out every 10 to 15 years.
The district currently has 25 parish councils, one town council and one parish meeting. There is also an area in the central part of the city that currently has no parish.
The review considers whether community governance arrangements across the district are suitable. It takes account of areas of new or proposed housing developments, to ensure these remain fit for purpose for the future.
The review also considers:
- whether to parish unparished areas, including whether to create new parish council(s) or make changes to existing parish arrangements
- any other community governance related proposals that may arise during the review
You can view a map of the area the CGR covers.
We have encouraged all interested parties to engage in this important project and have already carried out two consultations. The first received over 1,000 responses from the public, local organisations, parish councils and other interested parties.
You can view the responses we received.
The second stage of consultation closed on 30 November. We are currently reviewing the responses and will be reporting the outcome in line with the CGR timetable. This includes a report to Governance Committee prior to Full Council, which will make the final decisions resulting from the review. We will also publish the results of the second consultation.
Draft recommendations
We have prepared draft recommendations, which have significant changes in some areas, but only minor or no changes in other areas. We consulted on these proposed changes and the consultation closed on 30 November 2021.
You can still view the proposed changes, which we have broken down by area, or view a map of the proposed changes.
Completed steps
- 9 December 2020: Full Council approved Terms of Reference for the Community Governance Review
- Mid-January to end-March 2021: Formal initial Community Governance Review consultation
- June to July 2021: Connectivity and Local Democracy Working Group considered responses and preparation of draft recommendations
- 21 July 2021: Full Council approved an updated timetable and modified Terms of Reference for the Community Governance Review (you can view the papers from Full Council on 21 July 2021)
- 8 September 2021: Governance Committee considered draft recommendations and recommended them to Full Council for approval (with slight amendment)
- 22 September 2021: Full Council approve draft recommendations
- 30 November 2021: second stage of consultation closed
Next steps
- Winter 2021/22: Connectivity and Local Democracy Working Group and Governance Committee draft final recommendations
- 23 February 2022: Full Council consider final recommendations
- By Spring 2022: Approval of community governance orders and consequential matters in place ready for local and parish elections in 2023 (we will allow further time if we need to consult/make recommendations to the Local Government Boundary Commission for England)
- May 2023: Parish council elections held under any new arrangements
