Have your say on plans to change Hackney ward boundaries

Changes to ward boundaries are afoot. Photograph: Hackney Citizen

New draft proposals for revising the ward boundaries in Hackney have been released by the official review body as part of a public consultation set to conclude in February.

The latest proposals for changing the administrative map of Hackney will create two new wards in the north of the borough, each with three seats on the council.

The announcement comes after a previous draft in September caused a row between Labour and the Conservatives over the accuracy of the figures the council provided to the independent review body.

In the area of the borough under contention, the Local Government Boundary Commission for England said its recommendations now include a three-member Cazenove ward next to a three-member Springfield ward.

This plan replaces the original proposal of a three-member ward for Stamford Hill East and another, Upper Clapton.

The Commission’s new plans also include a three-member ward called Hoxton East & Shoreditch next to a Hoxton East ward in the south west, replacing the initial proposal for three two member wards there, and changes to the boundaries of proposed wards for Dalston, Hackney Central and Shacklewell.

“There were some strong arguments made to us by local people that these alternative wards better reflected local community interests and identities as well as delivering electoral equality for voters,” said Dr Colin Sinclair, lead commissioner for the review. “That is why we are now putting them forward for consultation.”

“We are asking local people to log on to our website to tell us what they think about these proposals before we publish final recommendations in April,” he said.

Hackney’s ward boundaries currently date from 2002 and need to be redrawn before the next local elections in 2014.

The Commission’s announcement says it held a public consultation last summer as part of its review, the aim of which was to “ensure that each councillor represents a similar number of voters so that the value of your vote, in local elections, is the same regardless of where you live in Hackney.”

It says its recommendations have been changed based on what local people said and has re-opened public consultation “due to the significance of the proposed changes.”

Residents can ‘have their say’ until 19 February by writing to the commission or visiting their website.

In September the original plans were welcomed by Labour councillor Rick Muir, whilst Conservative councillor Simche Steinberger complained that the review body had received inaccurate figures from the council which ‘under-counted’ the number of people in certain wards.

The Commission said there were ‘discrepancies’ between the forecasts the council provided, some of which remained after the council resubmitted its data upon request. It was therefore forced to use only some of the council’s information in forming its proposals.

At the time, a Hackney Council spokesperson said: “Throughout this process Hackney Council has worked with the Local Government Boundary Commission for England and has provided data as requested.

“Due to the nature of forecasting in detail for small geographical areas it is difficult to attain a high degree of accuracy which can lead to some discrepancies in forecasting. This has been dealt with in the review and is reflected in the draft proposals which are currently open to consultation.”

Related:

Bust-up over Hackney ward boundaries

For more on the consultation go here.