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07
Jun
Councillors want 390-home development redesignated to Ripon
Proposed realignment of boundaries affecting Ripon parish wards and North Yorkshire Council divisions came under the spotlight at Monday's full city council meeting.
The Local Government Boundary Commission for England has published draft recommendations for new council divisions in North Yorkshire. They can be viewed here.
The commission has proposed increasing the number of divisions in Ripon from two to three. They would be called Ripon Cathedral and Spa, Ripon South and Ripon Canal and Ure.
The commission is also considering changes to parish wards.
The changes are currently out for consultation and Ripon City Council is seeking some significant amendments.
These include a request for the 390-home West Lane housing development to be redesignated from the parish of Littlethorpe to Ripon, which would mean residents would pay the city council's precept.
The response to the commission's proposals was drawn up by Councillor Peter Horton, who said:
The West Lane site, now known as Fountains Walk, has no direct road link to Littlethorpe village and no affinity with it.
All services, schools, doctors and shops are situated within the city. The overall effects upon the city are significant and it is therefore appropriate that the parish precept from this estate be paid to Ripon City Council and not a remote rural parish.
Cllr Horton added:
Upon completition of the site the electorate is estimated at around 1,000 people and the boundary commission should consider the long-term effects and act accordingly.
To compensate for this increase in the electorate of the Moorside ward, minor adjustments to the boundaries of the adjacent wards would achieve close to the desired number of electors per ward.
A new Canal and Ure Bank division is proposed
North Yorkshire Council divisions
The city council has particular concerns about proposals to create a new Canal and Ure Bank division.
Cllr Horton said:
The Boundary Commission proposals include a large section of the east of the city within the division and this is not advisable.
The area is very urban, with masses of terraced housing and the proposed boundaries go right into the centre of the city and even split several roads down the middle.
This urban area should remain within the appropriate Ripon City division as it has no affinity whatsoever with the surrounding rural villages.
To assist in reducing the number of Ripon electors to the optimum, we recommend that the north-west extremity of Ripon Cathedral and Spa division be transferred into the Masham and Fountains division.
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