City Council Rejects Recommendations from Local Government Boundary Commission for Scotland

At the City Council meeting last night I was pleased to support the motion brought forward by the leader of the Administration, Councillor Ken Guild. His motion instructed the Chief Executive to write to the Minister for Local Government in the Scottish Parliament and urge him to reject proposals to increase Councillor numbers and change ward boundaries in Dundee. These discredited proposals are contained in the report to Scottish Government Ministers from the Local Government Boundary Commission for Scotland.

Here is the statement of support I made to the Council:

"Lord Provost since we last discussed this issue, as we all know, the Local Government Boundary Commission for Scotland has reported to Scottish Government Ministers. Very disappointingly they appear to have completely disregarded the most recent communication from the City Council about retaining the existing number of Councillors and Ward Boundaries in the City.

In fact, it would appear by the date recorded in the Boundary Commissioners' Report that this was in advance of the meeting of the City Council’s Policy and Resources Committee when we considered and responded almost immediately to their enquiry to the Council. A significant number of my constituents are aggrieved that their representations, like those of the Council at our last meeting, have been brushed aside.

Clearly however, the decision is now with Ministers in the Scottish Government and by law they are able to adopt, reject or amend the recommendations from the Local Government Boundary Commission as well as instruct the Commission to undertake a local inquiry.

Accordingly, I am supportive of the Motion to communicate to the Minister for Local Government in the Scottish Government in the strongest possible terms that he should reject the recommendations from the Local Government Boundary Commission for Scotland that apply to our City  and retain the status quo in relation to the number of Elected Members on the Council and the current Ward Boundaries. The huge number of objections from residents in the Ferry Ward especially in the West Ferry sector demonstrate how important community identity in Broughty Ferry is and should be respected."

The motion was supported unanimously. It is good that the Council is now speaking with one voice on this issue.


My constituents in West Ferry who are determined they want to stay in Ward 8 The Ferry should not however assume that the Council's letter will do the trick on its own. I recommend that they also communicate their point of view to the Minister for Local Government and Housing in the Scottish Government, Kevin Stewart MSP, and copy in Shona Robison the MSP for Dundee City East and also a member of the Cabinet. 

Any comments on the report or the recommendations must be submitted to the Kevin Stewart by 7th July, 2016. 

Kevin Stewart MSP
Minister for Local Government and Community Empowerment
St Andrew's House
Regent Road
Edinburgh
EH1 3DG
Tel: 0300 244 4000
Email: scottish.ministers@gov.scot

Shona Robison MSP
Constituency Office
8 Old Glamis Road
Dundee 
DD3 8HP
Phone: 01382 903210
Email: dundee@shona.robison.scot

Widespread Disapproval by Ferry Residents to Proposals from Local Government Boundary Commission

Last week it was reported that close to 1000 residents from The Ferry had submitted written objections to the Boundary Commission for Local Government in Scotland (LGBCS). 

Their representations have focused on opposing the proposal for removing that part of West Ferry that lies to the west of Victoria Road and Claypotts Road from Ward 8 The Ferry for elections to the Dundee City Council.

By any measure. this level of public response is a magnificent display of community solidarity, an overwhelming demonstration of disapproval with these proposals and a clear vote for West Ferry staying an integral part of The Ferry ward for city council elections.

We now await the deliberations of the Boundary Commission for Local Government in Scotland. Apparently, any changes they finally recommend to the Scottish Government would be planned to come into force for the next local Government elections in May 2017.

Link to my representation to the Local Government Boundary Commission for Scotland

My Submission to LGBCS About Proposed Boundary Changes for Ward 8 - The Ferry - in Dundee

Dear LGBCS,

I am writing to add my weight to many hundreds of my constituents who attended a public meeting on Tuesday 1st September and the regular October meeting of The Broughty Ferry Community Council as well as those that have already submitted written representations. The former meeting was the largest about a local issue in The Ferry during my eight years as a City Councillor. The latter meeting was the largest public attendance at an ordinary meeting of the Community Council for many years.

Almost without exception residents from West Ferry were hostile to your proposals. Almost without exception residents from other parts of The Ferry were supportive of retaining the entire Ferry ward and not having West Ferry pruned off or any other part of their ward subsumed into another ward. I understand that this has been reflected in the written representations you have already received.

As an opposition Councillor, I regret that I did not take the opportunity to move against what became the LGBCS proposal when the Council discussed this. At that meeting, the tabled proposal from the majority SNP group on the Council was obviously going to be voted through.

The case for retention of the current boundary for Ward 8 does not however wholly depend on the number of objectors but also the following arguments:

Parity.

Using the LGBCS figures, not unreasonable parity, would be achieved by retaining the existing ward boundary.

Community/Local Ties. 

The Ferry Ward is effectively identical with the long established community of Broughty Ferry. The electoral boundary currently adequately defines what is essentially the eastern suburb of Dundee. This arrangement will be disrupted by the proposed boundary change. This moves the western boundary eastwards so that the West Ferry part of Broughty Ferry will, to a great extent, be merged into the adjoining East End Ward. The western boundary of the historic (independent and electorally separate) Police Burgh of Broughty  Ferry is identical to the current western boundary of West Ferry/Broughty Ferry (this has been confirmed to the Community Council by Ian Flett, the City Archivist). After Broughty Ferry was subsumed into Dundee in 1913, this electoral boundary was retained and exists to this day. Not only is the existing Ward 8 boundary historically significant, but the identity of The Ferry is strongly felt not only by residents born and bred in The Ferry but also by those residents like me that have moved to the city and made their home in Broughty Ferry. The strength and prevalence of these ties are also evidenced by the volume of objections you have already received.

Local services. 

There is a complex web of local statutory and voluntary organisations that serve people in the ward; for example the Broughty Ferry Community Council and Grove Academy. Significantly, while much of the current West Ferry lies outside the current catchment area of Grove Academy, through placing requests and the increased capacity of the new Grove Academy, many children from West Ferry attend Grove Academy along with their counterparts from other neighbourhoods in The Ferry ward.

In conclusion

I think there is now overwhelming evidence of a strongly held held consensus amongst my constituents that The Ferry ward should retain its existing boundaries. It is now the responsibility of the Commission, not the electors of The Ferry ward, to decide the potential alternative changes that might be required in adjoining wards to make this aspiration a reality.

Yours sincerely

Councillor Laurie Bidwell

Submitted to the Local Government Boundary Commission for Scotland (LGBCS) 22 October 2015

West Ferry Residents Have Their Say About Proposed Local Govenmernt Boundary Changes

Photo copyright Dundee Courier

On Tuesday evening upwards of three hundred residents attended a public meeting organised by Broughty Ferry Community Council. The meeting had been called to discuss the proposals by the Local Government Boundary Commission for Scotland to exclude West Ferry from 'The Ferry' local government ward.

As part of their review of all local government boundaries in Scotland, the Boundary Commission, have proposed changes to ward boundaries in Dundee which they have issued for a ten week period of public consultation from the end of July 2015. 

At the meeting, it was confirmed that if the Commission's proposals were implemented, the City Council ward eight, 'The Ferry', would shrink in size by transferring that part of West Ferry west of Victoria Road and Claypotts Road to the East End Ward. 

Adjustments to ward boundaries are designed to help reduce differences between the number of electors in each ward area in the city. This is based on the principle that every elector's vote should have the same influence in an election.

The changes proposed for Broughty Ferry would transfer most residents living in West Ferry from The Ferry to the East End ward. This would not however lead to changes in residents' postcodes and addresses nor the boundaries for schools that their children can attend. Neither do I think that this would adversely affect house prices in West Ferry nor increase home insurance premiums.

But I do concede that the proposals, as they stand, cut across the boundaries of Broughty Ferry as a whole and that many, if not most, residents living in West Ferry  have a strongly felt sense of identity as part of Broughty Ferry. 

Find out more about the proposals at http://www.lgbc-scotland.gov.uk/reviews/5th_electoral/dundee_city/ or by visiting the exhibition of the maps and documents in Broughty Ferry Library. 

Paper copies of the proposals are available at the Library.

Comments on the Commission's proposals should be submitted by Thursday 22 October 2015: 

• in writing to: Local Government Boundary Commission for Scotland Thistle House 91 Haymarket Terrace Edinburgh EH12 5HD 
• by email to: lgbcs@scottishboundaries.gov.uk 
• online: www.consultation.lgbc-scotland.gov.uk