Citation, commencement and interpretation

1.—(1) This Order may be cited as the District of Bath and North East Somerset (Electoral Changes) Order 1998.

(2) This Order shall come into force for all purposes on 6th May 1999, except that for the purpose of all proceedings preliminary or relating to an election to be held on or after that date this Order shall come into force on the day after that on which it is made.

(3) In this Order–

“the district” means the district of Bath and North East Somerset;

“existing”, in relation to a ward, means the ward as it exists on the date this Order is made; and

any reference to the map is a reference to the map prepared by the Department of the Environment, Transport and the Regions, marked “Map of the District of Bath and North East Somerset (Electoral Changes) Order 1998”, and deposited in accordance with regulation 27 of the Local Government Changes for England Regulations 1994(3).

Wards of Bath and North East Somerset

2.—(1) The existing wards of the district(4) shall be abolished.

(2) The district shall be divided into 37 wards which shall bear the names set out in column (1) of tthe Schedule.

(3) The wards shall comprise the areas described in column (2) of the Schedule by reference to the parishes or, where no area is so described, the area designated on the map by reference to the name of the ward and demarcated by red lines; and the number of councillors to be elected for each ward shall be the number specified in respect of that ward in column (3) of the Schedule.

(4) Where a boundary is shown on the map as running along a road, railway line, footway, waterway or other similar geographical feature, it shall be treated as running along the centre line of the feature.

Wards of the town of Keynsham

3.—(1) The existing wards of the town of Keynsham shall be abolished.

(2) The town shall be divided into three wards which shall bear the names Keynsham North, Keynsham East and Keynsham South and each parish ward shall comprise the area of the ward of the district bearing the same name.

(3) The number of councillors for each parish ward shall be five.

Wards of the town of Norton-Radstock

4.—(1) The existing wards of the town of Norton-Radstock shall be abolished.

(2) The town shall be divided into four wards which shall bear the names Radstock, Westfield, Midsomer Norton North and Midsomer Norton Redfield and each ward shall comprise the area of the ward of the district bearing the same name.

(3) The number of councillors to be elected for each of the Radstock and Westfield parish wards shall be four and for both of the Midsomer Norton North and Midsomer Norton Redfield parish wards shall be three.

Number of parish councillors

5.  The number of councillors to be elected for Englishcombe parish shall be seven.

Revocations

6.—(1) In the Avon (Structural Change) Order 1995 article 9(2) and Schedule 1 and so much of article 9(1) as relates to the council of the district are hereby revoked.

(2) The City of Bath (Electoral Arrangements) Order 1975(5) and the District of Wansbeck (Electoral Arrangements) Order 1975(6) are hereby revoked.

Article 2

SCHEDULEDISTRICT OF BATH AND NORTH EAST SOMERSET: NAMES AND AREAS OF WARDS AND NUMBERS OF COUNCILLORS

Explanatory Note

(This note is not part of the Order)

This Order gives effect to recommendations by the Local Government Commission for England for electoral changes in the district of Bath and North East Somerset.

Article 2 abolishes all of the existing wards of the district and provides for the creation of 37 new wards. That article and the Schedule also make provision for the names and areas of, and numbers of councillors for, the new wards.

Articles 3 and 4 make electoral changes in the towns of Keynsham and Norton-Radstock, respectively.

Article 5 specifies the number of councillors to be elected for the parish of Englishcombe.

Article 6 revokes the City of Bath (Electoral Arrangements) Order 1975, the District of Wansbeck (Electoral Arrangements) Order 1975 and part of the Avon (Structural Change) Order 1995.

The areas of the new district and parish wards are demarcated on the map described in article 1(3). Prints of the map may be inspected at all reasonable times at the offices of Bath and North East Somerset District Council and at the offices of the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions which are located at 2nd Floor, Ashdown House, 123 Victoria Street, London SW1E 6DE.