Citation and commencement

1.—(1) This Order may be cited as the City of Plymouth (Electoral Changes) Order 2002.

(2) This Order shall come into force—

(a)for the purpose of proceedings preliminary or relating to any election to be held on 1st May 2003, on 15th October 2002;

(b)for all other purposes, on 1st May 2003.

Interpretation

2.  In this Order—

“city” means the city of Plymouth;

“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 marked “Map of the City of Plymouth (Electoral Changes) Order 2002”, of which prints are available for inspection at—

(a)the principal office of the Electoral Commission; and

(b)the offices of Plymouth City Council.

Wards of the City of Plymouth

3.—(1) The existing wards of the city(6) shall be abolished.

(2) The City shall be divided into twenty wards which shall bear the names set out in the Schedule.

(3) The wards shall comprise the areas 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 the ward in column (2) of the Schedule.

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

Maps

4.  Plymouth City Council shall make a print of the map marked “Map of the City of Plymouth (Electoral Changes) Order 2002” available for inspection at its offices by any member of the public at any reasonable time.

Electoral Registers

5.  The Electoral Registration Officer(7) for the city shall make such rearrangement of, or adaptation of, the register of local government electors as may be necessary for the purposes of, and in consequence of, this Order.

Revocation

6.  The City of Plymouth (Electoral Arrangements) Order 1978(8) is revoked, save for article 8.

article 3

SCHEDULENAMES OF WARDS AND NUMBER 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 city of Plymouth. The recommendations were submitted to the Secretary of State, but the functions of the Secretary of State under sections 13 to 15 and 17 of the Local Government Act 1992 so far as they relate to electoral changes were transferred with modifications to the Electoral Commission under The Local Government Commission for England (Transfer of Functions) Order 2001 (S.I. 2001/3962), with effect from 1st April 2002. That Order provides that recommendations submitted to the Secretary of State before 1st April would have effect as if they had been submitted to the Electoral Commission.

The changes have effect in relation to local government elections to be held on and after 1st May 2003.

Article 3 abolishes the existing wards of the city and provides for the creation of 20 new wards. That article and the Schedule also make provision for the names and areas of, and numbers of councillors for, the new wards.

Article 5 obliges the Electoral Registration officer to make any necessary amendments to the electoral register to reflect the new electoral arrangements.

Article 6 revokes the City of Plymouth (Electoral Arrangements) Order 1978 (S.I. 1978/1793), with the exception of article 8.

The areas of the new city wards are demarcated on the map described in article 2. Prints of the map may be inspected at all reasonable times at the offices of Plymouth City Council and at the principal office of the Electoral Commission, Trevelyan House, Great Peter Street, London SW1P 2HW.