Citation and commencement

1.—(1) This Order may be cited as the District of West Berkshire (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—

“district” means the district of West Berkshire;

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

any reference to a map is a reference to the map marked “Map referred to in the District of West Berkshire (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 West Berkshire District Council.

Wards of the district of West Berkshire

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

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

(3) The wards shall comprise the areas described in column (2) of that Schedule by reference to parishes or, where an area is not 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 the ward in column (3) of that 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.

Wards of the parish of Cold Ash

4.  The parish of Cold Ash shall be divided into two parish wards which shall bear the names set out in column (1) of Schedule 2; each parish ward shall comprise the area of the district ward specified in respect of the parish ward in column (2) of that Schedule; and the number of councillors to be elected for each parish ward shall be the number specified in respect of the parish ward in column (3) of that Schedule.

Wards of the parish of Newbury

5.—(1) The existing wards of the parish of Newbury shall be abolished.

(2) The parish shall be divided into seven parish wards which shall bear the names set out in column (1) of Schedule 3; each parish ward shall comprise the area of the district ward specified in respect of the parish ward in column (2) of that Schedule; and the number of councillors to be elected for each parish ward shall be the number specified in respect of the parish ward in column (3) of that Schedule.

Wards of the parish of Thatcham

6.—(1) The existing wards of the parish of Thatcham shall be abolished.

(2) The parish shall be divided into four parish wards which shall bear the names Thatcham Central, Thatcham North, Thatcham West, and Thatcham South and Crookham; each parish ward shall comprise the area of the district ward bearing the same name.

(3) The number of councillors to be elected for each of the Thatcham Central, Thatcham North and Thatcham West parish wards shall be four and for the Thatcham South and Crookham parish ward shall be six.

Wards of the parish of Tilehurst

7.—(1) The existing wards of the parish of Tilehurst shall be abolished.

(2) The parish shall be divided into four parish wards which shall bear the names set out in column (1) of Schedule 4; each parish ward shall comprise the area of the district ward specified in respect of the parish ward in column (2) of that Schedule; and the number of councillors to be elected for each parish ward shall be the number specified in respect of the parish ward in column (3) of that Schedule.

Maps

8.  The West Berkshire District Council shall make a print of the map marked “Map referred to in the District of West Berkshire (Electoral Changes) Order 2002” available for inspection at its offices by any member of the public at any reasonable time.

Electoral registers

9.  The Electoral Registration Officer(7) for the district 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

10.  Articles 9(1), 9(2), 9(3) and 9(7) of the Berkshire (Structural Change) Order 1996(8) are revoked.

article 3

SCHEDULE 1NAMES AND AREAS OF WARDS AND NUMBERS OF COUNCILLORS

article 4

SCHEDULE 2WARDS OF THE PARISH OF COLD ASHNAMES AND AREAS OF WARDS AND NUMBERS OF COUNCILLORS

article 5

SCHEDULE 3WARDS OF THE PARISH OF NEWBURYNAMES AND AREAS OF WARDS AND NUMBERS OF COUNCILLORS

article 7

SCHEDULE 4WARDS OF THE PARISH OF TILEHURSTNAMES AND AREAS OF WARDS AND NUMBERS OF COUNCILLORS

Explanatory Note

(This note is not part of the Order)

This Order gives effect, with one modification, to recommendations by the Boundary Committee for England, a committee of the Electoral Commission, for electoral changes in the district of West Berkshire. The changes have effect in relation to local government elections to be held on and after 1st May 2003.

The modification relates to the amendment of the boundary between the Birch Copse and Purley on Thames district wards.

Article 3 abolishes the existing wards of the district and provides for the creation of 30 new wards. That article and Schedule 1 also make provision for the names and areas of, and numbers of councillors for, the new wards.

Articles 4 to 7 make electoral changes in the parishes of Cold Ash, Newbury, Thatcham and Tilehurst.

Article 9 obliges the Electoral Registration Officer to make any necessary amendments to the electoral register to reflect the new electoral arrangements.

Article 10 revokes articles 9(1), 9(2), 9(3) and 9(7) of the Berkshire (Structural Change) Order 1996 (S.I. 1996/1879).

The areas of the new district 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 West Berkshire District Council and at the principal office of the Electoral Commission, Trevelyan House, Great Peter Street, London SW1P 2HW.