Have your say on a proposal to change the Gerrards Cross Town Council wards

Closed 23 Oct 2024

Opened 11 Sep 2024

Feedback updated 5 Feb 2025

We asked

We asked for your views on the proposal to merge the Gerrards Cross East ward with the Gerrards Cross South ward.

The consultation ran from 11 September to 23 October 2024.

You said

We received 93 responses to the consultation:

  • 41 respondents agreed with the proposal to merge the wards; 50 respondents disagreed; 2 didn't know

The responses against the proposal raised concerns that it would negatively affect electoral equality.

We did

On 14 November 2024, the Standards and General Purposes Committee felt that merging the wards would improve electoral equality and create a distinct boundary with the North ward. 

The Committee agreed to merge Gerrards Cross East ward and Gerrards Cross South ward. 

The merged ward is to be called Gerrards Cross South ward to better reflect community identity, electoral equality and promote efficient and effective local government. 

A Reorganisation Order was also agreed by the Committee which means the changes will take effect on 1 March 2025, in time for the next scheduled local elections on 1 May 2025.

Overview

Buckinghamshire Council logo

We want to hear your view on a proposal to merge:

  • the Gerrards Cross East ward with the Gerrards Cross South ward

As Buckinghamshire Council, we are responsible for reviewing local governance arrangements to ensure they meet local needs. Local governance arrangements are the processes in place for decision making that affects you and your local area. This includes how you and your local community are represented, such as by your local councillors at council meetings. It also includes who you can contact if you have a query about services in your area.

This review is called a community governance review and investigates whether:

  • decisions made in your local area reflect the identity and interests of the local community
  • arrangements are as convenient and effective as possible

The proposal

Gerrards Cross Town Council have requested that:

  1. the Gerrards Cross East ward is merged with the Gerrards Cross South ward
    • the ward would be named Gerrards Cross South and East ward

Gerrards Cross Town Council propose that the changes would:

  • better reflect the community identity
  • ensure electoral equality
  • promote efficient and effective local government

There would be no change in the overall number of councillors. 

This proposal would not result in any changes to the new Buckinghamshire Council wards from May 2025.

Standards and General Purposes Committee considered the request at its meeting on 10 September 2024 and agreed for a CGR to be undertaken. View the meeting report at buckinghamshire.moderngov.co.uk.

Related documents

Before you respond to this activity, please have a look at the following documents:

How to have your say

You can tell us your views in one of the following ways:

If you have any questions about this activity, please email us at elections@buckinghamshire.gov.uk or phone us on 01296 798141.

Please tell us your views by 11:59pm on Wednesday 23 October 2024.

What happens next

Your feedback will be considered by councillors, along with other relevant information. We will then consider the future community governance arrangements for the area.

Standards and General Purposes Committee will consider and approve the draft recommendations and decide on the next stages of the Community Governance Review in Summer 2024. This is when the final recommendations are expected to be published and the Community Governance Review ends.

If the proposal is taken forward, the Reorganisation Order would be made in Autumn 2024. The Order would set out the timetable for change.

Privacy

We will use the information you provide here only for this activity. We will store the information securely in line with data protection laws and will not share or publish any personal details. For more information about data and privacy, please see our Privacy Policy.

If you have questions about data and privacy, please email us on dataprotection@buckinghamshire.gov.uk or write to our Data Protection Officer at Buckinghamshire Council, The Gateway, Gatehouse Road, Aylesbury, HP19 8FF.

Areas

  • Denham, Gerrards Cross, Chalfonts

Interests

  • Communities
  • Finances
  • Corporate & legal
  • Democracy