Have your say on the number of parish councillors in Hazlemere

Overview

We want to hear your view on a proposal to increase the number of parish councillors in Hazlemere.

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

Hazlemere Parish Council have proposed an increase in the number of parish councillors from 12 to 16.

The parish council’s reason for requesting the proposed change is because of an increase in workload due to the increasing population and new housing developments in the area.

There are currently 2 wards in the parish; North and South. Each of the wards have 6 councillors. In its proposal, Hazlemere Parish Council did not state how the additional councillors would be split across the two wards. If the council size increased by 4 councillors one option is for 2 additional councillors to represent each ward.

Using the 2028 electorate forecast of 7619, the National Association of Local Councils recommendations would provide a suggested council size of between 14 and 15 councillors. Aston Business School recommendations would suggest a council size of between 9 to 16 councillors.

Currently there are 12 councillors out of a total of 12.

No changes to the parish boundary are being requested.

Standards and General Purposes Committee considered the request at its meeting on 4 April 2024 and agreed for a CGR to be undertaken. View the meeting report.

Related documents

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

• Map of the Hazlemere Parish Council boundary (PDF 3.01MB)
• Community Governance Review of Parishes Terms of Reference (PDF 0.23MB)

How to have your say

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

• complete the online survey using the link at the end of the page
• complete, and return, a printed version of the survey (PDF 0.21MB)
• email us at elections@buckinghamshire.gov.uk
• write to us at Hazlemere CGR consultation, Electoral Services, The Gateway, Gatehouse Road, Aylesbury, Bucks, HP19 8LB

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 Sunday 16 June 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.