Unchanged Borough Boundaries

[Reg Adams]

With a bit more hype about elections just lately (European Parliament ElectionDay being Thursday 4 June), I've been asked a few times about boundary changes. So to allay any fears and to try to sort out any lingering confusion, I'm posting this as a blog:

There is no truth whatsoever in the story that any road in this neighbourhood is about to be transferred from Bromley Borough to Lewisham Borough. The Borough boundaries remain the same as they have been ever since 1965. Nobody is planning to change them in any way at all.

Everyone who lives around here (in ClockHouse Ward, Penge & Cator Ward or Crystal Palace Ward) will still pay their Council Tax to Bromley Borough Council. Our dustbins, household & recycling waste will continue to be collected by contractors on behalf of Bromley Council. You will still be entitled to use Churchfields or Waldo Road waste-tips & recycling-centres free-of-charge, if you are a Bromley Borough resident. Balgowan School and all the other 90 primary and secondary schools in the Borough will still be supervised by Bromley as the Local Education Authority. Traffic schemes and parking tickets, etc. in this area will still be administered by Bromley Council. Old people's day-centres (such as Melvin Hall and Bertha James) will still be run on behalf of Bromley Council. Libraries in Beckenham Road and Maple Road will still be run by Bromley Council and it will still be Bromley Council collecting the fines on overdue library books. In summary, absolutely nothing has changed regarding the provision of Council services for people living in ClockHouse Ward, Penge & Cator Ward or Crystal Palace Ward.

BUT, for elections of representatives to the Houses of Parliament (i.e. MPs), the Constituency Boundaries have changed in this area. And in several other geographical areas too. These changes were determined by the National Parliamentary Boundaries Commission, which is an independent body. The latest set of changes were determined in 2001/02 and will come into effect for the first time at the next General Election (which must be held some time before next Summer).

The changes to Parliamentary boundaries are made from time to time to try to ensure that each Parliamentary constituency has roughly equal numbers of voters. Over the past 25 years, the population of Bromley Borough has been rising faster than the population of Lewisham Borough. Up until the 2005 General Election, the boundaries of Lewisham Borough coincided with the boundaries of three Parliamentary Constituencies (Lewisham Deptford, Lewisham West and Lewisham East) and the boundaries of Bromley Borough coincided with the boundaries of three Parliamentary Constituencies (Bromley Beckenham, Bromley Town & Chislehurst and Bromley Orpington).

In order to ensure that the six constituencies spread over the entire territory of Lewisham Borough and Bromley Borough have about 70,000-80,000 people in each, the Parliamentary boundaries were redrawn in 2001/02, with Beckenham Constituency being shifted a bit eastwards. At the same time, a new Constituency was created named Lewisham West & Penge, which covers the same areas as seven Council Wards - three Bromley Wards (Crystal Palace, Penge & Cator and ClockHouse) plus four Lewisham Wards (Forest Hill, Sydenham, PerryVale and Bellingham).

As a resident of ClockHouse Ward Penge & Cator Ward or Crystal Palace Ward, you will be voting at the General Election for the MP who will represent Lewisham West & Penge Constituency. The main candidates will be:
Alex Feakes (Liberal Democrat)
Jim Dowd (Labour)
Chris Phillips (Conservative)

I hope this explains it all. Do rest assured that the boundary changes affect Parliamentary Constituencies and representation by MPs only. There are no changes to Borough boundaries or even Ward boundaries within Bromley Borough. As for people living in CopersCope Ward, West Wickham Ward, Shortlands Ward, Kelsey & Eden Park Ward, you will be in the repositioned Beckenham Parliamentary Constituency.

[Jeff Jeffery]

That is a relief. I was actually dreading becoming a resident of Lewisham Borough and watching the state of the roads deteriorate.

Thanks for the update, Reg.