Citation, commencement and interpretation

1.-(1) This Order may be cited as the District of The Wrekin (Parishes and Electoral Changes) Order 1997.

(2) This Order shall come into force-

(a)for the purposes of article 2 on 1st April 1997; and

(b)for the purposes of articles 3, 4 and 11 on 1st May 1997;

except that for the purpose of all proceedings preliminary or relating to an election to be held on or after 1st May 1997 articles 2, 3 and 4 shall come into force on the day after the day on which this Order is made.

(3) For the purposes of articles 5 to 10 inclusive this Order shall come into force on 4th May 2000, except that for the purpose of all proceedings preliminary or relating to an election of a parish councillor of the parishes of Stirchley and Brookside, Lilleshall and Donnington, Wellington, Newport, Hadley, and Oakengates to be held on or after that date those articles shall come into force on 10th October 1999.

(4) In this Order-

"the district" means the district of The Wrekin;

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

any reference to the map is a reference to the map prepared by the Department of the Environment, marked "Map of the District of The Wrekin (Parishes and Electoral Changes) Order 1997", and deposited in accordance with regulation 27 of the Local Government Changes for England Regulations 1994(3); and

any reference to a numbered sheet is a reference to the sheet of the map which bears that number.

Transfers between parishes in The Wrekin

2.-(1) The area marked A on sheet 4 shall be transferred from the parish of Ketley to the parish of Wellington and the Arleston ward of that parish.

(2) The area marked B on sheet 5 shall be transferred from the parish of Hollinswood and Randlay to the parish of Stirchley and Brookside.

(3) The areas marked C1 and C2 on sheet 5 shall be transferred from the parish of Lilleshall and Donnington to the parish of St George's and Priorslee.

(4) The areas marked D1 to D5 on sheets 4 and 5 shall be transferred from the parish of Oakengates to the parish of Wrockwardine Wood and Trench.

(5) The area marked E on sheet 5 shall be transferred from the parish of St George's and Priorslee to the parish of Wrockwardine Wood and Trench.

(6) The area marked F on sheet 5 shall be transferred from the parish of Lilleshall and Donnington to the parish of Wrockwardine Wood and Trench.

(7) The area marked G on sheet 6 shall be transferred from the parish of The Gorge to the parish of Madeley and the Woodside ward of that parish.

Wards of The Wrekin

3.-(1) The existing wards of the district(4) shall be abolished.

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

(3) The wards shall comprise the areas described in column 2 of that Schedule by reference to parishes, parish wards or parishes and parish wards, or where no area is 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 column 3 of that Schedule.

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

Elections of the council of The Wrekin

4.-(1) Elections of all councillors for wards of the district shall be held simultaneously on the ordinary day of election of councillors in 1997, 2000 and 2003 and every fourth year after 2003(5).

(2) The term of office of any councillor so elected shall be, in the case of councillors elected in 1997 and 2000, three years and, in any other case, four years.

(3) On the fourth day after any such elections-

(a)the persons who were councillors immediately before those elections shall retire; and

(b)the newly elected councillors shall come into office.

(4) Article 7 of the Shropshire (District of The Wrekin) (Structural Change) Order 1996(6) shall be revoked.

Stirchley and Brookside parish

5.-(1) The parish of Stirchley and Brookside shall be divided into two parish wards which shall bear the names Brookside and Stirchley, and each parish ward shall comprise the area of the ward of the district bearing the same name.

(2) The number of councillors to be elected for the Brookside and Stirchley parish wards shall be seven and six respectively.

Lilleshall and Donnington parish

6.-(1) The existing wards of the parish of Lilleshall and Donnington shall be abolished.

(2) The parish shall be divided into three parish wards which shall bear the names Donnington, Donnington Wood and Muxton, and Lilleshall.

(3) The parish wards of Donnington, and Donnington Wood and Muxton, shall each comprise the area of the ward of the district bearing the same name; and the parish ward of Lilleshall shall comprise the area of such part of the Church Aston and Lilleshall ward of the district as is within the parish of Lilleshall and Donnington.

(4) The number of councillors to be elected for each ward shall be four in the case of Lilleshall, and seven in each of the other wards (making a total of 18 councillors).

Wellington parish

7.-(1) The existing wards of the parish of Wellington shall be abolished.

(2) The parish of Wellington shall be divided into seven parish wards which shall bear the names Arleston, College, Dothill, Ercall, Haygate, Park and Shawbirch, and each parish ward shall comprise the area of the ward of the district bearing the same name.

(3) The number of councillors to be elected for each ward shall be three.

Newport parish

8.-(1) The existing wards of the parish of Newport shall be abolished.

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

(3) The number of councillors to be elected for each ward shall be three.

Hadley parish

9.-(1) The existing wards of the parish of Hadley shall be abolished.

(2) The parish of Hadley shall be divided into two parish wards which shall bear the names Leegomery and Hadley.

(3) The parish ward of Leegomery shall comprise the area of the ward of the district bearing the same name; and the parish ward of Hadley shall comprise the area of such part of the Hadley ward of the district as is within the parish of Hadley.

(4) The number of councillors to be elected for each ward shall be eight.

Oakengates parish

10.-(1) The parish of Oakengates shall be divided into two parish wards which shall bear the names Ketley Bank and Wombridge, and each parish ward shall comprise the area of the ward of the district bearing the same name.

(2) The number of councillors to be elected for the wards of Ketley Bank and Wombridge shall be four and nine respectively.

Parish council elections

11.-(1) The ordinary elections of parish councillors for the parishes in the district in 1999 shall not take place; and any parish councillor holding office immediately before 10th May 1999 who would, but for this paragraph, have retired on that date shall, unless he resigns his office or it otherwise becomes vacant, continue to hold office until 8th May 2000.

(2) Elections of all parish councillors shall be held simultaneously on the ordinary day of election of councillors in 2000 and 2003 and every fourth year after 2003.

(3) The term of office of any parish councillor so elected shall be, in the case of the parish councillors elected in 2000, three years and, in any other case, four years.

(4) On the fourth day after any such election-

(a)the persons who were parish councillors immediately before those elections shall retire; and

(b)the newly elected parish councillors shall come into office.

(5) Rule 8 of the Local Elections (Parishes and Communities) Rules 1986(7) (filling of casual vacancies) shall have effect, in the case of a casual vacancy occurring before 8th May 2000 in the office of a parish councillor for a parish in the district, as if the references in paragraphs (1) and (4) of that rule to the day on which that councillor would regularly have retired were a reference to that date.

Article 3

SCHEDULEWARDS OF THE DISTRICT OF THE WREKIN: NAMES, AREAS AND NUMBERS 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 boundary and electoral changes in the district of The Wrekin ("the district").

Article 2 makes changes to the boundaries of a number of parishes in the district.

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

Prints of the map on which the boundary changes, and district warding arrangements, are shown may be inspected at all reasonable times at the offices of The Wrekin District Council and at the offices of the Secretary of State for the Environment which, until May 1997, are located at 2 Marsham Street, London SW1P 3EB and, thereafter, at 2nd Floor, Ashdown House, 123 Victoria Street, London SW1E 6DE.

Article 4 makes provision for a whole council election in the district of The Wrekin in 1997, 2000 and 2003 and every fourth year after 2003.

Articles 5 to 10 make electoral changes in respect of the parishes of Stirchley and Brookside, Lilleshall and Donnington, Wellington, Newport, Hadley, and Oakengates in the district.

Article 11 provides for elections of parish councils in the district in 2000, 2003 and every fourth year thereafter.