Boundary Commission for
England
PO Box
31060
London
SW1V
2FF
Thank you
for sending me details of the proposals by the Commission for new
Parliamentary boundaries in Worcestershire.
I have
carefully considered the proposals, consulted my constituents and
listened to the opinions of the Parish Councils involved, Redditch
Borough Council and Wychavon District Council.
What local
organisations had to say.
Redditch
Borough, Cookhill and Inkberrow Parish Council’s have all objected
to the proposals by the Boundary Commission. The
Parish Councils say that they wish to be included in an enlarged
Mid Worcestershire and Redditch contend
that they favour a seat set on its boundaries.
It is worth noting that the Labour Party controls none of these
organisations.
L
understand that
Wychavon voted for the boundary proposals only because of a block
vote by the controlling Conservative group.
Labour and Liberal Democrat representatives opposed the
move.
My
experience and what my constituents are telling
me.
The vast majority of the
Redditch constituency is represented by Redditch
Borough Council. One ward from Wychavon was
tagged on in the past to make up numbers in the Parliamentary
Constituency something that I have done my best to deal with since
being elected as MP for the area in
1997.
However
even after six years there are still jarring differences between
the Inkberrow and Cookhill areas in my constituency and
Redditch. Responses to my
consultation show that those in Inkberrow really value their links
with the surrounding villages and rural setting and they do not
feel that they have anything in common with a new town like
Redditch. Many of those
in Cookhill still believe they are in Warwickshire, don’t like the
urban domination of Redditch over their area and are still angry at
being put in the Redditch constituency in
1997.
I enclose, for your information, return
slips from constituents in Inkberrow and Cookhill who I consulted
about the boundary commission’s proposals. The
responses to date number 679 against and 25 for.
I hope that you will consider carefully the opinions of the 96.5%
of respondents who wish to be represented by Mid Worcestershire and
not within a constituency centred on
Redditch.
Why
this constituency is a special
case. A
growing town
Redditch is a new Town built
in the 1970’s and one that is continuing to
grow. I understand that the Boundary
Commission’s work is based on the 2000 Census and rightly
so. However the continuing growth of Redditch
should be weighed as an important factor when considering the
numbers of constituents that will be served under the proposed
boundary arrangements. Since 2000 a major new
housing development has taken place at Brockhill on the northern
edge of Redditch with 400 homes being completed and with 300 still
to go. In addition Redditch underwent a
reorganisation of its schools in 2001 that has resulted in the
availability of new land for building on several
sites. Building work is currently underway on
these and other sites for a 220 further homes with more on the
way.
In the
Local Plan for the period 1996 – 2011 Redditch is to take 500 more
homes than neighbouring Bromsgrove.
Rural and
Urban splits
I have done my
best to represent the rural elements of my constituency to date,
holding surgeries in Inkberrow and Cookhill and meeting with Parish
Councils. However, the proposals to include the
Lenches and Hanbury in the Redditch constituency will extenuate the
differences between its different parts. Hanbury
and the Lenches are even more rural than Inkberrow and
Cookhill. Hanbury is closely linked to Droitwich
Spa as its nearest Town and commercial centre whereas the Lenches
border Evesham. Both these Towns are historical
market Towns with a long heritage and tradition of Worcestershire
life. Churches have links between the villages
and not with Redditch.
By contrast
Redditch new town is on the periphery of Worcestershire, only
fifteen miles from Birmingham, it has an extensive business
heart. Companies have their national
headquarters in the Town and there is a substantial manufacturing
sector. There are around 7,000 council houses
and a significantly diverse ethnic population.
It has excellent motorway links, a shopping centre ranked by size
in the top ten of the Country and its own general
hospital.
I am aware
that my support for a parliamentary seat based on the boundaries of
Redditch Borough Council might be seen as unfair to neighbouring
MPs because the electorate count would be small in
comparison. However, I hope that I have
illustrated that Redditch has a very broad range of serious issues
that will take up the time of any MP lucky enough to represent the
Town.
Co-terminosity
The Boundary Commission refer several
times to the benefits of co-terminosity in relation to District
Council Boundaries and Parliamentary Boundaries.
Indeed, in Worcester and
Wyre Forest this is almost a
deciding factor in settling constituency
boundaries. I would ask you to look again at
that principal in relation to
Redditch. Creating a Redditch
Town Parliamentary seat and putting the new Inkberrow Ward into Mid
Worcestershire would have little, if any knock on
effects. Following my consultation with local
residents this is what I
propose.
The Redditch
seat would be small but not the smallest in the Country by
any means and as I have illustrated there are good reasons
for Redditch being a special
case.
The Mid-
Worcestershire seat would be large but not the largest, even in
Worcestershire, and there are sound reasons for keeping the Lenches
and Hanbury in a seat that already serves them well along with
other villages of similar type, culture and
heritage.
Finally
Thank you for
taking the time to read this letter. I hope that
you will consider the arguments that I have put forward on behalf
of my constituents carefully. The proposed seat
even looks very unsatisfactory and unbalanced and I hope that you
will agree with me to look beyond simple number calculations and
change your proposals.
Yours
sincerely
Jacqui
Smith MP
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