The Local Government Boundary Commission has published its final report recommending a new political map for Durham County Council.
Shildon & Dene Valley Division will continue to be served by three councillors, but the commission has recommended that Coundon be added to the ward as it “has significant commonalities with Eldon, Dene Valley and Shildon parishes”.
A request to split the division into smaller divisions, arguing that Shildon requires its own division, was rejected, as was a Labour Group proposal of a two-councillor Shildon division which largely followed the boundaries of the existing division.
The recommendations include reducing the total number of County Councillors by 28, from the current 126 to 98.
There will be 51 divisions and nine three-councillor divisions, 29 two-councillor divisions and 13 one-councillor divisions. The boundaries of most divisions should also change, it says.
The commission’s review of the county’s electoral map was precipitated by what it describes as ‘electoral inequality’ – that some councillors across the county currently represent many more or fewer electors than others.
It aims to create ‘electoral equality’, where the number of electors per councillor is as even as possible, ideally within 10% of being exactly equal.
It has concluded that the best way to do so is to ensure that ‘the divisions in County Durham are in the best possible places to help the Council carry out its responsibilities effectively’ and ‘the number of electors represented by each councillor is approximately the same across the county’.
The full report can be read by searching for County Durham here.
The recommendations are set to go before parliament in January with the new arrangements to apply at the May 2025 local elections if approved.
Shildon & District's local community newspaper.
