Resolved:      That Cllr. Fleming be appointed Chairman of the Committee for the ensuing Municipal Year.

Resolved:      That Cllr. Mrs. Hunter be appointed Vice-Chairman of the Committee for the ensuing Municipal Year.

None.

Resolved:      That the Minutes of the meeting of the Committee held on 2 September 2010 be approved and signed by the Chairman as a correct record.

The Electoral Services Manager presented a report which advised the Committee that the Council was required to carry out a review of polling districts and polling places at least once every four years under the Electoral Administration Act 2006. The last review had been completed in 2007 and a review therefore had to be completed by the end of December 2011. The requirement to divide the district into polling districts for the purposes of elections and to provide a polling place for every district that was easily accessible to all electors, including those with disabilities, was highlighted. The report also explained the Council’s practice of avoiding the use of school premises wherever possible to minimise disruption to school activities along with the intention that temporary stations should not be used on grounds of expense and that no more than 1800 electors should be allocated to a polling station. The Polling Districts and Polling Places Review process was outlined along with the timetable for the conclusion of the review. As part of this notice of the review had been given as required in the regulations, the Returning Officer had provided comments on the existing polling station locations and there had been public consultation which had invited comments from a number of organisations including parish councils, District and County Councillors, local political associations and all local government electors. This consultation period had begun on 22 August and ended on 7 October 2011. The responses to the consultation were contained in Appendix A to the report.

The Electoral Services Manager explained that investigations had been carried out in six polling districts in an effort to secure permanent changes to existing venues and the options and recommendations in respect of each polling district and polling place were outlined, along with the reasons for the recommendations, in Appendix B to the report. Very few changes were proposed although it was recognised that not all locations were ideal but some were used due to lack of suitable alternatives or the non-availability of venues. It was proposed that the venues used for the 2011 elections should be retained with the exception of the East Hill and Knatts Valley Polling Districts where it was proposed to locate a double station at Woodlands Manor Golf Club where there were good parking facilities, and West Kingsdown (East) where the function room in The Portobello Inn would replace the Village Hall, which was no longer available. Enquiries had also been made about the possibility of returning to use Knole Academy East (the former Wildernesse School) as a polling place for Hillingdon and Wildernesse Polling Districts, which had not been available in 2011, and it had been confirmed that this venue could be used in future. It was therefore recommended that this should be included in the proposals contained in Appendix B to the report and the recommendations to be approved by the Council on 29 November 2011. The Electoral Services Manager stressed that the Council kept the position under review and  ...  view the full minutes text for item 5.

The Electoral Services Manager advised the Committee that Government and Electoral Commission guidance recommended that District Councils should carry out a review of the boundary and electoral arrangements of the parishes within their areas every 10-15 years. With effect from February 2008 District Councils had taken on responsibility for carrying out these community governance reviews (formerly known as parish reviews). The last such review had been carried out in Sevenoaks in 1999 and it was proposed that a review should be carried out now both to meet the recommended timeframe and to take advantage of a small window of opportunity ahead of scheduled elections. The review would have to be completed within 12 months of the review commencing and it was proposed that the review should commence on 30 November and be completed by August 2012 with the publication of the Council’s decisions in respect of parish boundaries and electoral arrangements. Any changes would take effect from the date of the next full parish council elections in May 2015. The timetable outlined in the report provided for widespread consultation to allow interested persons or groups the opportunity to input to the review including District and County Councillors, local parishes, known community groups and local MP’s. Proposals could relate to the creation, merging, grouping, altering or abolition of parishes, or relate to the name of a parish or to the number of councillors or warding arrangements for parishes. It was noted that any changes to parish boundaries would have knock-on effects for neighbouring parishes and would require negotiation to gain the fullest backing of the local community and the parishes affected. The potential impact of the West Kent Cold Store development was discussed and it was noted that a development of this size could ultimately warrant the creation of a new parish. 

            Resolved: That it be recommended to the Council that

(1)       a community governance review be undertaken;

(2)       the terms of reference for the review set out in the Appendix to the report be adopted; and

(3)     the timetable for the review contained in paragraph 5 of the report be adopted.