RESIDENTS are being encouraged to have their say on proposals that will shape council ward boundaries across Richmondshire and cut the number of councillors.

The independent Local Government Boundary Commission for England has drawn up draft proposals for the new ward boundaries and has launched an 11-week consultation on the plans.

The Commission’s draft recommendations propose that the Richmondshire should have 24 councillors in the future, ten fewer than the current arrangements.

The recommendations also outline how those councillors should represent one three-councillor ward, five two-councillor wards and 11 one-councillor wards across the district.

The plans propose changes to every existing council ward.

Professor Colin Mellors, chair of the Commission, said: “Over the next 11 weeks, we are asking local people to tell us if they agree with the proposals or if not, how they can be improved.

“Our review aims to deliver electoral equality for local voters.

“This means that each councillor represents a similar number of people so that everyone’s vote in council elections is worth roughly the same regardless of where you live.

“We also want to ensure that our proposals reflect the interests and identities of local communities across Richmondshire and that the pattern of wards can help the council deliver effective local government to local people.

“We will consider all the submissions we receive whoever they are from and whether your evidence applies to the whole district or just part of it.”

Richmondshire District Council submitted its draft proposals to the Commission in September but they were not unanimously supported.

Upper Dales councillor John Blackie submitted his own proposals, saying he could not support the council’s submission.

He argued that rural Upper Dales residents could ‘lose their voice’ if their wards were incorporated into bigger wards encompassing urban areas that would take up more of the councillors’ attention.

A final decision on the new structure is then expected to be announced in April next year and the changes will then become effective from local elections in May 2019.

The full list of the 24 proposed wards can be found at richmondshire.gov.uk and comments must be sent before the consultation period ends on January 15.