THERE is no consensus on how constituency boundaries in County Durham should be redrawn, a council meeting heard.

There has been dismay, confusion and anger from members of the public over proposals from the Boundary Commission for England (BCE) to review parliamentary constituency boundaries.

Some residents have described the suggested changes as "complete nonsense", "total madness" and "a hotch-potch arbitrary drawing of lines".

A "constitution working group" was asked by the council to look at the plans and find common ground.

But there has been little agreement beyond "common sense points" as all political parties - and members of the public - have put in different counter-proposals to the BCE.

Read more: LIVE: Durham County Council to discuss boundary changes in 2023

The BCE's proposals include:

  • Bringing the Brandon ward from Durham into the Bishop Auckland constituency;
  • Bringing the Coxhoe ward into the Sedgefield constituency, which will be renamed Newton Aycliffe and Sedgefield;
  • Extending the City of Durham constituency into the borough of Sunderland "as far as Houghton-le-Spring";
  • Moving Burnopfield and Dipton from North-west Durham to North Durham;
  • Extending Easington to include the ward of Doxford from Sunderland, and changing the name to Seaham and Peterlee.

Read more: Parts of County Durham could be merged into Bishop and Sedgefield

The topic featured in Durham County Council's first full meeting back in County Hall since the Covid-19 lockdowns on Wednesday (April 23).

Helen Lynch, head of legal and democratic services, gave an update on the proposals for County Durham.

She said the aim of the review was to ensure there were between 64,724 and 77,062 electors in each constituency.

Last month the BCE published all responses to its first consultation, which run to more than 80 pages.

Now people can respond to comments and counter-proposals in a second consultation which closes on April 6.

Ms Lynch said: "There are no changes to the Boundary Commission's proposals as originally presented.

"The commission are holding a series of public meetings, and there will be two in the North East.

"Once the second consultation has concluded, the Boundary Commission will analyse all representations from the first and second stages of the consultation, and will consider if the evidence presented persuades them to revise their proposals.

"It's at that point any proposed changes will be published."

A further consultation will be held towards the end of this year.

Read more: Fury over plans to change boundaries in Durham and Darlington

Cllr Richard Bell, deputy council leader and cabinet member for finance, said: "All four formal political parties in this chamber, ie. Greens, Labour, Liberal Democrats and Conservatives, have put in official regional representations.

"The constitutional working group therefore thought it pointless to push for consensus among the CWG and indeed among full council because we clearly wouldn't get it.

The Northern Echo: Cllr Richard Bell. Picture: Sarah Caldecott.Cllr Richard Bell. Picture: Sarah Caldecott. (Image: Sarah Caldecott, Newsquest)

"And therefore the letter that we are proposing to send merely makes fairly common sense points on which I would hope we could agree, namely that we shouldn't be splitting very closely related communities like Crook and Willington and Spennymoor and Tudhoe.

"That essentially is the representation that we are making today in this report.

"I would hope that all members will approve the report."

Read more: Hurworth near Darlington could become part of Stockton in shake up

The constitution working group agreed last July that most constituencies "should fall within County Durham with any cross over into other local authorities kept to an absolute minimum".

They also agreed the commission "should take account of established communities within neighbouring towns and villages" and, where possible, put them in the same constituency rather than split them.

And they asked for the chance to comment on proposed constituency names to make sure they reflect geographical areas.

The group met again this month and called on the BCE "note the strong opposition to the proposals and the importance of maintaining community ties".

Councillors agreed to send the letter outlining the council's position to the BCE before the current round of consultation closes. 

The council's report can be viewed here and the BCE's proposals can be seen here.

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