Moorlands ward boundaries to be reviewed

The make-up of council wards in the Staffordshire Moorlands is to be reviewed for the first time in a quarter of a century.

Voters there elect 56 councillors across 27 wards to Staffordshire Moorlands District Council.

The review will consider boundaries, the name and the number of councillors of each ward, and also the total number of councillors at the authority.

Changes would be subject to a public consultation, and would be put in place before the council's next scheduled elections, in 2027.

"This is being done on the ‘our turn’ principle," said council leader, Mike Gledhill.

"There can be reasons why an electoral review takes place, such as demographic changes, but that’s not the case with us.

"It’s simply that we haven’t done one since 2000. So it’s our turn."

He added that there would be no change to the external boundaries of the district.

A report to the council said the aim of the review was to ensure "the provision of good or improved electoral representation", with each councillor representing roughly the same number of people.

The size of the council will be the first issue to be considered, with the authority expected to submit its own proposals by May 2025.

Councillor James Aberley proposed an informal meeting between the council’s three main political groups to see whether there are any "commonalities" between their ideas about the review.

"If anyone thinks it’s not going to affect their ward, they’re very wrong," he said.

"If you look at all the reviews across the county, nearly every ward has been touched in some way, and so we can all expect very different boundaries in 2027."

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