Torfaen Council Boundary Reforms Confirmed
Welsh Government accepts LDBCW recommendations
Reforms to Torfaen Council’s ward boundaries are to go ahead after the Welsh Government decided to accept the recommendations of the Local Democracy and Boundary Commission for Wales with one minor modification only made to a recommended Welsh language ward name.
The Commission’s Final Recommendations were submitted to the Welsh Government 9 November 2018 and Minister for Finance and Local Government, Rebecca Evans MS, has confirmed that the decision has been made to accept the recommendations.
The changes accepted by the Welsh Government mean that Torfaen’s number of councillors will decrease by 4, taking the council from 44 to 40 members.
Meanwhile the number of wards will be reduced from 24 to 18, with 14 of those being multi-member wards.
6 wards will elect 2 councillors while 8 wards will elect 3 councillors.
11 current wards will see no change under these reforms.
A single recommendation on a Welsh language ward name was not accepted by Welsh Government.
Responding to the Welsh Government’s decision, Shereen Williams MBE OStJ, Chief Executive of the Local Democracy and Boundary Commission for Wales said:
“I’m delighted that the Welsh Government has accepted these recommendations with only minor modifications.
“These changes will mean greater electoral parity for the people of Torfaen.
“I’d like to thank everyone who contributed to the review, the members of the public, councillors, Torfaen Council, and everyone else who sent us a representation or contributed in any other way.”
The boundary changes are expected to take effect from the 2022 local government elections.
The full list of retained wards:
- Abersychan
- Blaenavon
- Coed Eva
- Fairwater
- Llanyrafon East and Ponthir
- Llanyrafon West
- New Inn
- Panteg
- Pontnewydd
- St. Dials
- Two Locks
Recommendations not accepted by Welsh Government:
The Commission proposed the single name of Panteg. The electoral ward will be given the Welsh language name of Pan-teg. The English form will remain Panteg.
The Welsh Government Written Statement announcing the decision can be found here.