Major Revisions Made To Chiswick Ward Boundary Proposals


Conservatives welcome retention of nine councillors for the area

The Local Government Boundary Commission for England (LGBCE) has issued its final report which includes a major change from its draft recommendations for Chiswick.

Chiswick is not going to lose one of its councillors as originally planned but the major housing development at Capital Interchange Way will be part of the Chiswick Riverside ward rather than a Brentford ward as previously proposed. The enabling development around Brentford stadium will be part of a new Brentford East ward.

The three Chiswick wards will retain nine councillors, with amended ward boundaries. Turnham Green will be renamed Chiswick Gunnersbury and will incorporate Gunnersbury Park, Gunnersbury Cemetery, and the residents who live on Popes Lane and Lionel Road North.

Local Conservative councillors who had campaigned to retain nine councillors were delighted with the result.

Cllr Ranjit Gill has commented on behalf of the group: "The final recommendations follow what we proposed. Chiswick retains three councillors for each ward, each ward having been adjusted to meet the voter population criteria.

"Chiswick Riverside ward expands westwards to take in the whole of the Capital Interchange Way development next to the new Brentford Football Club as well as several developments along the river beyond Kew Bridge.

"Chiswick Homefields ward also expands westwards. Its new boundary means that the open spaces in this part of Chiswick, which residents see as closely linked with each other, will be brought together. The new boundary with Chiswick Riverside ward will be Park Road.

"Turnham Green ward expands, too, to include residents who live along Popes Lane and Lionel Road North, therefore also taking in Gunnersbury Park. Gunnersbury Cemetery also moves into this ward. The West Chiswick and Gunnersbury Society made similar recommendations and we were very glad to support them. We'd like to thank the residents of Popes Lane and Lionel Road North who signed a petition to move into Turnham Green ward. The ward will be renamed Chiswick Gunnersbury, as we suggested.

"We are absolutely delighted with the result and that all our hard work paid off. We look forward to representing all the residents who will be in these three Chiswick wards in 2022 and working hard for them."

The Commission has proposed that Hounslow should be represented by 62 councillors in the future: two more than the current arrangement. The recommendations also propose that those councillors should represent eighteen three-councillor wards and four two-councillor wards.

map of borough of hounslow wards
The existing boundaries for wards in Hounslow borough

Professor Colin Mellors, Chair of the Commission, said, “We are extremely grateful to people across Hounslow who took part in the review. The Commission has looked at all the evidence that was put forward during the consultation.

“We believe these recommendations deliver electoral fairness for voters as well as reflecting community ties.

Hounslow Council had submitted a proposal to decrease councillors in Chiswick by one, (Homefields ward) and instead increase representation in Brentford which has a higher projected population.

Chiswick was entitled to no more than eight councillors under the new formula, which is based on population projection. The combined projected electorate for 2024 of Chiswick Homefields, Chiswick Riverside and Turnham Green wards, (27,000) was to give an entitlement of 7.25 Councillors according the formula used by the Local Government Boundary Commission (LGBCE).

The submission from Hounslow Council to the Commission proposed two three-councillor wards of Chiswick Riverside and Turnham Green, and a two-councillor ward of Chiswick Homefields. The submission from the Conservative Group proposed the three-councillor wards of Chiswick Homefields, Chiswick Riverside and Turnham Green should remain, but with slightly amended boundaries. They have now achieved their target of retaining nine councillors.

You can read the full report here . The changes proposed must now be approved by Parliament. A draft Order - the legal document which brings into force the recommendations - will now be laid before Parliament.

The draft Order will provide for new electoral arrangements for Hounslow to be implemented at the local elections in 2022.

The change in ward boundaries is a separate matter to changes in constituency boundaries for a general election.

Name of ward Number of Councillors per ward Electorate 2018 Variance 2018 Electorate 2024 Variance 2024 Projected electorate
increase
Bedfont
3
9,756
0%
9,629
-13%
-1.3%
Brentford
3
12,106
24%
17,565
58%
45.1%
Chiswick Homefields
3
8,511
-13%
8,245
-26%
-3.1%
Chiswick Riverside
3
8,760
-10%
8,393
-24%
-4.2%
Cranford
3
9,723
0%
9,624
-13%
-1.0%
Feltham North
3
8,753
-10%
11,531
4%
31.7%
Feltham West
3
11,029
13%
11,511
4%
4.4%
Hanworth
3
8,952
-8%
8,908
-20%
-0.5%
Hanworth Park
3
9,131
-6%
10,009
-10%
9.6%
Heston Central
3
9,417
-3%
10,395
-6%
10.4%
Heston East
3
9,314
-4%
12,253
10%
31.6%
Heston West
3
9,527
-2%
8,995
-19%
-5.6%
Hounslow Central
3
11,677
20%
18,176
64%
55.7%
Hounslow Heath
3
10,494
8%
11,471
3%
9.3%
Hounslow South
3
8,787
-10%
8,787
-21%
0.0%
Hounslow West
3
10,280
5%
11,353
2%
10.4%
Isleworth
3
8,977
-8%
9,387
-15%
4.6%
Osterley & Spring Grove
3
10,175
4%
10,337
-7%
1.6%
Syon
3
10,990
13%
15,079
36%
37.2%
Turnham Green
3
8,573
-12%
10,167
-8%
18.6%

 

October 29, 2019