Have your say on new council ward boundaries for Bedford

New boundaries are being proposed for council wards in Bedford - and The Local Government Boundary Commission wants to hear your opinion.

The 10-week consultation will run until December 7.

The commission is the independent body that draws these boundaries. It is reviewing Bedford Borough Council to make sure councillors will represent about the same number of electors, and that ward arrangements will help the council work effectively.

The commission has published proposals for changes to Bedford Borough Council. It is suggesting there should be 46 councillors in future, six more than now. The number of wards will increase from 27 to 29.

Proposed changes include:

* All three housing estates off Norse Road are now in the same ward: Renhold & Ravensden. They were previously split between two wards

* Castle ward is no longer split by the river. It will all be on its north side

Professor Colin Mellors, chair of the commission, said: “We want people in Bedford to help us. We have drawn up proposals for new wards for Bedford Borough Council. We want to make sure these new electoral arrangements reflect communities. We also want them to be easy to understand and convenient for local people.

“Residents and local organisations can help us do that. We would like them to let us know whether they agree with our proposals before we take final decisions.”

The commission has a dedicated section on its website where people can see the detail of the proposals and comment on the names of divisions, their boundaries and the number of councillors per ward. It can viewed herePeople can also give their views by email at [email protected], and by post: The Review Officer (Bedford), LGBCE, PO Box 133, Blyth, NE24 9FE..