Newcastle upon Tyne final recommendations

Southwest and West

Chapel, Lemington and Throckley, Walbottle & Newburn

47 We received submissions from Councillor Donnelly and some residents about this area of the city.

48 Councillor Donnelly suggested that an area of land alongside Fell House Farm be retained in Chapel ward because since 2017, the North Walbottle Waggonway Group had planted trees and protected the greenbelt area. He stated that the draft recommendations cut off a piece of land that the group had worked on.

49 One of the residents expressed support for the draft recommendations, specifically the proposed changes to the western boundary of Chapel ward and the new boundary along North Walbottle Road.

50 Another resident also supported our splitting of the existing Callerton & Throckley ward. They suggested that we make an additional change by including the Blucher area in our Throckley & Walbottle ward instead of Lemington ward to its east. They were of the view that Blucher was closer to Walbottle and that the resultant boundary would be more logical.

51 We considered doing this and noted that the electoral equality was good. However, we also noted that we did not hear from residents of the Blucher area and were unable to determine if this change would reflect their community identity or not. We therefore decided to retain the well-established existing boundary in this area.

52 We also carefully considered Councillor Donnelly’s proposal. We note that adopting this will mean the use of a weaker boundary in the area. We consider that the change in ward does not stop the North Walbottle Waggonway Group from continuing their work in that area. For these reasons, we have not been persuaded to make any changes to the draft recommendations.

53 Accordingly, we are confirming the boundaries of our draft recommendation wards as final.

54 The residents who wrote in about our draft recommendations for Throckley & Walbottle ward all advocated for Newburn to be included in the name of the ward on community identity grounds. They stated that Newburn was the heart or urban centre of the entire area, and we have been persuaded that Newburn is a significant area within the ward and that including it in the ward name will reflect the communities in the area. In view of this we are content to rename the ward, Throckley, Walbottle & Newburn.

55 One resident advocated for Lemington to be included in Northumberland County Council area. However, this electoral review is about the boundaries of the wards within Newcastle City Council. Changes to the external boundaries of the local authority are outside the scope of this review and would necessitate a Principal Area Boundary Review.  

Denton & Westerhope and Newbiggin Hall & Callerton

56 We received submissions about the wards in this area of the city from Councillor Adam Mitchell, Councillor Tracey Mitchell and some residents.

57 Councillors Adam Mitchell and Tracey Mitchell, and a resident, objected to the use of Stamfordham Road as a boundary, stating that this split Westerhope Village across two wards. They were of the view that the village would lose its identity and that the existing boundary was more reflective of the community that Stamfordham Road.

58 We considered the issues raised very carefully. We note that retaining the existing boundary in the north of Denton & Westerhope produces a ward forecast to have 16% more electors than the average for Newcastle City Council by 2030. We considered this too high. Consequently, we have used Stamfordham Road as the boundary. We consider that using this strong boundary and having good electoral equality is the best balance of our statutory criteria and have not been persuaded to make changes to our draft recommendations. While we recognise that this will mean two sets of councillors representing Westerhope, this should not mean that the community will be disadvantaged in any way.

59 A resident expressed the view that South Denton was in Lemington ward and Denton Burn was in Fenham, and therefore suggested that Denton & Westerhope ward should be renamed West Denton & Westerhope to avoid any confusion. We note that the draft recommendations ward includes the same area of Denton as in the existing ward. There has been no suggestion that there has been any confusion about the boundaries of or communities within the ward. Therefore, we have not been persuaded to rename this ward.

60 Another resident suggested that we rename Newbiggin Hall & Callerton ward. They were of the view that Newbiggin Hall was just one estate and not the name of the area. They were not sure what name to propose but suggested something along the lines of Callerton or City West. We note that in response to our consultation on warding patterns both Newcastle Labour and Newcastle Liberal Democrats proposed wards with Newbiggin Hall in their names. We also note that the resident was unsure what name should replace Newbiggin Hall & Callerton. We have therefore not been persuaded to rename this ward.

61 However, in the five years following a review, a local authority may seek the Commission’s agreement to change the name of a ward if this reflects community identity and sentiment. After five years, a local authority may make a change without seeking the agreement of the Commission.  

Northeast and Central

Blakelaw & Cowgate

62 We received one submission from a resident about the name of this ward.

63 In our draft recommendations report, we asked if including Cowgate in the name of the ward would reflect communities in this ward. The resident stated that Blakelaw and Cowgate are two distinct communities within the existing Blakelaw ward, and that renaming the ward would be supported by both communities.

64 After careful consideration, we are content to rename this ward Blakelaw & Cowgate. We note that Cowgate was mentioned in Newcastle Labour’s submission at the warding pattern stage as one the main communities in this ward.

65 We did not receive any submissions about the boundaries of this ward. Therefore, aside from renaming it, we are confirming our draft recommendations for this ward as final.

Dene & South Gosforth, Fawdon & West Gosforth, Gosforth and Manor Park

66 We received submissions about this area, from Councillor Taylor, High West Jesmond Residents’ Association and some residents.

67 Our draft recommendations were based on the existing wards in the area, with some modifications.

68 Councillor Taylor expressed support for the draft recommendations’ Dene & South Gosforth ward but stated that two existing polling districts in the area should be merged following our review. Modifying polling districts is a matter for Newcastle City Council who will have to conduct a polling district review following the completion of this electoral review.

69 High West Jesmond Residents’ Association also supported the draft recommendations’ Dene & South Gosforth ward. It noted that although the ward included a number of different residential areas, High West Jesmond had strong connections and shared issues with some of the other communities in the ward, and that it had not had any difficulty contacting the current councillors. It also noted the difficulties we had in separating the communities on either side of Haddricks Mill Road as detailed in the draft recommendations report. Consequently, it was content to support the draft recommendations.

70 Three residents expressed support for our draft recommendations. One supported the change we made between Fawdon & West Gosforth and Parklands wards which moved the Newcastle City Golf Club and recreation area into Fawdon & West Gosforth ward. They explained that residents had been asking for this to happen for a long time. Another one supported our moving the area south of St Nicholas Park into Gosforth ward on community identity grounds, stating that residents of this area looked south for their amenities and community. Another resident also expressed support for the modifications we made to Gosforth ward.

71 A resident objected to the draft recommendations and proposed a boundary along Matthew Bank/Haddricks Mill Road. However, this would produce a Dene ward forecast to have 42% fewer electors than the average for Newcastle City Council by 2030. At the same time, the resulting Gosforth ward would have 55% more electors than the average for the local authority area. We considered these variances too high and did not adopt this proposal.

72 As explained in the draft recommendations report, we considered various ways to separate the communities in this area into separate wards, including departing from a uniform pattern of three-councillor wards. The options are detailed in paragraphs 84– 88 of our draft recommendations report none of which produced wards with good electoral equality. Consequently, we based our draft recommendations on the existing ward with modifications in line with the submissions we received. We also identified an alternative boundary of our own in one instance.

73 Another resident proposed a number of changes to achieve ‘a better level of electoral equality’ in the area. They advocated moving ‘enough of’ the High West Jesmond area into Jesmond ward and ‘reshuffling territory in the other Gosforth wards’ to create cleaner boundaries and improve electoral equality. The resident suggested moving Regent Road, Elsdon Road, Hedley Street and Hedley Terrace from Fawdon & West Gosforth into Gosforth ward and adjusting the boundary between Dene & South Gosforth and Manor Park wards. They suggested moving the area east of the High Street from Gosforth to Dene & South Gosforth ward and making modifications around Swaledale Gardens.

74 We gave careful consideration to the resident’s proposal. We note that the resident did not provide any specific boundaries for the area of High West Jesmond they proposed that we move to Jesmond in the south. If we moved a part of the area, we would be splitting that community across two wards and this would necessitate the use of a less identifiable boundary than the existing and draft recommendations boundary along Jesmond Dene Road.

75 Furthermore, it produced a Gosforth ward with 20% more electors than the average for the local authority area. Modifying Gosforth to achieve good electoral equality would require wholesale changes for which we have not received any detailed community identity evidence. Moving the area east of the High Street into Dene & South Gosforth produced a Gosforth ward forecast to have 12% fewer electors and, more significantly, a Dene & South Gosforth ward forecast to have 36% more electors than the average for Newcastle City Council by 2030.

76 We consider that making these changes work would necessitate wholesale changes in at least four wards for which we did not have sufficient community identity evidence. All the draft recommendation wards have what we consider good electoral equality. In light of this and the support we received from some respondents, we were not persuaded to make these changes.

77 We therefore confirm our draft recommendations for Dene & South Gosforth, Fawdon & West Gosforth, Gosforth and Manor Park wards as final.

Jesmond

78 We received 60 submissions about our draft recommendations for Jesmond. These were from Councillor Storey, the Armstrong Studio Trust, Jesmond Residents’ Association and residents.

79 Our draft recommendations created a single Jesmond ward in place of the existing North Jesmond and South Jesmond wards. We moved the area of the existing South Jesmond ward, south of the A1058, into Ouseburn ward to the south.

80 Although Jesmond Residents’ Association welcomed the inclusion of Town Moor in this ward, along with all but one of the respondents, it objected to the draft recommendations on community identity grounds, specifically to a part of the existing South Jesmond ward known as Jesmond Vale, being excluded from Jesmond ward.

81 Respondents told us that Jesmond and Jesmond Vale were an integrated community; that all the easily accessible services used by residents of Jesmond Vale were a short distance away in the wider Jesmond area north of the A1058; and that the issues and interests facing Jesmond and Jesmond Vale residents were different from those facing residents of Ouseburn, Sandyford and Shieldfield. They expressed concern that the draft recommendations would isolate them from the shops, doctors’ surgeries and recreational amenities that they used.

82 A lot of residents stated that the A1058 was specifically built in a tunnel in the Jesmond area to minimise any disruption to the community and maintain the connection between Jesmond and Jesmond Vale. They pointed to the Council’s literature which described The Minories on Rosebery Crescent, south of the A1058, as being located in Jesmond, as evidence that this area is considered part of the Jesmond community.

83 After careful consideration of these submissions, we have been persuaded that the Jesmond community extends south of the A1058 to include an area currently in South Jesmond ward. While not all of the existing South Jesmond ward identifies as living in Jesmond, there is a part of it that does. In particular, this is the area between Lansdowne Gardens and Rosebery Place, as specified within a number of the submissions which included a list of the roads that were considered as being part of Jesmond.

84 We note that because of the tunnel in that area, the A1058 is not a barrier to the flow of community, and Churchill Gardens and Rosebery Crescent above the A1058 is the vehicular access to Jesmond Vale.

85 Consequently, as part of our final recommendations, we have modified the boundary between Jesmond and the ward to the south so that the area bounded by Churchill Gardens, Lansdowne Gardens, Newcastle High School for Girls and Nazareth Mews is included in Jesmond ward.

86 Jesmond ward is forecast to have 3% more electors than the average for Newcastle City Council, by 2030.

Kenton

87 We did not receive any submissions about our draft recommendations for Kenton ward. We therefore confirm our draft recommendations as final.

Parklands & North Gosforth

88 We received a joint submission from Councillor Allen, Councillor Ashby and Councillor Morrissey about our draft recommendations’ Parklands ward.

89 These councillors who represent the existing Parklands ward supported the boundaries of the draft recommendations, but advocated that the ward be renamed North Gosforth. They are of the view that the current name does not reflect most of the communities there, with North Gosforth parish taking up half of the ward and North Gosforth Park being an estate within the ward. They also state that although Parklands reflects some of the estates in the ward, Gosforth is the greater community within the ward.

90 We have considered their representation. While we note that Parklands does represent some estates in the ward, we have been persuaded that a significant part of the area identify as North Gosforth. Consequently, we are content to reflect North Gosforth in the name of the ward, in a similar way to other wards in the area. We have renamed it Parklands & North Gosforth.

91 Aside from the change of name, we make no other changes to our draft recommendations for this ward, and confirm them as final.

Southcentral

Arthur’s Hill and Monument

92 We did not receive any submissions about the boundaries of our draft recommendations for these wards.

93 We received a submission from a resident who suggested that we rename Monument ward, Central. They were of the view that Central was a more logical and representative name for this ward.

94 However, we note that this is a significant change proposed by one respondent. We have no way of knowing if the proposed name would be accepted by most residents in the ward. Therefore, we have not made this change. Nevertheless, in the five years following a review, a local authority may seek the Commission’s agreement to change the name of a ward if this reflects community identity and sentiment. After five years, a local authority may make a change without seeking the agreement of the Commission.

95 We do not make any changes to these wards and confirm our draft recommendations as final.

Benwell, Scotswood & Denton Burn and Elswick

96 We received one submission in response to our draft recommendations for these wards.

97 A resident suggested that we move the boundary between these two wards from Pease Avenue to Fox and Hounds Lane to avoid splitting an estate.

98 On careful consideration, we note that the residents to the west of Fox and Hounds Lane do not look across on to that road but are actually in Westacres Crescent. We also note that the field on the west side of Fox and Hounds Lane makes a better boundary than Pease Avenue and have been persuaded to make this change as part of our final recommendations.

99 The resident also advocated for Denton Burn to be included in the name of the ward. We note that Denton Burn is a distinct area within the ward and are content to rename the ward accordingly.

100 Benwell, Scotswood & Denton Burn and Elswick wards are both forecast to have good electoral equality by 2030.

West Fenham and Wingrove

101 We received submissions about this area from Councillor Mark Mitchell, Fenham Association of Residents (FAR) and some residents.

102 Our draft recommendations modified the existing West Fenham ward by moving a few roads between the western end of Cedar Road, Lonnen Avenue, Two Ball Lonnen and Fenham Hall Drive into Wingrove ward on electoral equality grounds. We also renamed it Fenham ward in line with a submission we received which pointed out that there was no East, North or South Fenham ward.

103 FAR requested that we put Acanthus Avenue back into Fenham ward. Councillor Mitchell suggested that we change the ward name to include Slatyford. One resident who had no issues with the boundaries also felt that the ward needed to be renamed because in their view most of Fenham was in Wingrove ward. Another resident proposed changing the name of the existing ward from West Fenham to Fenham West, although they did not give any reason for this.

104 Another resident expressed support for the draft recommendations for Wingrove ward. They stated that their community was focused around Fenham Hall Drive and did not extend to the north across the moor where there were poor crossing links and connections.

105 We carefully considered the comments about Fenham ward. We noted that FAR’s community centre is located on Acanthus Avenue. This road is currently in Wingrove ward and not Fenham as FAR seems to think. Our draft recommendations do not alter the existing boundary, west of Acanthus Avenue.

106 Nevertheless, we considered moving the boundary to the east of Acanthus Avenue to accommodate FAR’s request. However, this would require drawing a boundary that runs east of Sorrell Close, then west of Almond Place and east of Magnolia Close. We considered this boundary to be weak and not easy to identify, and were not persuaded to adopt it.

107 Furthermore, we considered that FAR’s current location in Wingrove ward suggests that the community it serves possibly flows across both wards, as alluded to by the resident who indicated that part of Fenham is in Wingrove.

108 With regards to renaming the ward, we have considered the submissions we received and have not been able to determine if including Slatyford in the name will reflect community identities in the area. We also note that the Fenham community appears to extend to an area to the east, outside this ward. After careful consideration, as part of our final recommendations, we are reverting the name back to West Fenham.

109 As mentioned in the section on Arthur’s Hill and Monument, in the five years following a review, a local authority may seek the Commission’s agreement to change the name of a ward if this reflects community identity and sentiment. After five years, the Council does not need to seek permission to do so.