Issue - meetings

Councillor Ron Batstone declared an interest in this item as he was a Grove parish councillor, and as such he did not take part in the decision-making on this matter.  

The committee considered the community governance review CGR-A on a proposal to create a single ward covering Grove for the purposes of parish council elections. 

The 16 parish councillors were elected to serve the whole parish.  The warding arrangements at parish level had been introduced as a consequential effect of the district ward arrangements implemented by the Local Government Boundary Commission in 2015.  Following the change to the parish boundary with Wantage in 2019, Grove parish consisted of two wards: Grove Brook and Grove North.  Grove Parish Council had asked for it to covered by a single ward once more. 

The committee considered that Grove was a largely homogenous settlement that did not readily lend itself to sub-division.  The parish electoral arrangements in existence prior to 2015 had served the identities and interests of the village well and the committee considered that these arrangements would do so again. 

RESOLVED: to create a single ward covering Grove for the purposes of parish council elections.