The Plaid Cymru group on Caerphilly County Borough Council has accused the Boundary Commission for Wales of “victimising” Valley local authorities in changes it has proposed.
They have submitted a highly critical five-page submission which criticises proposals which, if approved, would cut the number of councillors by around 25% from 73 existing members.
The 20-strong Plaid group, under leader Colin Mann, said in its submission: “We strongly feel that the proposals as outlined represent a real attack on democracy in our area and it could be argued that the authorities described as ‘Valley councils’ are being victimised by these proposals.
“It seems that some of the most deprived communities in Wales have been targeted to have less representation than more affluent ones. We would draw your attention to the fact that less well off areas usually have a larger array of complex problems which bring extra challenges to the councillors who represent these areas, yet representation is being taken away.”
The group added: “Caerphilly County Borough is facing a huge reduction in representation of around 25% whilst Bridgend apparently merits a small increase and Neath Port Talbot a very small decrease. Under this deeply flawed train of thought Bridgend with roughly two-thirds of the population of Caerffili CBC allegedly merits one more councillor – how can this be right? What is the logic in this?
“Four out of five other councils, with far less population, appear to merit more councillors, with the Vale of Glamorgan almost as many. How can this be right?
“This exercise should be about the ability to represent people properly – councillors are elected to represent people. It should not be an academic exercise of making things fit into particular straitjackets,” added the Plaid group.
I don't know if we are currently over-represented as such, be it at council or parliament. I do know that geographically some of these changes are bordering on the absurd.
Were those responsible just drawing pretty lines on a map for fun or have they ever set foot in the valleys?
In actual fact the consultation document, on councillor numbers, produced by the boundary commission does not refer to boundary changes or redrawn maps. The document is suggestions for reduction, or increase, in the number of councillors representing existing councils.
To this end Caerffili has been designated a "valley" area, which it is patently not. Caerffili has a lot in common with Bridgend, large town with a lot of rural area. Why this borough is not classified as the same as Bridgend is not clear but the designation does present us with a problem as our representation is set to be reduced.
I only received a copy of the document yesterday and have not yet read all of it but my first impression is that it is deeply flawed. Caerffili properly belongs in the group called "other", which includes Flint,Bridgend, Neath/Port Talbot, Vale of Glamorgan and Wrexham. However, as we are considered "valley" we would have less representation than all these councils with the exception of Vale of Glamorgan, voter population 94,000 compared with Caerffili's 128,000.
I shouldnt really comment, since I`ve opted out of politics years ago, but the Boundary Commission, is, in my opinion wrong. I also think that Caerphilly is not like Bridgend, but is a valley town, until the 1980s many of the men worked in the coal industry. But, the answer is not to fight Caerphilly`s case alone, there should be a consortium of "Valley Towns" fighting the proposals. remeber the motto of Merthyr Tydfil , "Nid Cadarn ond Brodyrdd"- "No strength but in brotherhood".
I worked in the coal industry myself until 1990 but, presumably, the Boundary Commission is basing its proposals on current demographics as well as history. Today Caerffili is more similar to Bridgend than it is to Rhondda Cynon Taff. (RCT incidentally retains all its councillors)
I do agreee with John that the Commission is wrong on a number of points. I have no doubt that there will be other councils that feel the same but I expect these proposals to be implemented with only minor changes. The Commission argues that representation would be fairer under their proposals.
Putting Caerffili in with valley councils means that we would have one councillor per 2,350 electors. If we were comsidered the same as Bridgend we would get one councillor per 1,850 electors, giving us 69 councillors. This, in my view, would be correct.
y point is not that we in Caerphilly should be treated as Bridgend, using it a a benchmark,(in reality we are more like Maesteg than Bridgend), 1 councillor per 1850 electors, rather than 1 councillor per 2350 electors. I think all councils "Valley" or not, should be treated the same, to do other wise is to treat the "Valley" councils,and their electorate as second class citizens, and as such is certainly not democratic, because it weakens the political strength of the "Valleys" with fewer councillors, of any party, than an equivalent population in a non "Valley" area. though its, in theory, the Boundary Commission, in practice its seesm like the Tories taking away democratic rights of non Tory voting areaa.