Barnsley final recommendations

Central Barnsley

Central and Old Town

The Council supported our proposal to retain the existing wards as part of our draft recommendations whilst noting it was unfortunate that parts of Monk Bretton were included in Central ward and that the Pogmoor community was divided between wards. The Council added that it had been unable to identify any warding pattern that resolved these issues and also met the Commission’s statutory criteria. The Council also stated that the current wards had been in place for over 20 years and it considered them to be well established.

In their submission, the Liberal Democrats proposed two amendments to the boundary between Central ward and Kingstone ward. They proposed that the roads off Wood Street (Fleming Place, Providence Court, Allatt Close, Rebecca Row and Duke Street) should move from Kingstone ward to Central ward to unite the social housing on and around Wood Street in Central ward. They also proposed a new boundary along New Street and West Way, taking the area around the Morrisons supermarket into Kingstone ward, including Silver Street, Foundry Street, George Street and George Square. This was intended to unite the terraced housing on and around Princess Street within Kingstone ward. They considered this to better reflect the pattern of communities on the edge of the town centre.

The alternative scheme received from a local resident proposed to substantially redraw the Central and Old Town wards with the Smithies area being moved from Old Town ward to Central ward to accommodate the inclusion of the Gawber/Wilthorpe and Pogmoor areas in Central ward. They also proposed to move a small area around Union Street from Central ward to Kingstone ward.

The various submissions from local residents included one which asked if Pogmoor could be wholly contained within a single ward and another from a local resident on Mount Vernon Road who objected to the boundary between Central and Kingstone ward being moved onto Upper Sheffield Road which consequently placed their property in Kingstone ward.

Having considered the submissions received we are not proposing to make any changes to Old Town ward. We plan to make some small amendments to the boundary between Central ward and Kingstone ward based on the submission received from the Liberal Democrat Group.

We also looked at the warding pattern proposed by the local resident and concluded that whilst it provided for good electoral equality for these wards, it was predicated on including Birdwell in a ward with Dodworth which we do not consider would be an appropriate proposal. We discuss the reasons for this in the section on Dodworth later in this report.

We propose to adopt the changes suggested by the Liberal Democrat Group and amend the boundary between Central and Kingstone wards. While we do not assume that adjoining areas of social housing will automatically share a sense of community, we have been persuaded that the proposed amendments will provide a better reflection of community identities and interests in this area to the south of the town centre. Furthermore, the proposed changes will still ensure good electoral equality for these wards.

Our draft recommendations are for the two three-councillor wards of Central and Old Town. These wards are forecast to have electoral variances of -7% and -5%, respectively, by 2029.

Kingstone

Our draft recommendations for Kingstone ward looked to address the electoral inequality in the current ward which will have 14% fewer electors per councillor than the average for Barnsley by 2029.

In response to our draft recommendations, we received alternative proposals from the Council, the Liberal Democrat Group and a local resident that all looked to make substantial changes to this ward and its boundaries with the neighbouring wards of Dodworth and Worsbrough.

The Liberal Democrats’ proposal for Kingstone ward suggested a small area to the north and east of Horizon Community College should be moved from Dodworth ward to Kingstone ward. This was in addition to the changes they suggest to the boundary between Central and Kingstone ward, which are discussed in paragraphs 59 and 62 of this report.

The Council’s and local resident’s proposals include the Keresforth Hill area in Kingstone ward with the Council also proposing to add that part of the Pogmoor area currently in Dodworth ward. Both of these schemes proposed moving Worsbrough Common from Kingstone to Worsbrough ward to restore community ties within the Worsbrough community. Both of these schemes would see the M1 motorway become the boundary between Kingstone and Dodworth wards. Their proposals for the village of Dodworth itself are discussed more fully in the section below.

Having considered the submissions received and having visited the areas discussed on our tour of Barnsley, we propose to adopt the Council’s revised Kingstone ward, subject to the amendments to the boundary with Central ward put forward by the Liberal Democrats.

We were persuaded that the Council’s proposed warding pattern provided a good balance of our statutory criteria and best addressed the issues that had arisen as part of the consultation on our draft recommendations. Our proposed Kingstone ward will see Keresforth Hill and part of Pogmoor move from Dodworth ward to Kingstone ward which reflects their stronger community ties to the town centre and other areas in the existing Kingstone ward. We observed as part of our tour that the M1 motorway provided a very clear divide between the Keresforth Hill and Dodworth areas.

As a result of our proposals for the Keresforth Hill and Pogmoor areas, it is also possible to restore Worsbrough Common to Worsbrough ward which the Council proposed we do as part of our final recommendations. A number of other submissions also expressed support for this proposal. This is discussed fully in the next section of this report.

Our final recommendations are for a three-councillor Kingstone ward with a forecast electoral variance of -1% by 2029.

Dodworth, Stainborough & Tankersley, Rockingham and Worsbrough

Dodworth, Stainborough & Tankersley, Rockingham and Worsbrough

Our draft recommendation for Dodworth ward were very similar to the existing arrangements. We recommended this ward as a result of the submissions received from the Silkstone parish area. These submissions objected to the Council’s proposed Dodworth ward, which included part of Silkstone parish in Dodworth ward.

As a result of this decision, we were constrained in what we could recommend for the Kingstone, Rockingham and Worsbrough areas. We consequently decided to divide the Birdwell area between Rockingham and Worsbrough wards to achieve good electoral equality in the area.

In response to our draft recommendations, we received 45 submissions that opposed this division of Birdwell between Rockingham and Worsbrough wards. A number of these submissions also supported the inclusion of Worsbrough Common in Worsbrough ward. These included submissions from Councillors Bowser, Clarke, Holling and Lodge who all represent wards in the area. These submissions stated that the division of the village broke existing community ties, particularly for the northern part of the village which does not have strong connections to Worsbrough. The respondents all stated that Birdwell has a strong affinity with Hoyland Common which is in Rockingham ward.

We also received 132 submissions that objected to the Council’s proposed ward of Dodworth, Stainborough & Tankersley. These included responses from Councillor Barnard, Stainborough Parish Council and Marie Tidball MP (Penistone & Stocksbridge). These submissions were overwhelmingly from the parish of Stainborough and stressed their strong community ties to the rest of the present Penistone East ward. They also referenced the rural nature of the parish when compared with Dodworth and Tankersley. A smaller number of these submissions were from electors in Tankersley parish who also objected to their inclusion in the proposed ward. Other respondents were opposed to the inclusion of the Tankersley area in Rockingham ward stating their preference to remain in Penistone East ward.

The Liberal Democrat Group proposed an alternative Dodworth ward that included Stainborough parish but kept Tankersley parish in Rockingham ward. They proposed to maintain Higham, Keresforth Hill and half of Pogmoor in Dodworth ward. The alternative proposal from the local resident proposed a Dodworth & Birdwell ward which included the parishes of Stainborough and Tankersley as well as the Birdwell area.

We visited this area as part of tour of Barnsley and carefully considered all the submissions received. We have decided to base our final recommendations on the alternative proposals from the Council for Dodworth, Stainborough & Tankersley, Rockingham and Worsbrough wards, subject to a small amendment to the boundaries in the Hoyland Common area.

We considered the other warding proposals submitted but concluded that they had disadvantages when compared to the Council’s proposals. In particular, the Liberal Democrat proposal maintained the division of Birdwell between wards and did not include Worsbrough Common in Worsborough ward. The scheme from the local resident kept Birdwell together as a community in a single ward but placed it in a ward with Dodworth. We did not consider that either of these proposals would reflect the identities and interests of the Birdwell and Worsbrough communities.

On our visit to the area, we were able to observe the community ties that exist within the Birdwell area, and its stronger ties with areas to the south rather than with Worsbrough. We therefore recommend that it be wholly included in Rockingham ward. We also visited the Worsbrough Common community and concluded that the most appropriate warding pattern would be to include this community in a Worsbrough ward which is provided for in the Council’s proposal.

Having given careful consideration to the evidence received, we have decided to base our final recommendations on the Council’s proposed Dodworth, Stainborough & Tankersley ward. While we accept that this ward has generated some opposition from both the Stainborough and Tankersley area, our options for a warding patterns in this area that meet our statutory criteria are very limited. Other potential warding patterns would divide coherent communities such as Birdwell and Worsbrough between wards. The Commission’s view is that it is better to propose a ward that contains whole areas that may not share a close sense of community such as Stainborough and Dodworth than to divide coherent communities that share ties.

We did consider whether it was possible to include all of Tankersley in Rockingham ward as a number of submissions requested but this would result in an electoral variance of 15% in Rockingham ward and -30% in Dodworth ward. We do not consider we have received sufficient evidence to justify such high electoral variances.

In one area, we have not adopted the Council’s proposals. This is in relation to its proposed boundary between Dodworth, Stainborough & Tankersley and Rockingham wards. The Council’s proposed ward boundary departs from the parish boundary in the Hoyland Common area in such a way that it would require two parish wards for Tankersley. One of these parish wards would contain approximately 40 electors whilst the other would contain no electors. It is the Commission’s view that a parish ward of fewer than 100 electors does not normally provide for effective and convenient local government. Consequently, we have decided to follow the parish boundary as the ward boundary despite it being partially defaced by housing development. Issues of this nature can be resolved by means of a Community Governance Review of parish boundaries conducted by Barnsley Council. Subsequently, the Council would be at liberty to request that we consider a related alteration to the borough ward boundary.

Our final recommendations for this area are for the three-councillor wards of Dodworth, Stainborough & Tankersley, Rockingham and Worsbrough with forecast electoral variances of -9%, -2% and 8% by 2029, respectively.

East and North East Barnsley

Dearne North and Dearne South

Under our draft recommendations we proposed to make no changes to the boundaries of the existing wards. However, we recommended that Dearne North ward be renamed Thurnscoe & Goldthorpe North and that Dearne South be renamed Bolton & Goldthorpe Green following a proposal from a local resident.

In response, while we received support for the unchanged ward boundaries from the Council, it argued that the names should revert to Dearne North and Dearne South as these were longstanding names that were very well recognised locally. The Council added that both wards lie in the Dearne Valley, with lots of amenities carrying the Dearne name. The Council’s view was that including Goldthorpe in both names added confusion as local residents do not identify with Goldthorpe North, Goldthorpe South or Goldthorpe Green. The Liberal Democrat Group also wrote in agreement that the current names are well understood and should be retained. A local resident supported the boundaries of the two wards and the name of Thurnscoe & Goldthorpe North but suggested the other ward should be named Bolton & Goldthorpe South instead of Bolton & Goldthorpe Green.

Having considered these submissions we agree that reverting to the existing ward names of Dearne North and Dearne South would be appropriate to avoid local confusion and to recognise the longstanding and identifiable community names already in place.

Our final recommendations are for the three-councillor wards of Dearne North and Dearne South with forecast electoral variances of -1% and 5%, respectively, by 2029.

Darfield & Great Houghton and North East

The Council supported the two proposed wards of Darfield & Great Houghton and North East. A local resident also wrote in support of these two wards stating that the inclusion of all of Great Houghton parish in a single ward reflects the strong community identity of the parish, as does its inclusion in the ward name. They supported the boundaries for North East ward but suggested that it be renamed Grimethorpe & Shafton to reflect the two largest communities in the ward.

Three local residents wrote in response to Darfield & Great Houghton ward, two of which supported the parish of Great Houghton remaining in North East ward. The Darfield Area Amenities Society wrote to ask that the area covered by the Goldthorpe Masterplan remain divided between Darfield & Great Houghton ward and Dearne South ward.

Having considered the submissions received, we propose to make no changes to the draft recommendations. While we noted the two submissions in opposition to the inclusion of Great Houghton parish in Darfield & Great Houghton ward, neither of these submissions provided an alternative warding pattern that would resolve the high electoral variance of 15% that results when North East ward is left unchanged. We also looked at the comments regarding the Goldthorpe Masterplan which appears in the Local Plan for this area. This future development appears to have approximately 80 future electors allocated to the part of the development that will lie in Darfield & Great Houghton ward. We do not propose to make any changes in this area due to considerations of electoral equality and so the future development will remain partly in Darfield & Great Houghton ward and partly in Dearne South ward.

We do not propose to change the name of North East ward as we consider this to be a longstanding and well recognised ward name in the area.

Our final recommendations are for the three-councillor wards of Darfield & Great Houghton and North East. These wards will have forecast electoral variances of 10% and -7%, respectively, by 2029.

Hoyland, Stairfoot and Wombwell

Hoyland Milton, Stairfoot and Wombwell

The Council supported the draft recommendations for this area and supported the retention of the Hoyland Milton ward name due it its historical significance as the name of the local Milton Ironworks. The Council considered that this name united the entire community and changing it to Hoyland Elsecar, which was an alternative suggestion, would only recognise part of the community. The Council also supported the small change we made to the existing Stairfoot ward to recognise the geographic footprint of Barnsley Academy that had opened since the previous electoral review.

A local resident proposed to substantially redraw the three wards in this area. They proposed that the Wombwell boundary should move from the railway line to follow the rear of properties on Windmill Road, Summer Lane and Copeland Road and that properties to the south and west of these streets should move to a Hoyland East & Wombwell Wood ward. Their proposed Hoyland East & Wombwell Wood ward loses Blacker Hill and Platts Common to a Wombwell West ward, with Tankersley parish and Birdwell moving to a Dodworth & Birdwell ward. This proposal would see three wards with good electoral equality.

Another local resident supported the proposed boundary for Hoyland Milton, despite the inclusion of Wood Walk which they argued had stronger ties with Wombwell. They proposed that the ward should be called Hoyland & Elsecar stating that Elsecar has stronger local recognition as a name. They supported our recommended boundary between Wombwell and Darfield & Great Houghton wards as well as our proposed Stairfoot ward.

We received six further submissions from local residents that mentioned one or more of these wards. One local resident was in favour of keeping the Hoyland Milton ward name, while another supported changing the name of Hoyland Milton ward to Hoyland Elsecar. Two local residents suggested that electors around Aldham House Lane should be included in Wombwell rather than Stairfoot ward and two residents objected to the changes proposed to Wombwell ward around Wood Walk.

Having carefully considered the submissions received, we do not propose to make any changes to our recommendations for these wards. We noted the alternative warding proposals from a local resident, but concluded that this scheme was not an improvement on the draft recommendations. In particular, we considered that the boundary between their proposed Hoyland East & Wombwell Wood and Hoyland West wards in the central Hoyland area was arbitrary and would not reflect local communities. We also considered that the proposed inclusion of a larger part of Wombwell in a ward with Hoyland did not reflect community identities or interests. Additionally, as mentioned earlier in this report, we were not persuaded that electors in Birdwell should be included in a ward with Dodworth.

We have decided not to rename our proposed Hoyland Milton ward to Hoyland Elsecar. We note the evidence offered in favour of the inclusion of Elsecar in the ward name but agree with the Council that the existing name reflects all of the communities in the ward rather than just a single area. We considered the inclusion of Wood Walk and Wombwell Wood in Wombwell ward when drawing up our draft recommendations. However, this would result in an electoral variance of 13% for Wombwell ward and we do not consider that sufficient community evidence has been received to justify this electoral inequality.

In addition, the inclusion of the Aldham House Lane area in Wombwell ward, as suggested by two respondents, would see Wombwell have 25% more electors per councillor than the average for Barnsley which we consider too high a variance to accept.

Our final recommendations for this area are for the three-councillor wards of Hoyland Milton, Stairfoot and Wombwell, which will have forecast electoral variances of 7%, 1% and 9%, by 2029.