Gateshead Final Recommendations
Explore our final recommendations for new wards in Gateshead.
The Commission has published final recommendations for Gateshead.
Explore your area
In the map below we discuss each area of the borough. This detail is also available in our report.
West of the Borough
Crawcrook & Greenside and Ryton, Crookhill & Stella
Whickham
Dunston Hill & Whickham East, Whickham North & Swalwell and Whickham South & Sunniside
Central Gateshead
Bridges, Lobley Hill & Bensham and Saltwell
East of the Borough
Felling and Pelaw, Heworth & Bill Quay, Wardley & Leam Lane and Windy Nook & Whitehills
Chowdene, High Fell and Low Fell
Chowdene, High Fell and Low Fell
Birtley and Lamesley
Birtley North & Lamesley and Birtley South
West of the Borough
Crawcrook & Greenside and Ryton, Crookhill & Stella
We received 59 submissions that related to these wards. The Green Party supported the draft recommendations across Gateshead including these two wards. The remaining 58 submissions were in opposition to our draft recommendations.
These submissions stated that our proposed changes broke significant community ties in the area by including part of the Barmoor community in Crawcrook & Greenside ward. It was also argued that some of the electors we had placed in Crawcrook & Greenside ward used Ryton Infant and Junior Schools and Thorp Academy, which are located in Ryton, Crookhill & Stella ward under our draft recommendations. The respondents also stated that the area of Barmoor in question is known as West Ryton which provided another indication of its community ties to Ryton. In addition, respondents stated they used leisure facilities such as Ryton Cricket Club and Ryton Rugby Club and shopping facilities like Ryton Co-operative Store.
Transferring the Barmoor area into Ryton, Crookhill & Stella ward would result in that ward having an electoral variance of 13% by 2029. While this is a relatively high level of electoral inequality, we are persuaded that it is justified, particularly given the strong community evidence received which demonstrated that the area shares interests and identities with adjoining areas in Ryton, Crookhill & Stella ward. We therefore recommend that the Barmoor area be included in that ward as part of our final recommendations. This proposal reverts to the existing boundary between Crawcrook & Greenside and Ryton, Crookhill & Stella wards.
Our proposed wards of Crawcrook & Greenside and Ryton, Crookhill & Stella will have electoral variances of 5% and 13%, respectively, by 2029.
Blaydon, Chopwell & Rowlands Gill and Winlaton & High Spen
The Green Party supported all three of these wards. We received no other submissions that mentioned Chopwell & Rowlands Gill ward. We received two submissions that referred to the boundary between Blaydon and Winlaton & High Spen wards. Both submissions suggested that the boundary should follow Tyne Street so that properties on Clara Street, Florence Street and May Street are included in Winlaton & High Spen.
We carefully considered these submissions as well as those received throughout the review. We have decided not to make any changes to these two wards as part of our final recommendations. We are content that the draft recommendations provide a better reflection of our statutory criteria. In particular, we were persuaded by the Council’s evidence during our warding arrangements consultation that Clara Street, Florence Street and May Street had stronger ties to Blaydon than to Winlaton.
Our final recommendations are for the three-councillor wards of Blaydon with an electoral variance of 5%, Chopwell & Rowlands Gill with an electoral variance of 9% and Winlaton & High Spen with a variance of 8% by 2029.
Whickham
Dunston Hill & Whickham East, Whickham North & Swalwell and Whickham South & Sunniside
We received four submissions that mentioned these wards. The Green Party supported the draft recommendations. Two submissions related to Dunston Hill & Whickham East ward. One submission did not think that Dunston Hill should be included in a ward with Whickham, while another supported the inclusion of the Glebe Terrace area in a Dunston & Teams ward as Gateshead Council had proposed during the previous consultation phase. The forth submission related to the boundary between Dunston Hill & Whickham East and Whickham North & Swalwell. It was argued that our proposed boundary separated Swalwell Primary School from the rest of the Swalwell community by placing it in Dunston Hill & Whickham East ward.
We carefully considered these submissions and propose to make a small amendment to the boundary between Dunston Hill & Whickham East and Whickham North & Swalwell wards so that Swalwell Primary School is included in Whickham North & Swalwell. This proposed change affects no electors. We do not propose to amend the boundary between Dunston Hill & Whickham East and Dunston, Teams & Riverside wards as we consider that the A1 provides a strong and identifiable ward boundary.
Our final recommendations are for the three-councillor wards of Dunston Hill & Whickham East, Whickham North & Swalwell and Whickham South & Sunniside. All three wards will have good electoral equality with variances of 8%, -3% and -7%, respectively, by 2029.
Central Gateshead
Bridges, Lobley Hill & Bensham and Saltwell
We received four submissions that related to Saltwell ward. The Green Party supported the draft recommendations. Two electors wrote regarding our proposal to retain Ventnor Crescent and Ventnor Gardens in Saltwell ward. Both of these submissions supported the Council’s suggested proposal to move this area to Low Fell ward. These submissions stated that Ventnor Crescent and Ventnor Gardens have strong ties to Low Fell given their proximity to that ward and their separation from the remainder of Saltwell ward by Saltwell Cemetery, Saltwell Park and Saltwell Road allotments.
We also received a submission from a local resident who noted the presence of a significant Jewish population in the area centred around the north of Saltwell ward, as well as in the neighbouring wards of Bridges and Lobley Hill & Bensham. The respondent added that the local population shared a community of interest and could be united in Saltwell ward. The respondent did not specify a suggested ward boundary. We have carefully considered this submission and recognise the information in respect of the extent of the community in this area. However, we were not persuaded that sufficient evidence in respect of community identities and interests was provided to justify amending our recommendations in this area. Additionally, it should be noted that it is not possible to accommodate this area in a single ward and still provide for good electoral equality.
We do, however, propose to make two amendments to Saltwell ward. We propose to include the Ventnor Crescent and Ventnor Gardens area in Low Fell ward. We were persuaded by the evidence that these electors have stronger ties to that ward rather than to Saltwell ward, in which they are geographically isolated. In particular, we recognise the evidence which showed that this area was geographically separated from the majority of Saltwell ward by Saltwell Cemetery, Saltwell Park and the allotments to the north.
Moving this area into Low Fell ward would result in Saltwell ward having 12% fewer electors per councillor than the average for Gateshead by 2029. Therefore, in order to ensure Saltwell ward has good electoral equality we propose to amend its boundary with Bridges ward. The existing boundary runs along Bewick Road before turning south along Alexandra Road and east along Whitehall Road. We propose to move this boundary so that it runs along Bewick Road in its entirety, then heads south on High West Street and Durham Road. As well as providing for electoral equality we consider that this provides a stronger and more identifiable ward boundary.
Deckham and Dunston, Teams & Riverside
We received three submissions that related to these wards. The Green Party supported the draft recommendations. One local resident did not think that Riverside should be added to the name of Dunston, Teams & Riverside ward. Another local resident stated that Dunston should not be considered as part of central Gateshead.
We do not propose to make any changes to these wards and are confident that using ‘Riverside’ in our proposed ward name accurately reflects the communities and extent of the proposed ward.
Our final recommendations for Central Gateshead are for the three-councillor wards of Bridges, Deckham, Dunston, Teams & Riverside, Lobley Hill & Bensham and Saltwell. These five wards will have electoral equality of -1%, -6%, -10%, 0% and -5% by 2029, respectively.
East of the Borough
Felling and Pelaw, Heworth & Bill Quay, Wardley & Leam Lane and Windy Nook & Whitehills
We received three submissions that related to these wards. The Green Party supported all four wards. A local councillor for the existing Pelaw & Heworth ward supported the addition of Bill Quay to the name of the ward and a local resident supported Wardley & Leam Lane ward. We received no further comments for this area and therefore confirm our draft recommendations as final.
Our final recommendations for the east of the borough are for the three-councillor wards of Felling, Pelaw, Heworth & Bill Quay, Wardley & Leam Lane and Windy Nook & Whitehills. All four wards will have good forecast electoral equality by 2029 with variances of -7%, -6%, 0% and -6%, respectively.
Chowdene, High Fell and Low Fell
Chowdene, High Fell and Low Fell
We received four submissions that made reference to these wards. We mentioned two of these in paragraphs 51–54 where we discuss our decision to include Ventnor Crescent and Ventnor Gardens in Low Fell ward. Of the remaining two submissions the Green Party supported our draft recommendations and a local resident suggested that High Fell ward be renamed Sheriff Hill, Beacon Lough & Wrekenton. They also proposed that the southern boundary of the ward be moved to follow the boundary of Lamesley parish.
We do not propose to amend our draft recommendations for this area. While we considered the proposal to use the Lamesley parish boundary as a ward boundary, we noted that the parish boundary has become defaced over time and passes directly through a number of properties. We do not consider that using this boundary would provide those electors, the parish or Gateshead Council with effective and convenient local government. If desired, a change to parish boundaries can be achieved by way of a Community Governance Review that would be conducted by Gateshead Council. We therefore propose to make no change to these three wards other than the decision in respect of Ventnor Crescent and Ventnor Gardens, which is discussed earlier in this report.
Our final recommendations provide for the three-councillor wards of Chowdene, High Fell and Low Fell with electoral equality of -4%, -1% and -2%, respectively, by 2029.
Birtley and Lamesley
Birtley North & Lamesley and Birtley South
We received six submissions relating to these wards. The Green Party supported our draft recommendations. Four of the submissions suggested that the boundary in the Wrekenton and Eighton Banks area be amended so that both Wrekenton and Eighton Banks were wholly included in a single ward. Three submissions suggested that both areas should be included in High Fell, and one suggested both areas should be included in Birtley North & Lamesley. The remaining submission suggested that the boundary between Birtley North & Lamesley and Birtley South be extended northwards so that all of Birtley is included in a single ward.
We do not propose to adopt any of these changes as all would provide extremely poor electoral equality. Including all of Wrekenton and Eighton Banks in High Fell ward would produce an electoral variance of 26% in that ward and -25% in Birtley North & Lamesley. Furthermore, including all of Wrekenton and Eighton Banks in Birtley North & Lamesley would result in an electoral variance of 41% in that ward and -40% in High Fell ward. In addition, including all of Birtley in a single ward would result in an electoral variance of 60%.
Our final recommendations provide for the three-councillor wards of Birtley North & Lamesley and Birtley South with electoral variances of 3% and 6%, respectively, by 2029.