Wirral draft recommendations

North Wirral

Leasowe & Moreton East, Liscard & Egremont, Moreton West & Saughall Massie, New Brighton, Seacombe and Wallasey

The Conservative, Green and Labour groups all proposed to make no changes to the boundaries of these six wards which they all considered fully reflect the communities and required no change. The Conservative Group proposed that Liscard ward be renamed Liscard & Egremont to reflect both communities in the ward.

The Liberal Democrat Group proposed a small change to the boundary between Moreton West & Saughall Massie and Upton ward, which is discussed above.

The only other submission relating to this area was from a local resident who wanted to ensure that Seacombe ward reflected the increased electorate as a result of the Wirral Waters Development.

Having considered the submissions received and given the strong preference for retaining the existing electoral arrangements in this area, we have decided to make no change to ward boundaries in north Wirral, as part of our draft recommendations.

However, we are recommending the ward name of Liscard & Egremont, as proposed by the Conservative Group, which we consider reflects the constituent communities of the proposed ward.

We considered the small amendment proposed by the Liberal Democrat Group. This, we concluded, was an attempt to reduce the current electoral inequality in Upton ward which, based on the 2024 electorate figures, has an electoral variance of 11%. However, this variance reduces to 7% by 2030 due to housing developments elsewhere in the borough. We are therefore not persuaded to adopt this amendment as part of our draft recommendations. We also considered that the proposed amendment would not reflect community identities given that the proposed Moreton West & Saughall Massie ward would include electors either side of a large dual carriageway which appears to form a significant barrier between communities.

In response to the submission regarding the Wirral Waters Development, we confirm that the five-year electorate forecast incorporates this development and has been taken into account when considering the boundaries of the unchanged Seacombe ward. 55 Our draft recommendations for this area are for the three-councillor wards of Leasowe & Moreton East, Liscard & Egremont, Moreton West & Saughall Massie, New Brighton, Seacombe and Wallasey. These wards will have good electoral equality with variances of 1%, 3%, -6%, 0%, 4% and 0%, respectively, by 2030.

South Wirral

Bromborough, Prenton and Rock Ferry

The current Bromborough ward will see significant housing development that results in an electoral variance of 24% for this ward by 2030. All four borough-wide schemes propose to address this electoral inequality by proposing changes to its existing boundaries.

The Labour Group proposed to amend the boundary between Bromborough and Rock Ferry wards. Its proposed boundary follows Bebington Road, then follows the rear of properties on the south side of Beverley Road, before running up New Ferry Road to the River Mersey. All properties to the north of this boundary would move from Bromborough ward to Rock Ferry ward. The Labour Group also proposed to move the boundary between Prenton and Rock Ferry wards from Bedford Drive and The Wiend to Hesketh Avenue and Borough Road so that Prenton High School would be included in Prenton ward. Councillors Cooke and Graham supported this change. It also proposed the associated changes to Birkenhead & Tranmere and Prenton wards as detailed above.

The Conservative Group put forward only minor changes to these wards. It proposed a small amendment to Rock Ferry ward, which is discussed elsewhere in this report. It also proposed a change to the boundary between Bromborough and Clatterbridge wards so that it follows Bromborough Road and the Dibbinsdale Brook rather than the railway line. This would ensure that the whole of the Spital area would be included in Clatterbridge ward.

The Liberal Democrat Group proposed to address the electoral inequality in Bromborough ward by transferring a larger part of the existing ward into its proposed two-councillor Rock Ferry & New Ferry ward with the remainder of the existing Rock Ferry ward moving into a two-councillor Tranmere & Egerton ward. The group also proposed to move the boundary between Prenton and Bebington wards to include Gayton, Harley, Heswall and Stanley Avenues in Prenton ward to improve electoral equality in both wards.

The Green Party Group proposed to move a larger portion of the existing Bromborough ward into its proposed three-councillor Rock Ferry ward. The group also proposed that the southern boundary of Bromborough ward follow Allport Road rather than Acre Lane, moving all electors north of Allport Road from Eastham ward to Bromborough ward. The three Green Party councillors for Bromborough wrote in support of the Green Party proposal. In addition, a local resident stated that Port Sunlight should be moved from Bromborough ward to Bebington ward as residents consider themselves to be part of Bebington. Another local resident wrote in support of keeping the existing Prenton ward. Finally, a third local resident wrote in support of the inclusion of all of Spital in Clatterbridge ward, as proposed by the Conservative Group.

Having carefully considered the submissions received and having visited this area as part of our tour of Wirral, we have decided to base our draft recommendations on a combination of the proposals from the Labour Group and Conservative Group. We visited the area between Well Lane and Downham Road which the Labour Group proposed be included in Prenton ward and which the Conservative Group included in Rock Ferry ward. We concluded that it was most appropriate to include this area in Prenton ward. In particular, having visited the area we considered that it had stronger community ties to Prenton, particular around the Church Road shopping area which serves both communities. However, we are keen to hear evidence from electors in this area during the current consultation as to where their community links lie. We also propose to adopt the Labour Group’s proposal to move the boundary between Prenton and Rock Ferry wards from Borough Road and Hesketh Avenue to ensure that Prenton High School is contained in Prenton ward.

Finally, we have adopted the Conservative Group’s proposal to move the boundary between Bromborough and Clatterbridge wards from the railway line to Bromborough Road and the Dibbinsdale Brook. Our visit to Wirral re-enforced the view that this area appears to form part of the Spital community, but we would welcome further evidence during the current consultation.

Of the proposals we have not adopted, we were concerned that the Liberal Democrats’ wards of Tranmere & Egerton and Rock Ferry & New Ferry did not have boundaries that were as easily identifiable as the existing arrangements, or the other proposals put forward to us. Nor do we propose to adopt their suggestion for Gayton, Harley, Heswall and Stanley Avenues because we did not consider we had received sufficient evidence of their community connection to Prenton ward. The Green Party Group scheme was predicated on a reduction in the number of councillors across Wirral to provide their chosen warding pattern and we were not persuaded that this proposal provided the best balance of our statutory criteria. Furthermore, we were unable to identify a warding pattern that would include Port Sunlight in Bebington ward and provide electoral equality for Bebington or Bromborough wards.

Our draft recommendations are for the three-councillor wards of Bromborough, Prenton and Rock Ferry with electoral variances of 6%, 7% and 4%, respectively, by 2030.

Bebington, Clatterbridge and Eastham

The Labour Group proposed no change to these three wards as part of its proposals. The Conservative Group proposed no change other than to the boundary between Bromborough and Clatterbridge wards which is detailed in paragraph 58 and which we propose to adopt as part of our draft recommendations. The Liberal Democrat Group proposed a small change to the ward boundary between Bebington and Prenton detailed above. As detailed above, we have decided not to adopt this change as part of our draft recommendations.

The Green Party Group proposed to make more substantive changes to the boundaries of all three wards. It proposed to move Storeton village from Bebington ward to Clatterbridge ward on the basis that it was better suited to the more rural Clatterbridge ward. The group also proposed to include the Brookhurst area in Eastham ward rather than Clatterbridge ward using Allport Road, Raby Hall Road and the M53 as the revised ward boundary rather than the Birkenhead-Chester/Ellesmere Port railway line. Its proposed Clatterbridge ward would have 14% fewer electors per councillor than the average for Wirral by 2030. Councillors Grier and Lamb, two of the councillors for Bebington ward, supported the Green Party Group proposal.

Two local residents suggested that the Lower Bebington area move from Clatterbridge to Bebington ward. One of the submissions suggested that this should be the area to the north of Spital Road.

Having considered the submissions received we propose to make no changes to these wards as part of our draft recommendations, other than the aforementioned change to Clatterbridge ward in the Spital area. We were not persuaded that the Green Party Group’s scheme for this area provided the best balance of our statutory criteria. In particular, we were concerned about Storeton Village’s apparently limited connections to the rest of Clatterbridge ward as well as the relatively high electoral variance that would result from this proposal. We also carefully considered the proposal to include the Lower Bebington area in Bebington ward. However, we noted that this would result in very high electoral inequality with 30% more electors per councillor in Bebington ward and 36% fewer electors per councillor in Bromborough ward.

Our draft recommendations are for the three-councillor wards of Bebington, Clatterbridge and Eastham with electoral variances of 4%, 3% and -2%, respectively, by 2030.