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Community Governance Review

A Community Governance Review (CGR) provides an opportunity to put in place strong, clearly defined boundaries, which reflect local identities and facilitate effective and convenient local government. It can take place for the whole or individual parts of the district to consider one or more of the following:

  • Creating, merging, altering or abolishing parishes
  • The naming of parishes and the style of new parishes/town councils
  • Electoral arrangements for parishes/town councils including:
    • the ordinary year of election
    • the number of councillors to be elected; and
    • the warding (if any) of the parish/town councils.
  • Grouping parishes under a common parish council or degrouping parishes

We are required to ensure that community governance within the area under review will be:

  • Reflective of the identities and interests of the community in that area; and
  • Effective and convenient

In doing so, the CGR is required to take account of:

  • The impact of community governance arrangements on community cohesion; and
  • The size, population and boundaries of a local community or parish council

Terms of Reference

We have considered the requirements listed above when drawing up the objectives and questions that proposals for changes will be assessed against. 

We must also have regard to the Guidance on Community Governance Reviews issued by the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities and the Local Government Boundary Commission for England. 

Further details about the Community Governance Review can be found in the Terms of Reference (131KB PDF).

Consultation

We invited comments from interested parish and town councils in July and August 2023.

Stage 1 consultation was undertaken between 28 November 2023 and 31 January 2024. During this consultation, we sought views and/or proposals about existing parish boundaries, numbers of councillors and if any new parishes should be created or existing parishes abolished or merged and where these should be.

The outcome of the Stage 1 consultation was considered by the Council at its meeting on 21 March 2024.

Stage 2 consultation took place from 26 April 2024 to 28 July 2024. We consulted on proposals that arose from stage 1 of the review.

The Council considered the outcomes of this stage of consultation at its meeting on 26 September 2024 and voted to give effect to the recommendations drafted following the consultation.

The consultation is now closed.

Final report

The final report, including the recommendations and reasons for recommendations, is available to view here:

The final proposals affect the following parishes in West Northamptonshire:

Changes to boundaries

  • Boughton/Kingsthorpe
  • Dodford/Weedon Bec
  • Great Houghton/Little Houghton
  • Pitsford/Moulton
  • Roade/Stoke Bruerne
  • Tiffield/Towcester
  • Wootton/Hackleton

Change to parish wards

  • Daventry

Change to the number of councillors

  • Overstone
  • Pitsford
  • Ravensthorpe
  • Thorpe Mandeville
  • West Hunsbury

The Community Governance Order and maps are in the process of being drafted and will appear on this page in due course.

If you have any questions or would like more information, please email [email protected].

Last updated 09 December 2024