Draft minutes

Cllr Chris Turrell was elected as Chairman.

Cllr Dale Birch was elected as Vice Chairman

There were no declarations of interest.

The Electoral Services Manager presented to the steering group on the latest polling district and polling place review which included the location of polling stations.

The review last year had already established some new polling stations which meant there were not as many proposed changes this year. The polling districts would also be based on last year’s review as there were no changes proposed.

It was confirmed that another review would take place before 2023 following the review made by the Local Government Boundary Commission and that the next statutory polling district and polling place review would be in 2024.

It was noted that if nothing was included in the report about a polling station or district then it meant officers were happy with how the area and polling station performed.

During the consultation period there were 97 representations made which was a good overall response. The main responses were regarding Wildriding’s Primary School and Wooden Hill Primary school. It was noted that some of the responses were outside of the scope of the review and could not be commented upon.

Where ever possible the (Acting) Returning Officer would not want to use any schools as a polling station but unfortunately some areas had no other suitable options.

The steering group agreed to maintain arrangements in all polling districts and polling stations apart from those detailed below.

Great Hollands South - BJ

The consultation responses relating to Wooden Hill Primary School polling station all suggested that the pavilion should be considered again following the re-build in 2018.

The merits and concerns about the pavilion were discussed by the steering group. It was acknowledged that although the venue was used heavily at the weekend by residents, there were accessibility concerns for residents who were less mobile. The walk from the carpark to the pavilion was quite steep. Residents approaching from the Wooden Hill road could walk along the path, but this was uneven in places and unlit. The location also meant that residents would need to drive out of the ward to get to the polling station by car.

Although lighting was planned along the path in future, it was not currently in place.

The nursery building at Wooden Hill School had been trialled as a polling station before, however the building did not have very good disabled access and there had been safeguarding concerns for the children.

It was noted that the short notice of the EU parliamentary election was unusual and it was appreciated that this caused disruption to the school.

It was agreed that it would not be advisable to change the polling stations for the Great Hollands area as part of this review and then change the polling venue again only a year later as this would be confusing for voters. It was noted that the additional room at Great Hollands Community Centre could be considered as part of the next review.

The steering group agreed to support the proposal to keep Wooden Hill School as the  ...  view the full minutes text for item 4.