Limavady goes East
Thursday, 25 September 2008
The map shows the proposed ward structure within Causeway Coast District Council.
PROVISIONAL Recommendations for the boundaries and names of the 11 new local government districts in Northern Ireland and their constituent wards were announced last week by the Local Government Boundaries Commissioner, Dick Mackenzie CB.
These initial recommendations are the outcome of work over the last few months by the Commissioner and his staff following the enactment of the Local Government (Boundaries) Act (Northern Ireland) 2008 which makes provision for the reduction in the number of councils from 26 to 11.
Limavady, Coleraine, Ballymoney and Moyle will come together under the proposed name of Causeway Coast District Council. The other proposed council names are Belfast City Council, Derry City and Strabane District Council, Armagh City and Bann District Council, Lisburn City and Castlereagh District Council, Newry City and Down District Council, Antrim and Newtownabbey District Council, Ards and North Down District Council, Fermanagh and Omagh District Council, Mid Antrim District Council, Mid Ulster District Council.
Mr Mackenzie said: "The publication of my Report is the first stage of a process which is designed to establish the district and ward boundaries for a completely new configuration of local government in Northern Ireland. The proposed boundaries of the districts are based on the amalgamation of the existing councils, with the exception of Belfast for which I am recommending a revised boundary to reflect the expansion of the city over the years."
Bar a few exceptions in the Belfast and Co Down areas, the Commissioner has proposed that the new council boundaries should follow the perimeters of the existing district council boundaries as grouped together in the legislation. Overall, in the provisional recommendations, the number of wards reduces from 582 to 460. The proposed number of wards for each district is 40, except for Belfast where the proposed number is 60.
The Commissioner indicated that, as regards the names of the new councils, he was recommending that the city status of five towns in Northern Ireland should be recognised along with existing council names where the new configuration comprised two existing councils. Where there were more than two councils in the new configurations, a name has been proposed which has a resonance with the locality.
The period for submission of written comments has now began, and will run until November 12 2008. This will be followed by a programme of 11 public hearings, one in each of the new local government districts, which will be held from November 20 2008 until November 28 2008. The details of the public hearings will be published in the local press. These will be held before Assistant Commissioners. Each hearing is scheduled to last for up to two days, during which all interested parties are invited to make oral representations on the Commissioner's provisional recommendations.
Encouraging the public to respond the Commissioner said: "These proposals will impact on councils, elected representatives, major public sector providers, the voluntary and community sectors, the private sector, as well as the general public. I hope that as many people and organisations as possible will take the opportunity to respond to the provisional recommendations and contribute to the shaping of local government."
