A community governance review looks at the whole or part of an area to consider:

• The creation, merger, alteration or abolition of parishes
• The naming of parishes and the style of new parishes
• The electoral arrangements for parishes, such as the ordinary year of election, council size, boundary area, wards and number of councillors
• The grouping or de-grouping of parishes

By law, we are allowed to use a review to assess and make changes to community governance within our area. The GOV.UK website has guidance about carrying out a community governance review.

What does a community governance review do?

A review makes sure that local governance is effective and convenient, and that it reflects the identities and interests of local communities.

The recommendations of any review should aim to:

• Improve community engagement
• Bring communities closer together
• Create better local democracy
• Result in more efficient delivery of local services

A review can be:

• In response to changes in population, for example, if there is a major new housing development
• Triggered by a petition presented to us. For a petition to be valid certain conditions need to be met. For example, for an area with less than 500 local electors, at least 50% of them must sign the petition. For areas between 500 and 2,500 people, the petition must be signed by at least 250 people and for an area with more than 2,500 local electors, the petition must be signed by at least 10% of them.
• Triggered by a request from an existing parish council

The council decides whether a community governance review can take place. Once agreed, we have one year to complete the review. As part of this, a full consultation takes place, involving parishes, ward members, local stakeholders and residents.