A RAFT of changes to St Helens’ political map have been put forward as part of the Local Government Boundary Commission for England’s electoral review.

The aim of the review is to recommend ward boundaries that mean each councillor represents approximately the same number of voters, and to ensure they reflect the interests and identities of communities.

One of the big changes proposed by Labour relates to Newton-le-Willows, which currently has two wards, Newton and Earlestown.

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From around 1975 to 2003, the town consisted of two electoral wards named Newton-le-Willows East and Newton-le-Willows West.

In their submission to the Boundary Commission, St Helens Labour group has suggested a return to East and West, saying this better reflects the identity of the area.

“Since 2003, the two electoral wards have been named Newton and Earlestown, which, in the opinion of the community, doesn’t fit distinct communities in the town,” Labour’s submission said.

“Earlestown is a much smaller part of Newton-le-Willows, yet, at present, part of Newton High Street, and Newton-le-Willows Sports Club both sit in Earlestown Ward, which residents don’t understand or relate to.”

Liberal Democrat councillor David Smith, who represents Newton, has also urged the Boundary Commission in his submission to rename Newton and Earlestown wards to include Newton-le-Willows.

The issue of identity was a consistent theme in the public’s submission, with calls for Newton-le-Willows to fall under Lancashire a recurring theme.

One resident said Newton and Earlestown should merge into one ward, with five councillors instead of six.

Another said Newton should fall under Warrington, with Earlestown remaining as part of St Helens, arguing that it has “more in common with the town.”

Across the borough, the St Helens Labour group has proposed several changes, with some reductions in the number of councillors per ward.

This includes extending the boundary within the Bold ward to include the Waterside Village housing estate to the south of Lea Green Railway Station, renaming the ward Bold and Lea Green.

Linking in with this, Labour has proposed splitting the Sutton ward into North and South, each with two councillors, redrawing the lines to meet up with the Bold parish boundary.

This change also proposes taking some of the current St Helens Town Centre ward, where two proposals have been included in Labour’s submission.

One proposal is to split the ward into two new areas, a two-member St Helens Town Centre ward and one-member Peasley Cross and Fingerpost ward.

The alternative proposal is to merge these two areas to create one three-member ward called St Helens Central.

“This area would cover wider than just the town centre of St Helens and so the name would respect the different communities in this ward, as they would all associate themselves as being in the centre of the town and borough of St Helens, but would not all immediately say they were in the town centre,” St Helens Labour group’s submission said.

“It would also reflect the name of the train station for identity and location purposes.”

No changes have been proposed by Labour to the Eccleston ward.

The Liberal Democrats said in their submission that they would be happy if the existing boundaries were to remain in place.

However, they said that if the ward was amended, placing the most southern end of the ward in Rainhill would be the best option as it is “Rainhill by definition”.

“If we are to have our ward reduced in size, then this would be the most practical solution,” the Liberal Democrats group’s submission said.

“We are also confident that the residents that live there would be open to being placed into a Rainhill ward, or Rainhill wards in the future, as would the existing Rainhill ward councillors.”

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Conversely, Rainhill councillor James Tasker said in his submission that any changes to the ward would have a “significant impact” on residents.

Cllr Tasker, leader of The Independents, said in his submission that he wishes to see the Rainhill ward remain as it is.

A consultation on the draft recommendations from the Local Government Boundary Commission for England will run from February 2 to April 12, 2021.

To view all of the submissions to the warding arrangements consultation, click here.