THE independent Boundary Committee for England has announced its initial recommendation on council size for Central Bedfordshire Council (CBC). For CBC, the Committee has decided on a council size of 59. Further consultation, which will map out the numb

THE independent Boundary Committee for England has announced its initial recommendation on council size for Central Bedfordshire Council (CBC).

For CBC, the Committee has decided on a council size of 59.

Further consultation, which will map out the number and boundaries of the electoral wards, begins today and ends on January 11, 2010.

The electoral reviews are being held because CBC is a new unitary council which began work in April 2009. The intention is that their electoral arrangements - the number of councillors, and the number and pattern of wards - should reflect the councils' new functions and how they intend to engage with local people and communities.

Max Caller, chairman of the Boundary Committee, said: "We've looked carefully at all the evidence we received in support of various council sizes before making our decisions

"We want to make sure that the electoral arrangements for the council work best for residents in Central Bedfordshire.

"We're now starting the second round of consultation in these reviews, and we're asking people to submit evidence-based proposals for new ward boundaries to us.

"At this stage the consultation is designed to help us draw the map of what the council's wards will look like. We need help from local people to do that, so we want to know what people think of as their community. "We'll consider carefully all evidence that is provided during the next stage of the process. At this stage, none of our decisions are final."

Further information on electoral reviews and guidance on what sort of information the Committee is looking for should be available at council offices, in your local library, or on the Boundary Committee's website at www.boundarycommittee.org.uk