Richmond upon Thames is set to have new boundaries for its council wards. These will make sure the arrangements for council elections stay fair.

The Local Government Boundary Commission is the independent body that draws these boundaries. It reviews councils to make sure councillors represent about the same number of electors and ward arrangements help councils work effectively. Today it published final recommendations for changes in Richmond upon Thames.

The commission recommends Richmond upon Thames council should be represented by 54 councillors representing 18 three-councillor wards: the same as the current arrangement. The boundaries of 15 of these wards will change to reflect changes in population since the last set of boundaries were drawn up in 1999, as well as forecast change in future.

During the 18 month duration of this review, the Commission has received over 120 submissions from stakeholders including local residents and councillors, across two separate phases of consultation.

Professor Colin Mellors is Chair of the Commission. He said:

“We are very grateful to people in Richmond upon Thames. They helped us improve our earlier proposals.

“We believe the new arrangements will guarantee electoral fairness while maintaining local ties.”

Based on feedback on our draft recommendations, the Commission has made significant changes in the following areas:

Coleshill Road and Admiralty Way will remain in Teddington ward, based on responses the Commission received which argued that they had strong community links to Teddington.

The area north of Chertsey Road will not move to Whitton but will stay in St Margarets & North Twickenham, following persuasive submissions arguing that councillors covering the area should also cover the footprint of the stadium and its surroundings.

Finally, the Commission recommends including Kingsway, Shalstone Road and Lower Richmond Road in Mortlake & Barnes Common ward, owing to the arguments for better community links with Mortlake than Richmond.

Further small changes can be found on the LGBCE website: https://www.lgbce.org.uk/all-reviews/greater-london/greater-london/richmond-upon-thames

These recommendations ensure a strong balance of the Commission’s statutory criteria of roughly equal levels of representation, reflecting community links and promoting effective and convenient local government.

The recommendations will now be laid in parliament, and subject to approval will come into effect for the Richmond upon Thames Council elections in 2022.