Sawbridgeworth Town Council rejects East Herts Council review which proposes splitting town into wards

Town councillors are opposed to proposals in a local government review to split Sawbridgeworth into wards.

East Herts Council (EHC) is undertaking a community governance review and one option is for elected town councillors to represent wards within Sawbridgeworth.

A report to Monday’s (Nov 25) full meeting of Sawbridgeworth Town Council heard EHC had opened a public consultation, the deadline for which was January 6.

The meeting represented the final opportunity for members to discuss the review and formulate a response.

Cllr Angus Parsad-Wyatt, who is also a member of East Herts Council, said he felt the town was better off not having wards.

“It’s all very joined up with the way the town operates,” he told colleagues, proposing that a formal response was put together stating a previous view put forward by councillors was unchanged.

Cllr Nathan Parsad-Wyatt agreed saying Sawbridgeworth had a “one-town identity” adding: “I think it would be a shame if we were split into north/south/east and west.”

But Cllr Steve Smith said there could be an argument that the town should be warded as different areas had different needs.

Cllr Annelise Furnace disagreed fearing warding would “set us up against each other”.

Suggestions that a review by central Government of local councils might impact on any decision was dismissed by Cllr Angus Parsad-Wyatt and he said there were no plans to change the number of councillors on the town council.

The council resolved to formally respond to the consultation expressing its unanimous, cross-party view that no changes are necessary to the current governance, structure, boundaries or warding arrangements for Sawbridgeworth.

This position was also discussed and expressed in July 2023. The exact wording of the council’s response is being discussed between councillors, but will be submitted prior to the consultation deadline on January 6.