Citation, commencement and interpretation

1.-(1) This Order may be cited as the Borough of Northampton (Electoral Changes) Order 1998.

(2) This Order shall come into force for all purposes on 6th May 1999, except that for the purpose of all proceedings preliminary or relating to an election to be held on or after that date this Order shall come into force on 10th October 1998.

(3) In this Order-�

"the borough" means the borough of Northampton;

"existing", in relation to a ward, means the ward as it exists on the date this Order is made;

any reference to "the map" is a reference to the map prepared by the Department of the Environment, Transport and the Regions, marked "Map of the Borough of Northampton (Electoral Changes) Order 1998", and deposited in accordance with regulation 27 of the Local Government Changes for England Regulations 1994(4); and

and any reference to a numbered sheet is a reference to the sheet of the map which bears that number.

Wards of Northampton

2.-(1) The existing wards of the borough(5) shall be abolished.

(2) The borough shall be divided into twenty-three wards which shall bear the names set out in column (1) of Schedule 1 and the number of councillors to be elected for each ward shall be the number specified in respect of the ward in column (2) of that Schedule.

(3) The wards shall comprise the areas designated on the map by reference to the name of the ward and demarcated by red lines.

(4) Where a boundary is shown on the map as running along a road, railway line, footway, waterway or other similar geographical feature, it shall be treated as running along the centre line of the feature.

Wards of the parish of Billing

3.-(1) The existing wards of the parish of Billing shall be abolished.

(2) The parish shall be divided into four parish wards which shall bear the names Ecton, Brook, Great Billing, Little Billing and Middle.

(3) The wards shall comprise the areas designated on sheet 3 by reference to the name of the ward and demarcated by orange lines; and the number of councillors to be elected for each parish ward shall be five for Ecton Brook and three for each of the other parish wards.

Wards of the parish of Duston

4.-(1) The existing wards of the parish of Duston shall be abolished.

(2) The parish shall be divided into two parish wards which shall bear the names set out in column (1) of Schedule 2.

(3) The parish wards shall comprise the areas described in column (2) of that Schedule by reference to wards of the borough, and the number of councillors to be elected for each ward shall be six.

Wards of the parish of Wootton

5.-(1) The existing wards of the parish of Wootton shall be abolished.

(2) The parish shall be divided into three parish wards which shall bear the names set out in column (1) of Schedule 3.

(3) The parish wards shall comprise the areas described in column (2) of that Schedule by reference to wards of the borough, and the number of councillors to be elected for each ward shall be the number specified in column (3) of that Schedule.

Revocation

6. The Borough of Northampton (Electoral Arrangements) Order 1978 is hereby revoked.

Article 2

SCHEDULE 1BOROUGH OF NORTHAMPTON: NAMES OF WARDS AND NUMBERS OF COUNCILLORS

Article 4

SCHEDULE 2WARDS OF THE PARISH OF DUSTON: NAMES AND AREAS

Article 5

SCHEDULE 3WARDS OF THE PARISH OF WOOTTON: NAMES, AREAS AND NUMBERS OF COUNCILLORS

Explanatory Note

(This note is not part of the Order)

This Order gives effect to recommendations by the Local Government Commission for England for electoral changes in the borough of Northampton.

Article 2 abolishes all of the existing wards of the borough and provides for the creation of 23 new wards. That article and Schedule 1 also make provision for the names and areas of, and numbers of councillors for, the new wards.

Articles 3 to 5 make electoral changes in the parishes of Billing, Duston and Wootton.

The areas of the new borough and parish wards are demarcated on the map described in article 1(3). Prints of the map may be inspected at all reasonable times at the offices of Northampton Borough Council and at the offices of the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions, which are located at 2nd Floor, Ashdown House, 123 Victoria Street, London SW1E 6DE.