Background

South Kesteven District Council is undertaking a Community Governance Review to determine:

·         If a new parish or town council should be set up to represent Grantham

·         If the new parish or town council for Grantham is created, where the administrative external boundary of the new council should be drawn

·         If a new town or parish council is created, how it should be divided into wards for the purposes of electing councillors, how many councillors there should be and when the first election will take place

A key part of the Community Governance review process is consultation.

Stage One Consultation

Householders living in the currently unparished area of Grantham and each of the six parishes adjacent were asked for their opinion on the proposals listed above during a six-week consultation. This ran from 11 March to 22 April 2022. 

The Community Governance Review Working Group (CGRWG), made up of the councillors representing Grantham District wards, considered the feedback received during the first stage of consultation and made recommendations on the next steps of the review.   The minutes of the meetings of the Working Group can be viewed here

At the meeting of full Council on 26 May 2022, South Kesteven District Council agreed in principle to the recommendation made by the CGRWG which was to establish a Parish Council for Grantham, subject to undertaking further consultation to consider the boundary.  The report considered by Council on 26 May can be viewed  here.

This decision was informed by consultation undertaken with those living in Grantham and surrounding parishes, which showed strong support for the creation of a new town/parish council. Two thirds of respondents (974 or 66.2%) were in favour.

Stage 1 Further Consultation on Boundary with neighbouring Parishes

The Community Governance Review process requires that SKDC determines where the boundaries of the new town/parish council should be drawn.

When the Boundary Commission for England reviewed ward boundaries in 2015, a small proportion of the households in three of the parishes adjacent to Grantham - Great Gonerby, Londonthorpe & Harrowby Without and Belton & Manthorpe - were included within one of Grantham's district wards. This means the people who live in these properties are represented by Grantham District Councillors - but are also part of a parish for administrative purposes.

Prior to making any recommendation about where the boundary of the new parish/town council should be drawn, the Council wanted to establish if those living in these areas were happy with this arrangement, or if they would prefer parish and ward boundaries to be realigned so that they are in line with each other. Households in the areas affected were contacted directly to find out what they think. Two drop in sessions were held for residents to ask questions and seek points of clarification.  The three parish councils were also consulted as part of this stage of the process.

This four-week phase of consultation closed on 19 December 2022.

Just under four hundred households from the three parish areas were contacted. 85 responses were received - an overall response rate of 22.5%. Three quarters of respondents (64 or 75.3%) wanted to remain part of the parish where their household is currently located for administrative purposes.

What happens next

Following the consultation which took place with residents and three of the parish councils to establish the boundary of the new parish/town council for Grantham, the Community Governance Review Working Group met on Wednesday 1 February 2023 to consider the results and make recommendations on the draft proposals. This included recommending the boundary of the proposed new council, year of election, the number of councillors, together with the number, boundaries and names of wards. The report considered at the meeting and the minutes, when published, are available here

The draft proposals of the Working Group will now be submitted to full Council to consider on 1 March 2023. 

The draft recommendations will then be subject to further public consultation before final recommendations are published and considered by councillors.

Because an additional phase of consultation was required to establish the boundary for a new parish/town council for Grantham, the timeline for the review has been reconsidered by the Working Group and revised accordingly.  A revised Terms of Reference is available  Terms of Reference (updated February 2023) [1Mb].

Further information and documents, including the terms of reference can be found below:

Alternative formats are available on request in audio, large print and Braille from South Kesteven District Council 01476 40 60 80 or via cgr@southkesteven.gov.uk