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.

Draft Recommendations 

Draft recommendations on the establishment of a Town Council for Granthamwere published by South Kesteven District Council on 26 June 2023. 

The draft recommendations, agreed by full Council in March 2023,  formally proposed that a Town Council for Grantham is established based on the following principles, and commenced with the second stage of formal consultation. They are:

1. the proposed boundary for the new Town Council for Grantham replicates the existing unparished area of Grantham
2. the proposed warding arrangements for the new Town Council for Grantham replicate existing District Council Wards -   Map of Proposed Ward Boundaries [6Mb].
3. That the size of the new Town Council for Grantham consists of 22 councillors, comprising four councillors for the St Vincent's Ward and three councillors for all remaining Wards.
4. That the new Parish be named 'Grantham Parish' and that a Town Council be established to serve the new Parish with effect from 1 May 2024.
5. That the first elections to the new Town Council for Grantham be held on the ordinary day of elections (the first Thursday in May) in 2024.

These draft recommendations were subject to a period of consultation for six weeks from 26 June to 7  August 2023.  This second stage of consultation running from 26 June to 7 August 2023 asked stakeholders to comment on the  draft proposals. 

The second stage of the formal consultation is now closed.  Feedback from this consultation will be considered by the Community Governance Review Working Group on 18 September 2023.

Full details of the Draft Recommendations can be viewed in our  Draft Recommendations Stage 2 Consultation Document [2Mb]. 

Results of Stage 2 Consultation on Draft Recommendations

 Stage 2 Consultation Results Report [313kb]

 Stage 2 Consultation Responses [2Mb]

What happens next

Feedback from this consultation will be used to inform the final recommendations with respect to the creation of a Town Council for Grantham.  The results will be considered by the Community Governance Review Working Group (CGRWG) on 18 September 2023.  The report considered at the meeting is available here. A further meeting of the CGRWG will be held during October or November.

The final recommendations will then be considered by councillors at a meeting of Full Council on 23 November 2023.

Terminology - Parish/Town Council

Following a Community Governance Review, the District Council may create, abolish or alter the area of any Parish within its area and may establish a Parish Council to serve a newly created Parish.  Once established, a Parish Council serving an urban area may itself resolve to be called a Town Council. It is considered likely, given that Grantham is an established town, that any Parish Council established to serve Grantham will do so.  Therefore, we have used the term 'Town Council' when referring to the possible creation of a new Grantham Parish Council to avoid any potential for confusion.

Previous Consultations

The review commenced on 27 January 2022 with the first round of public consultation running from 11 March to 22 April 2022.   Householders living in the currently unparished ara of Grantham and each of the six parishes adjacent were asked their opinion for the creation of a parish or town council for Grantham.  The Community Governance Review Working Group, made up of the councillors representing Grantham District wards, considered the feedback received during this first stage of consultation at a meeting held on 29 April 2022 and made recommendations on the next steps of the review. At the meeting of full Council held on 26 May 2022, councillors agreed in principle to establish a Town Council for Grantham.

 This was followed by a further targeted consultation to consider the boundary of the new parish/town council with residents in the parts of the parishes of Belton and Manthorpe, Great Gonerby and Londonthorpe & Harrowby Without which are also located within Grantham District Ward boundaries.  This additional part of the stage one consultation ran from 21 November to 19 December 2022.  

Following the completion of the consultation to establish a proposed boundary, 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 are available here

The draft proposals of the Working Group were submitted and approved by full Council on 1 March 2023. The report considered at the meeting and the minutes are available here

Details of the results of these stages of consultation together with associated documents can be found below.

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