THE Boundary Commission has released its final recommendations for change to Thurrock's electoral wards - and has acceded to local requests to include local place names including Belhus and Homesteads in ward titles. Tilbury will also retain its Riverside and St Chads placenames.

Originally the local names were planned to be dropped by the commission in favour of more generic names, but after final consultation and requests from local councillors, some wards retain longer, more specific names.

That concession has been welcomed, with Homesteads councillor Gary Byrne among those who are appreciative.

Cllr Byrne ran a local campaign urging residents to call for the Homesteads name to be retained and he said this morning (Tuesday, 3 December): "I am pleased to see that someone, somewhere listens to local councillors' opinions expressed on behalf of residents.

"I am pleased that the identity of the Homesteads will be retained, it is important to the people here and we have a particularly strong community affinity with our roots and local history."

The recommendation to rename wards in Ockendon and Belhus as Ockendon North and Ockendon South & North Stifford wards has also been dropped.

The commission says: "The submissions from the Council, the Conservatives and Labour were opposed to our recommended ward names and instead argued for the retention of 'Ockendon' and 'Belhus', respectively.

"This was supported by councillors Victoria Holloway, Mark Hurrell and Ryan Polston, as well as two residents.

"In particular it was argued that the presence of North Ockendon in the adjoining local authority could cause confusion.

"It was also argued that, contrary to the submission on which we based our draft recommendations, the name 'Belhus' is locally recognised."

The names Riverside and St Chads will continue to be a part of the town's two wards rather than just Tilbury North and South.

One proposed change that the commission has rejected, was a call by councillors to name Aveley and Uplands, 'Aveley and Kenningtons',  a proposal backed by Aveley & Uplands councillors Jacqui Maney, Srikanth Panjala and Catherine Sisterton, but the commission says it will just use the generic term 'Aveley' for the ward.

The commission has also accepted some border changed by differing submissions from the council's Conservative and Labout groups in the Grays and Little Thurrock Rectory wards.  

In another concession the commission has added the word 'Hundred' to wards previously described as just Chafford.

One of the significant changes adopted by the commission is the moving of the village of North Stifford into what is currently Stifford Clays ward – and the ward will now be know as Stifford.

And a new ward will be created for Purfleet-on-Thames.

The final recommendations of the commission will now be put before Parliament and it is hoped that the new wards – and some new polling station locations – will be in place for the full round of local elections in Thurrock in May, called by the government as part of its intervention strategy after the council's financial collapse.

The number of councillors, 49, will remain the same but allocations to wards in association with boundary line changes, will be implemented.

The full final recommendations of the commission, ward-by-ward, and its reasoning, can be found below.

Aveley and Ockendon

Aveley

We received 23 submissions in response to our draft recommendations for Aveley ward. The consensus in all was that the boundary between Aveley and Purfleet-on-Thames wards should not follow the A13, as we put forward in our draft recommendations.

Instead, it was proposed that the ward boundary follow the A1306 Arterial Road, until the point at which it meets Mar Dyke, then follow this waterway via the Thames to the borough boundary. The reasons given for this proposal was that residents of this area strongly identify with Aveley, that they make use of amenities such as shops and doctor's surgeries in Aveley, and that the A13 is less of a barrier than it appears, due to either side being connected by roads and footpaths.

We have carefully considered the submissions received and agree that the proposed change would provide a better reflection of community identities while providing for reasonable electoral equality. We have therefore adopted this proposal as part of our final recommendations. This change reduces the forecast electoral variance for the ward from -10% to -9% by 2029.

The Labour submission recommended renaming the ward 'Aveley & Kenningtons' on the basis that it would more accurately reflect the communities of this ward. This was supported by Aveley & Uplands councillors Jacqui Maney, Srikanth Panjala and Catherine Sisterton, and a local resident. This was opposed by the Conservatives and a resident who identified himself as a former councillor, on the basis that the Kenningtons are an integral part of Aveley and one of several housing estates which make up the area.

We note that the resident in favour of 'Aveley & Kenningtons' made a similar argument, albeit for the opposite reason, stating 'Kennington residents have long been part of Aveley'. Having carefully considered both proposals we are content that 'Aveley' is sufficiently representative of residents in the ward and propose confirming this ward name as part of our final recommendations.

Belhus and Ockendon

We received 10 responses to our draft recommendations for Ockendon North and Ockendon South & North Stifford wards. The submissions from the Council, the Conservatives and Labour were opposed to our recommended ward names and instead argued for the retention of 'Ockendon' and 'Belhus', respectively.

This was supported by councillors Victoria Holloway, Mark Hurrell and Ryan Polston, as well as two residents. In particular it was argued that the presence of North Ockendon in the adjoining local authority could cause confusion. It was also argued that, contrary to the submission on which we based our draft recommendations, the name 'Belhus' is locally recognised. In particular it was stated that the name refers both to the housing estate west of the railway line and to Belhus Park, both of which are partially in the proposed ward.

One resident noted that the Belhus housing estate is generally considered to be west of the railway line and suggested this may form a ward boundary in the future. Two of the warding schemes from residents made similar proposals along these lines. These included a three-councillor ward named South Ockendon East & North Stifford and Ockendon East & North Stifford, respectively, the boundaries of which were the railway line, Stifford Road, the A13, Mar Dyke and the borough boundary.

These schemes also proposed two-councillor South Ockendon Central and Ockenden Central wards, respectively. The ward boundaries would follow the railway line, Stifford Road and Dennis Road and would have electoral variances of -5% and 3%, respectively. The former ward did not include Danbury Cresent, which was instead placed in a two-councillor South Ockendon West ward with an electoral variance of -8%. The second resident's Ockendon West ward, which did not include Danbury Crescent, had a variance of -19%.

We have carefully considered these proposed warding arrangements and noted that some of the proposed wards had reasonable electoral equality.

However, we were not convinced that sufficient evidence in respect of community identities and interests had been provided to justify such a radical change to our recommendations at this stage of the review. We have therefore decided not to adopt either of these proposals as part of our final recommendations.

The Council and the Conservatives proposed a minor revision to the boundary between the two wards to include the south side of Mollands Lane and Mollands Court in Ockendon North ward, rather than in Ockendon South & North Stifford ward as under our draft recommendations.

We note that the settlements here are a considerable distance from those in Ockendon South & North Stifford but are strongly linked to the rest of Mollands Lane and the surrounding area in North Ockendon ward. We have therefore adopted this proposal as part of our final recommendations.

All schemes, except for the two residents' schemes mentioned above, placed North Stifford outside of Ockendon South & North Stifford ward, citing the lack of any connection between the two communities.

The Council indicated that there was agreement between councillors that North Stifford should not be in the ward but noted there was no consensus on where it should be placed instead.

The Conservatives argued that North Stifford should be included in a ward with Stifford Clays, owing to the easy transport links and shared amenities including shops and schools. Alternatively, the Labour submission asserted that 'North Stifford's natural alignment is with areas like Chafford'. We carefully considered these proposals and concluded that the road layout along the A13 favoured the inclusion of this area in a ward with Stifford Clays to the south. We have therefore adopted this proposal as part of our final recommendations.

Having considered all the submissions received regarding the naming of the wards in this area, we are content to revert to the existing ward names of Ockendon and Belhus as part of our final recommendations. We accept that sufficient evidence has been provided to demonstrate that these names are more representative of local communities in this area of the borough.

Chafford Hundred and Purfleet-on-Thames

Purfleet-on-Thames

Aside from submissions regarding the boundary with Aveley which are discussed above, we received one proposal for Purfleet-on-Thames ward. This was submitted as part of a resident's warding scheme and proposed a three-councillor Purfleet-on-Thames & West Thurrock ward which would extend up to West Thurrock Way/Stoneness Road and have an electoral variance of -4%.

The reason given for this proposal was that residents of Purfleet-on-Thames use shops and schools in West Thurrock.

However, we do not consider that sufficient evidence has been received to support this proposal. We have also noted the presence of schools and several shops, including those on Garrison Parade, in our proposed ward. We have therefore decided not to adopt this proposal as part of our final recommendations.

West Thurrock & South Stifford, Chafford Hundred East and Chafford Hundred West

The resident's scheme included the remainder of our proposed West Thurrock & South Stifford ward as far as Wouldham Road and the A126 in a three-councillor Chafford West ward. The remainder of the ward, to which we referred to as 'Badger's Dene' in the draft recommendations, was included in a three-councillor Chafford East ward with a variance of 4%.

However, for the reasons given above, we have not adopted this proposal in our final recommendations. Another resident proposed a single-councillor Badger's Dene ward in this area with a variance of 0%. However, no explanation or supporting evidence was included in the submission, and we have not adopted this proposal in our final recommendations.

The Council proposed a revision to the boundary between Chafford East, Chafford West and West Thurrock & South Stifford wards around Devonshire Road. This proposal was elaborated upon in the Conservative submission where it was noted that the road was divided between wards.

As a consequence, it was proposed that all of the road should be in West Thurrock & South Stifford ward. This proposal appears to be sensible and will provide for a clear ward boundary. We have therefore adopted this change as part of our final recommendations.

In our draft recommendations report we asked for feedback on our placement of the Badger's Dene area between Devonshire Road, the railway line and Hogg Lane.

We received a well-evidenced response from a local resident of the area who elaborated on its close connection with Grays, both in terms of community identity and its close proximity to amenities in the town, including shops, the bus station, the railway station, library, theatre, police station and civic offices.

The resident noted that these were easily accessible on foot in 10 to 15 minutes. The resident also expressed a lack of community affiliation with either Chafford Hundred or West Thurrock and South Stifford. Another resident supported this, arguing that Badger's Dene was a part of Grays, and should not be included in a ward with Chafford Hundred.

We found this evidence to be persuasive and have therefore moved the Badger's Dene area from our proposed West Thurrock & South Stifford ward into our proposed Grays Riverside ward. This will mean that Grays Riverside will be represented by three councillors and West Thurrock & South Stifford ward by two councillors.

We received two submissions from residents who argued that Chafford East and Chafford West wards should be named 'Chafford Hundred East' and 'Chafford Hundred West', respectively, owing to 'Chafford Hundred' being the recognised name of the area these wards cover.

One resident was in favour of our previously proposed names on the basis that they were shorter but, having considered all the submissions received, we have concluded that using 'Chafford Hundred' in our ward names would better reflect community identities and interests.

Grays and Little Thurrock

Grays Riverside, Grays Town and Little Thurrock Rectory

As described above, we have decided to add the 'Badger's Dene' area to our proposed Grays South ward, having received evidence of its community connections with Grays. Having done this we took the opportunity to remove the area of Grays South which lies north of the railway line from the ward, so as to provide a stronger boundary, which resulted in a variance of -11%.

To mitigate this we have adjusted the boundary between Grays South and Grays North slightly to include the flats on Eastern Way and housing in Maidstone Road in Grays South ward, improving the variance to -9%.

We received a submission from the Orchards Community Forum, a residents' group which represents the community lying between Bridge Road and Whitehall Lane, and between High View Avenue to the railway line.

The Forum argued that our draft recommendations split this community between Grays South and Little Thurrock Rectory wards, causing issues with divided community representation and identity. The Forum argued that residents do not identify with the Little Thurrock or riverside communities and consider themselves to be part of the Grays town.

The Labour submission proposed shifting the Grays North boundary eastwards to Whitehall Lane while increasing the number of councillors to three, with Little Thurrock reduced to two councillors.

Having carefully considered the evidence received, we consider that this proposal would be more reflective of community identities and interests while ensuring good electoral equality. With the addition of the area north of the railway line from our Grays South ward, this results in electoral variances of 1% for both Grays North and Little Thurrock Rectory wards. We have therefore decided to adopted this proposal as part of our final recommendations.

The Conservatives proposed some minor adjustments to our draft recommendations in these wards. They proposed transferring Kingfisher Heights from West Thurrock & South Stifford ward to Grays North on the basis that it is accessed from Hogg Lane, one side of which is in Grays North. This was also proposed in one of the resident's schemes.

However, having included the flats on Eastern Way opposite Kingfisher Heights in our Grays South ward, we considered it prudent to keep the two together in a single ward. We note that the left-hand side of Hogg Lane is within the Grays South ward, meaning one does not have to leave the ward to access Kingfisher Heights.

The second Conservative proposal was to include Thurrock Park Way industrial estate in Tilbury South ward rather than Little Thurrock Rectory ward, owing to it being a considerable distance from the housing in Thurrock Park and being accessed from Tilbury.

We considered that this proposed change would result in a clearer ward boundary and ensure effective and convenient local government. We have therefore adopted it in our final recommendations. This change does not affect any electors.

Two of the residents' schemes proposed the creation of a single-councillor Grays Wharf ward comprising that part of our draft Grays South ward west of Sherfield Road and Thames Road. This was proposed on the basis that the area has a different demographic to the rest of Grays. However, we would not assume that a different demographic, of itself, suggests separate community identities and do not consider we have received sufficient community evidence to support this proposal.

Most of the schemes we received proposed changing the names of the Grays wards. The Council proposed to change Grays South to 'Grays Riverside' and Grays North to 'Grays Town' and this was echoed by the Labour scheme.

While the Conservatives agreed with 'Grays Riverside', it opposed changing the name of Grays North to 'Grays Town' on the basis that it did not include all of the town centre. The two residents' schemes were in favour of 'Grays Town' but proposed 'Grays Wharf' for Grays South ward. One resident proposed 'Grays Central' for Grays North.

However, having carefully considered all the options, we are content that 'Grays Town' and 'Grays Riverside' adequately describe the areas these wards represent and have adopted them in our final recommendations.

Little Thurrock Blackshots and Stifford

As discussed above, we have decided to include North Stifford with Stifford Clays in a two-councillor Stifford ward. We consider that this ward name more accurately reflects the extent of the proposed ward.

All but one of the schemes we received supported our proposed Little Thurrock Blackshots ward and its boundary with Stifford. A local resident proposed extending the boundary of Little Thurrock Blackshots, using Long Lane and Blackshots Lane as the boundary with Stifford ward. This was proposed on the basis of providing clearer boundaries and including only the Stifford Clays estate in Stifford ward.

However, it results in electoral variances of -11% for Little Thurrock Blackshots and 44% for Stifford. We have therefore not adopted this proposal as part of our final recommendations.

This scheme also proposed that Little Thurrock Blackshots ward should gain Bodell Close, Chestnut Avenue, The Close, Cobham, Connaught Avenue, Conrad Close, Conrad Gardens, Crawford Avenue, Fieldway, Goddard Road, The Griffins, Mayfields, Mead Close, Nutberry Avenue, Nutberry Close, The Pines, Thorley Road, Waverley Gardens and Windsor Avenue.

This extends significantly beyond Long Lane and results in electoral variances of 8% for Stifford and 1% for Little Thurrock Blackshots. However, this seemingly contradicts the intention of using Long Lane and Blackshots Lane as clear ward boundaries. We have not therefore adopted this proposal in our final recommendations.

Chadwell St Mary and Tilbury

Chadwell St Mary and Tilbury St Chads

We received 10 submissions in response to our draft recommendations for the Chadwell St Mary and Tilbury area. The Council proposed that Tilbury North ward be renamed Tilbury St Chads and that Tilbury South ward be renamed Tilbury Riverside.

This was also proposed in the Labour submission, which placed emphasis on St Chads School as a community institution before a fire in 2009, and Tilbury's economic and social connection to the Thames. The Labour submission also did not comment on the proposed ward boundaries.

The Council submission proposed some minor amendments to the boundaries of Chadwell St Mary, transferring Turnpike House, Turnpike Cottages and Gunhill Farm to East Tilbury, Linford & West Tilbury ward. The Conservatives and three residents also supported transferring Turnpike House and Turnpike Cottages.

As all these properties are accessed from the ward, and we consider this to be a sensible modification, we have adopted the proposal as part of our final recommendations.

The Conservatives and three residents proposed the same changes to all three wards. These proposals significantly reduced the size of Chadwell St Mary ward and reduced the number of councillors from three to two.

The area north and west of Orsett Heath Crescent/Orsett Road and Brentwood Road were added to an Orsett focussed ward, while the area south and west of River View and Chadwell Hill were added to Tilbury North ward along with the hamlet of Biggin. This produced a 0% variance for both Chadwell St Mary and Tilbury North wards.

It was argued that the area north and west of Orsett Heath Crescent/Orsett Road and Brentwood Road were part of Orsett Heath and that this was supported by the presence of road signs on the junction of Brentwood Road and Heath Road labelled 'Orsett Heath' when travelling west.

It was also noted that road signs labelled 'Chadwell St Mary' were observable when travelling east. A resident who identified as a former councillor made similar comments while another resident of the area claimed to live in Orsett Heath.

The proposal to transfer the area south of River View and west Chadwell Hill to Tilbury North ward was justified on the basis of the presence of a 'Gateway' community on either side of the existing boundary between Chadwell St Mary and Tilbury St Chads wards, centred around Gateway Academy and Gateway Primary Free School.

However, we were not persuaded of this and consider that River View does not appear to be a strong dividing line between communities. In particular, we have noted that it is not a wide road, has a shopping parade, and appears to connect two sides of the same housing estate. In conclusion, we are not persuaded that sufficient evidence has been provided to justify amending our recommendations in this respect.

The Conservatives noted that under the existing arrangements, the hamlet of Biggin is divided between three wards – Chadwell St Mary, East Tilbury and Tilbury St Chads – and is divided between two, Chadwell St Mary and Tilbury North, in our draft recommendations.

The latter is owing to Tally Ho Riding School, on the south side of Biggin Lane, being included in Tilbury North ward. The Conservatives proposed that all of Biggin should be transferred to Tilbury North ward on the basis of 'geography and access'.

However, having carefully considered the evidence received, it would appear that Biggin is better connected to Chadwell St Mary, which is accessible from Sandy Lane as well as St Chads Road/Chadwell Hill. We therefore considered it more prudent to add Tally Ho Riding School and its two electors to Chadwell St Mary ward, accessed as it is on the north side of Biggin Lane.

The Conservatives also proposed that Tilbury North ward be renamed Tilbury Fields on the basis that it includes Chadfields, Daisy Field/King George's Field and Koala Park. However, our understanding is that Koala Park falls within Tilbury South ward, which also includes playing fields for Lansdowne Academy and Anchor Fields Park. We do not, therefore, consider it to be an effective identifier for the ward.

We are also not persuaded with the argument that St Chads Road is not an identifier for the ward. While it is true that not all residents of the ward live near the road, it is nonetheless the main road running the length of the ward. We are therefore content to adopt the name 'Tilbury St Chads', as proposed by the Council and Labour.

Tilbury Riverside

The Conservatives' and residents' schemes proposed some minor changes to our draft recommendations for Tilbury South. As discussed in paragraph 56, we adopted the Conservatives' proposal to include Thurrock Park Way industrial estate in Tilbury South ward in our final recommendations.

All the schemes proposed transferring Albany Road and Sycamore Close from Tilbury North to Tilbury South wards for the sake of effective and convenient local government, as they are accessed from Adelaide Road and Lansdowne Road, respectively, through which the ward boundary cuts.

We carefully considered this proposal as, although a motorist travelling from Toronto Road would not have to leave Tilbury North ward to access Albany Road, they would need to do so in order to access Sycamore Close.

However, moving Albany Road and Sycamore Close into Tilbury South ward would increase the electoral variance of the ward to -14%, while only reducing that of Tilbury North to -11%. We did not consider that sufficient evidence has been received to justify these variances. We have decided instead to adjust the ward boundary slightly to include both lanes of Lansdowne Road in Tilbury North ward.

This does not affect any electors. The Conservatives also proposed transferring Hobart Road and Olive AP Academy to Tilbury North 'to reduce inequality'. However, for the same reasons as above, this would reduce electoral inequality in Tilbury North only at the expense of greatly increasing it in Tilbury South. We have therefore not adopted this proposal in our final recommendations.

The Council, Conservative and Labour submissions unanimously proposed that the name of Tilbury South ward be changed to Tilbury Riverside.

Two of the three resident schemes proposed 'Tilbury Docklands & Fort' and 'Tilbury Fort & Docks', respectively. Having considered all three names we were content that Tilbury Riverside best reflects the communities in this ward and have adopted it as part of our final recommendations.

Thurrock East

East Tilbury, Linford & West Tilbury

As described earlier, we have made minor adjustments to our draft recommendations for East Tilbury, Linford & West Tilbury ward by including Turnpike House, Turnpike Cottages and Gunhill Farm. This change will better reflect the road access of this area.

Corringham & Fobbing, Stanford-le-Hope South and The Homesteads & Stanford-le-Hope North

We received 56 submissions in response to our draft recommendations for Corringham & Fobbing, Stanford-le-Hope North and Stanford-le-Hope South.

The majority were against The Homesteads no longer being represented in any of the ward names, the area being generally considered to encompass that part of Stanford-le-Hope North ward north of Southend Road.

Most of the submissions expressed a strong sense of community identity with The Homesteads and an attachment to the history of the area as distinct from the rest of Stanford-le-Hope and Corringham. A minority of the submissions also criticised the reduction of the number of wards in the area from four to three, though this was necessary due to currently high levels of electoral inequality in all but one of the wards.

The Council and Labour submissions proposed that our recommended Stanford-le-Hope North ward be renamed The Homesteads, Corringham Town & Stanford East.

However, we agree with the Conservatives that this results in an overly long name, and have not adopted this in our final recommendations. We also ruled out changing the name of Stanford-le-Hope North to The Homesteads as this potentially excludes other communities in the ward name. Having carefully considered the matter we have decided to rename the ward The Homesteads & Stanford-le-Hope North as best reflecting local community identity.

A submission from Corringham & Fobbing Essex OAP Charity Fund, which also serves residents in Stanford-le-Hope since the towns merged, opposed changes to the existing arrangements for the sake of community cohesion and the 'comfortable understanding' of residents.

However, the submission notes the modern form of the charity has existed since 1997, at which point there were five wards representing the area: Corringham & Fobbing, Corringham West, Stanford-le-Hope East, Stanford-le-Hope West and The Homesteads.

As the charity already serves Corringham, Fobbing and Stanford-le-Hope, we have no evidence that a further change in the number of wards and their names will adversely affect the charity's operations. Furthermore, this is not an issue we can necessarily take account of when conducting electoral reviews.

Orsett, Horndon & Bulphan

Aside from the submissions regarding the boundary between Chadwell St Mary and Orsett Heath described earlier in this report, we received a submission from Bulphan Village Community Forum in support of our draft recommendations, approving of the name of the ward, the number of councillors, and the inclusion of Orsett Golf Club.

One of the residents' schemes divided the ward into a two-councillor Orsett ward (including the area currently in Chadwell St Mary ward) and a single-councillor Bulphan & Horndon ward. However, insufficient supporting evidence was provided to justify this proposal other than a reference to shared issues regarding potential development. We were not convinced that this was sufficient justification for the creation of a single-ward in the area, or that such issues could not be dealt with by a councillor also representing Orsett. We have therefore not adopted this proposal as part of our final recommendations.

We have made a minor adjustment the boundary with Chadwell St Mary by including Greyhound Lane in the ward.

At the time of our tour of the area, we were unclear as to whether Greyhound Lane would be more appropriately warded with Orsett Heath or Chadwell St Mary. However the submissions we have received regarding the boundary between Chadwell St Mary and Orsett Heath suggest that it would be better placed in Orsett, Horndon & Bulphan ward.

While including any more of what is claimed to be Orsett Heath in the ward would produce poor electoral equality for Chadwell St Mary ward, this transfer has a negligible effect, increasing the electoral variance of Orsett, Horndon & Bulphan from 7% to 9% and that of Chadwell St Mary from -1% to -2%. 

The commission recommendations and an interactive ward map can be accessed via this link: https://www.lgbce.org.uk/all-reviews/thurrock