The Local Government Boundary Commission for England has now issued its final recommendations for new Division boundaries for Kent County Council, to come into force at the elections in 2017. They will be laid before Parliament in a draft order in the coming months before being formally adopted.
As I wrote in the autumn, the Boundary Commission revised significantly its earlier proposals for Sevenoaks District. It was already established that, as part of the reduction in size of the County Council from 84 Members to 81, Sevenoaks would lose one Division. It has also long been clear that the undersized Swanley division would have to expand to the South, taking in Christchurch and High Firs polling districts. But in other respects, the Commission's revisions were very significant regarding Darent Valley; bringing Swanley Village back in rather than incorporating it into Swanley, putting transferring Badgers Mount to Sevenoaks West, and expanding a renamed Sevenoaks East and Darent Valley to the south and east as far as Seal.
Following a further consultation, the Commission has stuck with these revised recommendations. Swanley Christchurch and High Firs go into an enlarged Swanley Division, but Swanley Village stays in what will now be the Sevenoaks North & Darent Valley Division. In spite of strong representations to the contrary from the Parish Council and others (including me), Badgers Mount is transferred to the Sevenoaks West Division, which will run down the western County border as far as Westerham.
All other parishes in the existing Darent Valley will remain in the successor Division, and will be joined in it by Otford, Kemsing and Seal. The result will be a very large Division indeed, in terms both of area (especially north-south) and in terms of electors per County Councillor (at 15,629, the second highest in the County).
You can find full details of the Review, including maps, on the LGBCE's website.
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