Community Governance Review

Derbyshire Dales District Council
 Community Governance Review

SOUTH DARLEY PARISH CONSULATION

***Please use the South Darley Response form at the bottom of this page***

The Local Government Boundary Commission for England has put forward final recommendations for the Derbyshire Dales District electoral wards whereby Oker and Snitterton are placed in an urban Matlock West (formerly Matlock All Saints) district ward and Darley Bridge and Wensley are placed in a rural district ward of Bonsall and Winster.

In anticipation that these District Ward recommendations will gain the approval of parliament (despite substantial local opposition), Derbyshire Dales has opened a formal Community Governance Review which has the power to make changes to parish boundaries and electoral arrangements.

Derbyshire Dales District Council is consulting South Darley residents on potential changes to the parish which currently consists of three wards: Darley Bridge; Oker & Snitterton; Wensley.

This summary note relates only to the parish of South Darley.  Full details of the wider review are given here: https://tinyurl.com/3t5nsupt

Please note in the DDDC Terms of Reference, under ‘Proposals to be Consulted Upon’ the first item which is seeking views on whether the Oker and Snitterton Ward of South Darley Parish Council should remain where it is or should move to the Parish of Matlock. Here it states:

“there has been some discussion locally about whether the Parish Boundaries should be changed to reflect this change. Some of the arguments in support of this include:
* Greater community cohesion – many residents of the Morledge Estate in Darley Dale consider themselves to live in Matlock as will the residents in new housing developments in the Oaker and Snitterton Ward of the parish of South Darley. [ …]
* Improved local democracy – the councillors appointed to the new Matlock West ward would only need to engage with one local council rather than three.”

Essentially, the District Council wishes to know the views of South Darley residents on:

a) Whether the boundary for South Darley Parish should remain as it?

Noting that the Oker and Snitterton will be moving into Matlock West district ward, would South Darley residents wish Oker and Snitterton to move out of South Darley Parish Council into Matlock Town Council, or not? Or would they prefer the parish boundaries to be re-drawn so that Oker & Snitterton remained within South Darley but the new housing developments in the former quarries were located in Matlock town parish?

b) What the warding arrangements for South Darley Parish should be?

If Oker and Snitterton become part of Matlock Town Council, would it appropriate for the remainder of South Darley parish to have two wards or to be a single ward parish council? If Oker and Snitterton were to remain in South Darley parish, does the current arrangement of three wards continue to be appropriate, or would a single ward be preferable? 

c) Whether the current number of 8 parish councillors for South Darley parish is appropriate?

The current arrangement is: 4 councillors for Darley Bridge; 2 for Oker & Snitterton and 2 for Wensley.

All South Darley residents are urged to make their views known and use the response form below: