It's time to express your view on boundaries

SOMERSET residents have just ten weeks to give their views on how their electoral map could be redrawn ahead of the next local elections in 2027.

- DANIEL MUMBY Local democracy journalist

Somerset Council was created with 110 elected members, two for each of the 55 divisions on boundaries inherited from Somerset County Council (with Glastonbury and Street being split into separate divisions).

The council put forward its initial proposals to reduce the number of councillors in mid-September 2024, envisioning a drop from 110 councillors to 96 - a drop of around 13 per cent. Following an initial consultation in November 2024, the Local Government Boundary Commission for England (LGBCE) has now published its proposals for the battlegrounds in which these 96 councillors will be elected in a little under two years' time with residents having until August to give feedback.

Unlike the current system, the LGBCE is proposing 96 divisions each represented by a single councillor - meaning that all existing division boundaries will significantly change. To this end, Frome will be split into five divisions, with the new Frome South division stretching all the way from the Keyford development sites across the A361 to the Wiltshire border. Shepton Mallet and Wells will both be split into two divisions, with the latter being surrounding by two large divisions to cover the villages in the shadow of the Mendip Hills. Glastonbury and Street will have two divisions each, with the Glastonbury Festival site lying in the neighbouring Shepton Mallet West and Pilton division.