WORCESTER’S political map has been redrawn ahead of May’s election after changes to the city council’s electoral ward boundaries were greenlit in Parliament.
Under the changes, the Faithful City’s 35 councillors will be divided across 16 wards, compared to the current 15.
Three of those wards- Claines, Nunnery and Warndon and Elbury Park – will have three councillors representing them, while the others will all have two.
The current Cathedral ward- currently held by three Labour councillors, will be split into two new patches, named Fort Royal and Cathedral, which will both have two elected representatives.
A new Warndon and Elbury Park ward will be formed by merging two existing areas.
The wards formed as part of the merger will be current Tory stronghold Gorse Hill, and Warndon, which is currently represented by a Conservative and a Liberal Democrat on the council.
The boundary between Bedwardine and St John’s is also being significantly changed to allow for the new Dines Green and Grove Farm ward to be formed.
And the southern part of the old Bedwardine ward, which currently has three councillors, will be renamed Lower Wick and Pitmaston.
Some of the remaining wards are being renamed, with Warndon Parish North becoming St Nicholas and Warndon Parish South becoming Leopard Hill.
Most of the remaining wards will have minor boundary changes.
The new changes have been drawn up by the independent Local Government Boundary Commission for England (LGBCE).
The independent body reviews each council in the country roughly every 20 years.
Several public consultations were carried out in Worcester over 18 months before making its final recommendations for the city to Parliament.
Shane Flynn, Returning Officer for Worcester City Council, said: “We are grateful to both the LGBCE and Parliament for their conduct of this important process and we are pleased that these changes have been written into law in plenty of time before the election campaign begins.
“We will now be writing to each household in Worcester that will be in a different ward in this year’s election, to make them aware of the changes.”
The new boundaries will be in place for the Worcester City Council elections on May 2.
The traditional system, which usually sees one-third of councillors being elected each year, will be replaced by an all-out election.
This will see all 35 winning councillors holding office for four years.
