Issue - meetings
Community Governance Review
Meeting: 26/11/2025 - Council (Item 56)
56 Community Governance Review 
PDF 537 KB
Purpose:
The purpose of the report is to request that Council approve and adopt the Terms of Reference for a Community Governance Review along with draft proposals.
Recommendation:
That Council resolves to:
1. Approve and adopt the terms of reference and draft proposals for consultation for the Community Governance Review.
Additional documents:
- Annexe A - Community Governance Review - Terms of Reference, item 56
PDF 472 KB
- Annexe B - Draft Proposals for consideration, item 56
PDF 501 KB
- Annexe B - Community Governance Proposals V2 Draft Proposals for consideration, item 56
PDF 501 KB
- Webcast for Community Governance Review
Minutes:
The purpose of this report was to approve and adopt the Terms of Reference for a Community Governance Review, along with draft proposals
The item was introduced by Councillor Mike Evemy, Leader of the Council. It was noted that the papers before the Council represented responses from the consultations with Town and Parish Councils regarding potential changes to their democratic arrangements or boundaries. Councillors were asked to agree to consult on all proposed changes, without making judgments at this stage, acknowledging that some proposals might be controversial.
Attention was drawn to an omission in Annex B, where certain roads in Watermoor Ward and Siddington had not been included. The correction would result in a total of 253 properties being affected by the proposed boundary changes, reducing the number of properties in Siddington from 731 to 478, and increasing the number in Cirencester, Watermoor, and surrounding areas from 1,580 to 1,833. An updated annex B would be included with the minutes of the meeting.
It was also noted that the proposals included requests from town and parish councils to increase their number of members and to create wards for Tetbury Town Council.
Questions for clarity included requests for clarification on which roads and businesses were included. The Electoral Services Manager confirmed that all details would be thoroughly checked before going out to public consultation.
Councillor David Fowles seconded the resolution and thanked the Electoral Services team for their continued work in ensuring proper representation and managing elections effectively. The proposals from several parishes to increase the number of councillors were welcomed, this was highlighted as a positive response to local pressures and community engagement. The report and the consultation timetable were commended and the forthcoming public consultations were welcomed. Fellow Councillors were encouraged to endorse the proposals.
There was no further debate.
The Chair moved to the vote on the resolution proposed by Councillor Evemy seconded by Councillor Fowles.
Voting record:
29 For, 0 Against, 0 Abstentions.
Did not vote: Councillor Andrew Maclean having left the meeting