A town council chopped in half by a bizarre boundary blunder will have to wait until it is settled in Parliament and the ballot box next year to get back to full numbers.

Ingleby Barwick Town Council went from 12 councillors to six because of a “succession of human errors” which prompted an apology from the Local Government Boundary Commission for England, which reviews councils’ electoral and boundary arrangements. It was expected to take months, and another election, to undo the mistake.

A “community governance review” was proposed to put the situation right. The council, currently struggling on with half its councillors, heard an update on the situation at its latest meeting on Tuesday (June 20).

Town council clerk Joanne McGeeney said: “I was requested to write to Stockton formally requesting that a community governance review be undertaken to get our numbers back up to 12. It’s felt that the best way to remedy the situation back to 12 is to go back to the Boundary Commission and request that they put it before Parliament.

“I said I wasn’t bothered how it worked out as long as we had our election in May. Initially we wanted it back to 12 as soon as possible and for an election to take place. It was felt we’d get a greater voter turnout if you waited when there was an election already on.”

 

Councillors Ted Strike (top) and Bob Cook (bottom) from Stockton Council discussed steps to fix an error concerning electoral boundaries

Councillors Ted Strike (top) and Bob Cook (bottom) from Stockton Council discussed steps to fix an error concerning electoral boundaries

 

She said the Boundary Commission were to make enquiries about the steps which need to be taken: “I have asked that they keep me informed at all levels.”

Cllr Michelle Fryer said: “I’m a little disappointed that [it] wasn’t suggested in the first place. When the Boundary Commission were here, the Stockton Council representatives were here, none of that was mentioned.

“If that was an option we couldn’t talked about that. Now there’s four months down the line.” Ms McGeeney said: “We couldn’t do anything physically until the new councillors had been elected.”

Town and borough councillor Cllr Ted Strike said: “The amount of work that we do and the things we put on, it’s an awful lot of work for six people.” He then put a question to a full Stockton Council meeting on Wednesday (June 21).

He said: “Whilst the town council wishes to be at full complement as soon as possible, it recognises that this will be a long and costly exercise. It is hoped that the Boundary Commission is open to cover the costs due to their error.”

He said the town council would agree to an election on May 2 next year, along with other elections, to reduce cost and maximise elector turnout. He asked: “Will this council be supporting our campaign to get this error corrected next year, otherwise we will have to operate with just six councillors for four years through no fault of the town council?”

Council leader Cllr Bob Cook replied: “It was a pity that the Boundary Commission did get this wrong. It is quite a large community now in Ingleby Barwick and six councillors running the town council is very low.

“This is a lengthy process and is subject to the Local Government Boundary for England’s taking steps to remedy their error.”

He said officers had contacted the commission to discuss options, and once the commission rectified the error, Stockton Council could consider a review which, if agreed by the full council, would allow a new election of 12 town councillors.