A Labour councillor has broken ranks to vote against reducing the membership of his local town council.
Cllr Liam Cowles said he couldn’t support the proposal as Blaenavon Town Council is the only community council in Torfaen seeing a reduction in the number of councillors under a review led by Torfaen Borough Council.
He reminded the borough council those elected to town and community councils, unlike he and his colleagues on the higher tier authority, are volunteers who do not receive a payment, only a £150 contribution towards costs, for their service.
“The financial savings are negligible of only around £400 a year and but the cost to democracy and representation will be greater,” said Cllr Cowles.
The councillor, who represents the town on the borough council and is also a member for its east ward on the town council, said “given the representations from Blaenavon Town Council, I can’t support the recommendation as pertaining to Blaenavon.”
Boundary review
Torfaen Borough Council, as the top tier authority in the area, launched a review of the boundaries of town and community councils in October 2022 with a cross party task and finish group established.
But it has only reported three years later due to a number of contested borough and community by-elections that have taken place and added to demands on the council’s election manager, Caroline Genever-Jones.
She told the October meeting of the borough council, the review they were asked to endorse recommends maintaining six community councils but reducing the total number of wards from 38 to 35 and the number of community councillors from 78 to 77 as while two members would be lost in Blaenavon membership of Cwmbran Community Council would increase by one.
Cllr Cowles complained the review was conducted under a fixed councillor to elector ratio across the borough, which he said failed to recognise Blaenavon’s needs and position in the north of the borough.
He also said Torfaen had failed to respond to the “evidence-based” representations the town council made as part of the process and how it feared reducing its membership would negatively impact the diversity of representation and participation in local democracy and supporting the community.
He said Blaenavon Town Council has won 15 national awards for innovation and good practice and said the town was the only area whose voice was being “weakened” by the process.
New ward in Cwmbran
As well as reducing the number of town councillors in Blaenavon recommendations in the review backed by the full council included reducing one of Pontypool Community Council’s wards, but maintaining its membership, and creating a new ward on Cwmbran Community Council to cover the South Sebastopol housing development with one new member.
Old Cwmbran Labour councillor Steve Evans said: “The reason other wards are getting an extra council member is an increase in the people there. Blaenavon is not being punished.”
Independent member for Cwmbran St Dials Elizabeth Haynes and Panteg Labour member Nathan Yeowell both praised the way the task and finish group had worked and Cllr Yeowell said its terms of reference had been passed unanimously by the full council.
The Ponthir ward is also recommended to move, from Croesyceiliog and Llanyrafon Community Council, to Ponthir to avoid confusion for residents while properties in Station Farm, Cwmbran will move from the Northville community ward to Croesyceiliog and Llanyrafon’s area.
Torfaen council will now submit the approved recommendations to the Local Democracy and Boundary Commission Cymru for final consultation.