Conwy county to lose four councillors in boundary shake-up

Gareth Williams, local democracy reporter

The Welsh Government has approved moves which will see Conwy county lose four of its county councillors.

Ministers have approved the county’s new electoral map which will come into force in time for May’s local elections.

With the number of councillors being slashed from 59 to 55, it will also mean the merging of some wards while the boundaries of others will be altered.

Resulting in an average of 1,625 voters per councillor, the number of wards will be reduced from 38 to 30 with 17 of those being multi-member wards.

As a result, 10 wards will elect two councillors, six wards will elect three councillors, and one ward (Llandrillo yn Rhos) will elect four councillors.

Despite this, 18 current wards will see no change under these reforms, namely: Betws yn Rhos, Bryn, Colwyn, Conwy, Craig-y-Don, Deganwy, Eirias, Glyn, Kinmel Bay, Llansanffraid, Llansannan, Llysfaen, Mochdre, Pandy, Penrhyn , Towyn, Tudno, Uwch Conwy.

The council leader, Charlie McCoubrey said: “We note the new arrangements as outlined in the Commission’s Final Recommendations Report.

“Our electoral team are now working to implement the changes in preparation for the next Local Government elections, which take place in May 2022.”

‘Anglesey’ 

Local Government Minister Rebecca Evans, who last week approved an increase in Anglesey Council’s membership from 30 to 35, made only minor changes to those proposed by the boundary commission.

Those included using the ward name of Betws-yn-Rhos rather than Betws yn Rhos, Craig-y-Don rather than Craig-y-don and Pen-sarn Pentre Mawr instead of the recommended Pensarn Pentre Mawr.

Shereen Williams MBE OStJ, Chief Executive of the Local Democracy and Boundary Commission for Wales said: “I’m delighted that the Welsh Government has accepted these recommendations with only minor modifications.

“These changes will mean greater electoral parity for the people of Conwy.

“I’d like to thank everyone who contributed to the review, the members of the public, councillors, Conwy Council, and everyone else who sent us a representation or contributed in any other way.”