Polling station changes plan for Telford voters
Voters in some parts of Telford will go to a different polling station at the next election, if venue changes are approved.
Under the proposals, four polling stations will be closed and moved to alternative venues, and some voters in Trench Lock and Dawley will switch to new polling stations.
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, on Smallhill Road, Lawley, is one of the four places where voting booths will move in. It is due to take over from Lawley Village Primary Academy, which was forced to close twice in May to accommodate voting in the local and European elections, prompting parent complaints.
Telford and Wrekin’s Boundary Review Committee will discuss the plans when it meets on Thursday, October 3.
In a report, council governance chief Anthea Lowe notes that the current plans were the subject of a consultation period from July 1 to July 30.
“At the end of the consultation, the council considered the comments received and will adopt an arrangement of polling districts and polling places for a period of five years, after which there is a further duty to review,” she writes.
Accommodated
In Wellington, voting is proposed to move out of St Patrick’s Catholic Primary School and into The Children’s Centre, both on North Road, and out of the Red Lion annex, Holyhead Road, in favour of the Sir John Bayley Club, half a mile away on Holyhead Road.
In Ketley Bank, votes who previously used the Community Centre on Main Road will be directed to Queenswood Primary School, if the switch is approved.
During the consultation period, Councillor Shaun Davies requested that 82 homes, comprising of 164 voters, within his Malinslee and Dawley Bank ward be moved from the Old Park Primary School voting district and into George Chetwood Court.
“The streets involved included Brick Lane, Fox Field, Ashley Way and Parkland Avenue,” says a consultation summary.
“Total voters attending the George Chetwood Court polling place, including the proposed electors moving, were checked and this could be accommodated without any further change.”
Oakengates Town Council also suggested that residents of Bakers Lock, Britton Lock, Hoop Mill, Kinley Drive, Oxmoor Avenue, Patchett Drive and Wittingham Close vote at Wilsons Auctions, rather than their current polling station at Oakengates United Church “due to the distance to vote”.
