Change of ward name

[Siduhe]

I'd be interested to know what happens if your street is one of the new ward boundaries - like Belvoir and Melford Roads. Do they split the street down the middle so that one side of the street is in one ward, and the other side in a different ward - or is the whole street in one ward?

[alex_b]

It seems to vary some boundaries run along the middle of the street others run along the back gardens. There are also some streets where the ward boundary has the lower half of the street in one ward and the upper half in another.

[drewd]

I have just checked out the map linked above. The wards beginning with the word Dulwich plus the Peckham Rye ward all have electorates of less that 8000 compared with the majority of other wards in the borough that seem to be around 11000. I can see a certain cohesion and logic to the new boundaries from a geographical point of view but I find it surprising that areas that might have more day to day challenges that need the support of councillors might have to compete more for their attention. I will be living in (on?) Dulwich Hill.

[James Barber]

Hi drewd,

East Dulwich ward have 9,000 voters when I last checked. The new Goose Green ward will have circa 11,500.

it isn't that East Dulwich ward is small but that other wards have grown population.

[dc]

drewd Wrote:

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> I have just checked out the map linked above. The

> wards beginning with the word Dulwich plus the

> Peckham Rye ward all have electorates of less that

> 8000 compared with the majority of other wards in

> the borough that seem to be around 11000.

The Local Government Boundary Commission has gone back to a position where there is a mix of two and three member wards - as was the case before the previous review which resulted in 21 wards, all with three members.

With the new boundaries there will be 17 three member wards and 6 two member wards. The number of Councillors will remain the same at 63. All except one of the two member wards are in the south of the borough. The idea, as always, is that each Councillor represents a similar number of electors across the borough (in this case taking into account population projections for 2021).

More details can be found here: https://www.lgbce.org.uk/current-reviews/greater-london/southwark The ?Summary of the Report? is a good place to start.

[adonirum]

DF stated that "Fellbrigg, Ulverscroft, Nutfield and Archdale were once sought after".

This is absolute nonsense. Back in the day, Shawbury, Hansler and Bawdale (off of Fellbrigg) were the roads in that immediate area that were sought after because of the different housing stock on those roads, although I accept that today anywhere and everywhere is sought after.

You'll be telling us next, DF, that, back in the day, Frogley, Spurling and Crawthew weren't the slum roads!!!

[drewd]

Thsnk you DC for the explanation. It makes a lot more sense to me now.

[Pugwash]

I grew up in the 50s and 60s in Spurling Road. Most of the road was private landlords and the conditions of each house were different. Twice whilst I lived there, the street was scheduled for slum clearance. The flat roof of the houses accumulated water as poor drainage and all our rooms were covered in green and black mould. My Mum and I lived in the top part of the house, we had a kitchen with only a cold water tap (kettles had to be boiled up) no heating, my Mum's room was very cold, I had the attic bedroom. We were not wired for electricity other than light but some how we could have a TV. No sockets/power for electric fires - our heating came from one coal fire in the lounge which no matter how my Mum tried to make the place look homely, the damp and peeling wallpaper could not be rectified. We had no bathroom or wc. An elderly woman and her daughter lived down stairs - they did not have the damp but equally had cold water. The toilet was in the back yard and to access it, we had to go through downstairs dining room. One time our loo was out of order, we had to use the next door's wc. We left there in 1968 as although my mother had been on the council housing list since 1948, she was never offered a place. It turned out when we delved more deeply into that Mum and Dad had turned down moving to Harlow. My dad was a bus driver, but at that point there were no transport links in Harlow, he did not have a car, and the nearest bus depot was several miles away and without his own transport he could not get a job. They turned down Harlow and consequently were placed at the bottom of the housing list.

Crawford Road in 50s and 60s was a little 'tatty', Worlingham Road was 'classy' CP Rd was a mixture depending which end you were.

[flocker spotter]

The map is confusing or something is not quite right. On the map I can clearly see my road in one ward - put in postcode on the site and it tells me my address is in another ward. I think there is still some work to do on this!

[Penguin68]

The map has 3 sets of information on it -existing wards, initial proposal and final proposal (which I am assuming is also final agreed). For many wards the initial and final proposals are contiguous. I think that you may be being told what your address is in now - whereas the map may be showing your destination ward (or vice versa depending on which overlays are toggled). The new wards come into effect for the May 2018 (I think - can anyone confirm?) local election. Until then you are in, and will be represented by councillors for, the old ward structure.

I agree that it would be helpful to clarify the map somewhat.

[Renata Hamvas]

Hi all,

the reason this is happening is because of the shift in the Borough's population to the north of the Borough, more residents in the north and fewer in the south. The boundary changes were triggered by the Electoral Commission . The number of councillors in Southwark will remain the same, but there are smaller wards and extra wards in the north and wards reduced to 2 councillors and shifted boundaries/new wards in the South. The number of residents per councillor will be roughly the same borough wide. Dulwich has seen a significant drop in population, if there were to be 3 councillors per ward, then some of the wards, particularly Dulwich Village would need to be very large, hence the 2 Councillor Wards. In this area, Dulwich Village, Dulwich Hill, Dulwich Wood, Champion Hill and Peckham Rye will have two Councillors. Goose Green and Nunhead & Queens Rd will have three.

Parts of the current Peckham Rye Ward west of Peckham Rye Park/Forest Hill will be within new wards Goose Green and Dulwich Hill, and Peckham Rye will gain the Southern stretch of Ivydale road and the roads off Ivydale from Nunhead Ward.

Renata

[nxjen]

EDOldie Wrote:

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> Dulwich Hill is the old name for Denmark Hill and

> that sort of area. I.e. between Dulwich and

> Camberwell. So the new Dulwich Hill seems to be

> Barry Road area which doesn't seem right

> historically or geographically, or anything

> really. Lordship or Barry would be better.

>

The Hill used to be called Friern Hill, part of Friern Manor. Charles Dickens climbed to the top when he visited the dairy farm and gave a lovely account of the view from the top.

http://www.djo.org.uk/household-words/volume-ii/page-148.html

[Penguin68]

It is also true that Dalston Heights creates an obvious Hill effect and is close (relatively) to the centre of the new ward. Even though it has never born the name Dulwich Hill, the Ward isn't too confusingly named. And it is the most significant hill, I would argue, in SE22 (or indeed SE21) - so for most of the areas called 'Dulwich' now it is, probably, the Hill!

[HelBel65]

nxjen Wrote:

> The Hill used to be called Friern Hill, part of

> Friern Manor. Charles Dickens climbed to the top

> when he visited the dairy farm and gave a lovely

> account of the view from the top.

>

> http://www.djo.org.uk/household-words/volume-ii/pa

> ge-148.html

What a fantastic link, thank you!