A SHAKE-UP of council ward boundaries in the Forest of Dean could cost ten councillors their seats, amid fears that some residents could be under represented.

The Local Government Boundary Commission reckons the district council is ‘top heavy’ in its elected members and wants to trim the council chamber seating plan from 48 to 38.

This is a further reduction from the 39 seats proposed by the previous draft proposals published earlier this year. The commission claims a 38-councillor warding pattern would better reflect community identities and interests.

The aim of the changes is to make each ward more equal in population size.

However, councillors of all political stripes say that simply playing the numbers game can create a number of demographic anomalies.

The commission is now asking people across Forest of Dean to comment on the revised draft proposals with a ten-week public consultation on the recommendations which ends on November 6.

The recommendations also outline how those councillors should represent five three-councillor wards, seven two-councillor wards and nine one-councillor wards across the district.

Cllr Tim Gwilliam, Leader of Forest of Dean District Council said: “This seems a bit daft and smacks of under representation to me.

“Unfortunately the council failed to come up with an agreed stance so the Boundary Commission have ended up making up their own minds.

“I think if people feel that, under this proposed system, they would be under-represented they need to say so now and try to affect the final decision.”

Di Martin Leader of the Labour group on the council said: “A reduction of ten members is a bit drastic but what really concerns me is that each ward is representative of the communities it contains."

Brian Robinson, deputy leader of the Conservative group said: “When you think that the current 48 district wards are covered by ten county councillors I see no reason why one district member cannot cover a wider area.

“What does concern me is that the commission seems to think that the number of voters in each ward is the golden thread that stitches the whole thing together."

Professor Colin Mellors, commission chairman, said: “Our review aims to deliver electoral equality for local voters. This means that each councillor represents a similar number of people so that everyone’s vote in council elections is worth roughly the same regardless of where you live."

• To take part in the Forest of Dean electoral review visit  www.lgbce.org.uk/current-reviews/south-west/gloucestershire/forest-of-dean