Boundary Commission Reject Conservative Proposals for Buckinghamshire – Backing Lib Dem Plans Instead.

The Local Government Boundary Commission has confirmed that at the next Buckinghamshire Council elections, the council will be reduced in size to 98 councillors.

During the Local Elections, Aylesbury Liberal Democrats called for the council to be reduced to under 100 members to save taxpayers at least £600,000 a year.

Buckinghamshire Conservatives instead argued that the Council should have 120 members at the next election, and formally submitted this proposal to the Boundary Commission on behalf of Buckinghamshire Council.

Aylesbury Liberal Democrats argued that 120 councillors would be completely unnecessary and would only slow down decision making without increasing representation for local residents.

Currently, Buckinghamshire Council is the largest council in the country with over 20 Councillors more than the next largest.

It is also considerably bigger than the Scottish Parliament, with each councillor costing residents at least £13,000 a year.

Commenting, Steven Lambert, Liberal Democrat Leader at Buckinghamshire Council said:

'We are delighted that the Boundary Commission has agreed with us, and the Conservatives wasteful proposals have been ignored.'

'Aylesbury Liberal Democrats have consistently called for the number of councillors in Buckinghamshire to be reduced to under 100."

'During this year's local election, it was one of our key campaign messages as Aylesbury Liberal Democrats enjoyed stunning success, winning 20 out of 25 Town Council seats and 13 out of 18 Buckinghamshire Council seats in Aylesbury.'

'I'd like to thank everyone who participated in the first stage of consultation and shared their views with the commission.'

'We will now campaign during the next stage of the review to ensure that all wards drawn up by the commission represent real, local communities so that all residents can have the best representation possible.'