Last week the Boundary Commission published its proposals to reform
the size of constituencies across England. This work is part of
delivering the commitment of the Government to reduce the number of
MPs in parliament to 600, and also to make individual constituencies
more equal in size. This is important as some currently have less than
60,000 voters and others more than 80,000.
The work of the Boundary Commission is however completely independent
of the Government and their initial recommendations have been prepared
without any reference to the political parties. As Folkestone and
Hythe is a relatively large constituency, with just over 80,000
electors, the Boundary Commission has recommended reducing its size by
moving two wards into the Dover constituency. The two wards include
the villages of Elham, Stelling Minnis, Hawkinge and Densole and these
proposed changes may gives some residents cause for concern. For
myself I would much rather there were no changes at all to the
constituency, but it is important that local residents have a chance
to have their say on the Boundary Commission’s proposals. They have
launched an open consultation process which closes on 5th December and
there will also be public meetings held on 3rd and 4th November at the
Ramada Maidstone hotel. You can find out more about the proposals and
how to respond by visiting their website;
www.consultation.boundarycommissionforengland.independent.gov.uk .
Whatever the outcome of the Boundary Commission’s review I will
continue to work for everyone in every part of the constituency I was
elected to represent at the general election.
Looking forward to 2012 there are now just over 300 days left to the
start of the Olympic and Paralympic games. Like many of you I have
also been unsuccessful so far in applying for tickets, but I would
like to highlight two opportunities that exist for local schools.
Firstly, thousands of tickets will be distributed through the London
2012 Ticketshare initiative, for free, to schools and colleges that
have applied to be part of the London 2012 ‘Get Set Network’. You have
to register before Friday 16th December and you can do this and find
out more online at http://getset.london2012.com .
Local schools can also participate in the School Games, which is a
national competition with the finals taking place in the Olympic Park
in May 2012. A number of local primary and secondary schools, like the
Marsh Academy, St Augustine’s Primary and The Harvey Grammar, have
already registered, and I hope that even more will be able to
participate. Again you can find out more information about this online
at www.yourschoolgames.com .
On Monday this week I visited the ‘A Town Unearthed’ dig at the East
Cliff in Folkestone. This is the second year of the project and they
have uncovered some amazing finds which give us a much clearer idea of
the importance of the area in Roman, in pre-Roman times. I was
fascinated to be given a tour of the site by Andrew Richardson and Dr
Lesley Hardie, to see the excavations of part of the Roman villa, as
well as coins and jewellery from the time of Iron Age Britain. Do pay
them a visit if you have not already, before their work ends at the
beginning of October.