Bill Crawford from the County Council's Elections Office attended our Parish Council meeting on 12th March 2024 to explain what's going to happen regarding polling stations following the Local Government Boundary Commission's decision to move Brinkburn & Hesleyhurst into the Longhorsely Division and to consult with us on the best place for voting to take place.
The situation is a mess. The Parliamentary Constituency in its review has kept Brinkburn & Hesleyhurst in the Berwick Constituency, yet many of the Parishes in the reformed Longhorsley division sit in the Morpeth Constituency. You can see this in the map above; the blue line demarks the two constituencies. The Longhorsley Division is depicted by the black/yellow line. Apparently, the Parliamentary Constituency Boundary Commission and the Local Government Boundary Commission don't seem to consult and this is the result.
The Elections Office is loathe to keep the same voting arrangements for Brinkburn which has used the Longframlington Memorial Hall for voting and Hesleyhurst which has used the Rothbury Jubilee Hall as this will be extremely complicated for them whenever parliamentary and local elections coincide.
So, they are consulting with the Parish Council, informally at this stage, but in a formal way later in the year to identify, venues for our Polling Station in the Longhorsley Division which sit in the Berwick Constituency. We have given a few suggestions but are unable to make these public at this time as the County Council has yet to approach these places to ask if they would be willing to be a polling station.
We will keep you informed.
