Church Langley to change its name to East Harlow in boundary shake-up
News / Sun 24th Jul 2022 at 09:47am
THE electoral ward of Church Langley is set to change its name to East Harlow in a shake-up of the election ward boundaries and names in Harlow.
The re-structuring comes as part of a Boundary Commission review commissioned and put out to consultation earlier this year.
Amongst the changes is a reflection of the population growth east of the A414.
At the moment, there are three wards called Old Harlow, Church Langley and Harlow Common.
Old Harlow remains a ward but the other two change their names to East Harlow and Brenthall.
Back in 1984, one of the first peoples names for the Church Langley development was Brent Hall Park.
Old Harlow
East Harlow
Brenthall
The report states:
“It is proposed to ensure that the A414/A1184, a major dual carriageway, is a boundary all the way through Harlow to create three distinct wards.
“In Harlow, the A414/A1184 currently functions as a North to South ward boundary throughout, except for about 400m in the extreme Southeast where, during the last review, the ward of Harlow Common was established but truncated into two unrelated parts. This created a ward where the two parts have no natural linkages for shopping, schools, community associations, medical centres etc, and this ward is also split by two different county divisions. There have been large scale developments at Newhall and Gilden Way and are the reasons why the ward of Old Harlow is so over variance.
“Therefore, we propose significant changes to bring together the communities to the East of the A414 and ensure electoral equality and good governance by using the physical line of A414/A1184 as the boundary line from North to South this is in line with the Boundary Commission guidelines”.
Other ward name changes include Commonside and Abercrombie.
A consequence of all this may mean that there will be what is called all out elections in May 2024. That means all 33 councillors will be up for re-election.
The matter is set to be debated and voted on at the next Harlow Council meeting on Thursday July 28th at 7.30pm in the council offices.
All the relevant documents can be found below.
Pop
2022-07-24 09:52:07
Lowering the tone of Harlow yet again.
AB
2022-07-24 10:01:05
Village of East Harlow surely :)
Todge
2022-07-24 10:14:23
This is the council taking the mick lol, all other wards have a name why is this just the 'East Harlow' why not 'Newhall', 'Gilden Way' or 'Church Langley', whichever one is the largest development?
gary roberts
2022-07-24 10:18:39
And the value to constituents' of this town? Zero. No extra investment I suspect unless the council can prove otherwise. Can they?
Seamus
2022-07-24 10:51:59
This is slightly embarrassing for the locals of harlows biggest council estate......I mean village
Rasp
2022-07-24 10:58:49
Oh dear! this is not going to go down well with the snoblangleyans
Caroline Lloyd
2022-07-24 11:26:43
This moves Churchgate St out of the Old Harlow ward - main report says that Ch.Gate St residents use Church Langley - yet no pedestrian or public transport links between CGS and CL - unlike CGS and old Harlow - so once again reinforcing dependency on cars.
James Leppard
2022-07-24 11:41:32
These ward arrangements are a response to the six out of eleven wards that are outside the permitted variance limits. The objective is that all resident votes carry equal weight as far as possible. That is only democratic. At present, a vote in Great Parndon weighs about 58% more than one in the current Old Harlow ward. The Boundary Comnission also insists on using major roads as a natural boundary. The A414 dual carriageway is currently the boundary from North to South except for a short stretch in the South where the very anomalous ward of Harlow Common exists, joining two unrelated districts: Potter St and part of Latton Bush. The new wards address the overall current under representation of areas East of the A414 and improve and restore several traditional neighbourhoods in the rest of the town with every ward coming within the variance limits, thereby improving the democratic basis of local government.
James Leppard
2022-07-24 11:46:15
Caroline Lloyd, Ward changes do not affect the underlying communities, which continue as always. They exist for electoral purposes only to ensure electoral equality as far as possible. The lives of people in Churchgate St. will not be affected by these changes.
Niall wallis
2022-07-24 12:16:44
East side West side Dis town becoming a ghetto , soon be da crips and bloodz hittin dis city, I ain’t gonna lie, I am starting to fear for my safety, and dis guy living in Bristol
Wendy Warwick
2022-07-24 16:08:40
Church Langley is a lovely place to live and there is no need for a name change. It’s very sad that some people in Harlow are jealous that they don’t live there. We are all one big community no matter what part of Harlow we live in!
Yvonne
2022-07-24 16:16:28
I would like Harlow common to remain as a ward, it is a historical ward
James Leppard
2022-07-24 16:21:07
Dear Wendy, I appreciate your sentiment. However, there are many traditional parts of Harlow that do not figure in ‘electoral’ ward names: Brays Grove, Hare Street, Passmores, Stewards, Layton Bush, Tye Green, Potter Street. Change of names for electoral wards has no bearing on the communities they include. Church Langley will remain the community it has always been. Fear not. Wards do not make communities. Communities exist irrespective of electoral wards, whose purpose is solely for ensuring electoral equality.
James Leppard
2022-07-24 16:23:52
Yvonne, Harlow Common is not an historical ward. It is an artificial creation since 2010. It comprises of two unrelated parts separated by the A414. It even has different County Councillors for each half. It is a complete anomaly.
Johnny on the border of phucknose?
2022-07-24 16:25:17
Can carter's mead stay carter's mead otherwise I'm liable to not find my way home🤪
Rebecca Thomson
2022-07-25 07:58:52
I think this makes sense. I live in Potter Street and cannot understand the idea of Harlow Common on both sides of the A414. We have nothing in common, whereas we are much more linked to Church Langley for shopping, medical clinic, etc.
Tina Clark
2022-07-25 08:08:16
Why have they moved Churchgate St out of the Old Harlow ward? Churchgate St is Old Harlow!
Robin Alton
2022-07-25 09:43:43
Unfortunately Churchgate St and locality has always relied on Old Harlow for shops doctor etc. We have been increasingly cut off by the changes to Gilden Way (no right turn now into Mulberry Green). This is another way to cut us off further. The residents concerns of Churchgate St will often be very different from the residents of Church Langley e.g. we have major issues with traffic coming through Churchgate St to/from Harlow Common. There is no direct transport link between Churchgate St and Church Langley.
novoman
2022-07-25 11:26:38
Kiln Lane through Church Langley is not a natural boundary and Churchgate Street is more geographically separate from Church Langley than it is from Old Harlow. The A1084 Gilden Way is not a natural boundary and Churchgate Street is connected to Old Harlow by an underpass, by road and pedestrian crossing points, good access between Old Harlow and Churchgate Street is essential because the two schools in Churchgate Street used by many from Old Harlow. These proposals are just a cynical devious plan to secure Tory seats.
Nostradamus
2022-07-25 11:34:29
It makes no sense to change wards when the population is growing at one of the fastest rates in the country, 13% and building new homes is ramping up. By the time this is in place the numbers will have changed and the review out of date. Roads are not natural or logical boundaries especially as future tec and the price of fuel will see cars travelling into town heavily restricted.
Ed
2022-07-25 11:38:00
By "fixing " Harlow Common it's obvious that all of the defects is apparently suffers as listed by the Commission will be transferred to Church Langley!!! Making nonsense of their proposals.
Theman
2022-07-25 11:43:51
Welcome to Harlow?
Gary Roberts
2022-07-25 12:36:57
Harlow Common [the Common] is on both sides of the A414. Why change ward names when just the borders are changing. Any costs identified of doing it?
Marion Williams
2022-07-25 14:20:30
Totally disagree with the name change to East Harlow, surely there must be something in the history of Harlow that could be used instead…so unimaginative Gibberd ward for example
James Leppard
2022-07-25 14:36:29
Gary Roberts, that is the problem. Boundary Commission guidance is that major roads like the A414 should constitute ward boundaries. The A414 is already the boundary from Old Harlow down to the Hamburger Roundabout. It is planned to extend this to the southern boundary, which will eliminate the anomalous ward of Harlow Common. The changing of ward names is cost neutral as it only refers to electoral districts. Nobody refers to Harlow Common as a district. It is either Potter Street or Latton Bush (part) depending on which side.
Rebecca Thomson
2022-07-25 14:50:43
Novoman should read the full papers for the Council to see that his allegations are totally wrong. This is driven by the Boundary Commission to ensure all wards are approximately the same size terms of electors. His comments only show his own prejudice and ignorance.
Rebecca Thomson
2022-07-25 14:54:57
Novoman has clearly not read the Council Agenda papers, otherwise he would see that the Boundary Commission has originated this review, whose objectives are to ensure electoral equality of all wards regarding numbers of electors. His comments serve to reveal his own prejudice and ignorance.
Monica Myrie
2022-07-26 07:29:28
Are people actually paid to make these decisions? Where else could the time and 'effort' be allocated to help Harlow?
Yellow Bird
2022-07-30 16:22:54
Churchgate Street residents rely on access to Old Harlow for critical services such as doctors surgery, shops, library etc. We will be cut off further from natural links if severed from Old Harlow ward. There’s no pedestrian or public transport links between Churchgate Street and Church Langley so lumping these together makes no sense logistically.
Yellow Bird
2022-07-30 16:23:24
Churchgate Street residents rely on access to Old Harlow for critical services such as doctors surgery, shops, library etc. We will be cut off further if severed from Old Harlow ward. There’s no pedestrian or public transport links between Churchgate Street and Church Langley so lumping these together makes no sense logistically.
James Leppard
2022-08-01 12:24:16
Yellowbird, these changes will have no impact whatsoever on the community of Churchgate Street or its current connections with Old Harlow, e.g. shops, surgeries, library, etc. This is solely about voting to ensure fairness and electoral equality. Churchgate residents will continue to vote in the same polling station as now.
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