Citation and commencement

1.-(1) This Order may be cited as the Cheshire, Lancashire and Merseyside (County and Metropolitan Borough Boundaries) Order 1993.

(2) This Order shall come into force on 1st December 1993 for any purpose set out in regulation 4(1) of the Local Government Area Changes Regulations 1976(2).

(3) For all other purposes, this Order shall come into force on 1st April 1994.

Interpretation

2. In this Order-

"Cheshire" means the county of Cheshire, and any reference to Halton is a reference to the Cheshire borough of that name;

"district" includes a borough, a metropolitan borough and a city;

"electoral division" means an electoral division of the county to which an area is transferred by this Order(3);

"Lancashire" means the county of Lancashire, except in the expression "West Lancashire", where it means the Lancashire district of West Lancashire;

"the map" means one or more of the 17 maps prepared by the Department of the Environment, marked "Maps of the Cheshire, Lancashire and Merseyside (County and Metropolitan Borough Boundaries) Order 1993", and deposited in accordance with regulation 5 of the Local Government Areas Changes Regulations 1976;

"Merseyside" means the metropolitan county of Merseyside, and any reference to Knowsley, to Liverpool, to St.Helens or to Sefton is a reference to the district of that name in that county;

"the abolished parish" means the Knowsley parish of Simonswood (abolished by article 4), "new parish" means the new Lancashire parish of Simonswood (created by article 5), and

"new parish council" means the parish council for the new parish; any reference to an area as unparished is a reference to that area not forming part of any parish; and

"ward" means a ward of the district from or to which an area is transferred(4), except in article 5(6), where it means a ward of Knowsley, and in the expression "parish ward", where it means a ward of the parish to which an area is transferred.

Transfers between Cheshire (Halton) and Merseyside (Knowsley)

3.-(1) The unparished area which is marked I on map 5 shall be transferred from Cheshire, from Halton, and from the Farnworth ward to Merseyside, to Knowsley, to the parish of Cronton, and to the Whiston South ward.

(2) The unparished areas which are marked A and C on map 6 shall be transferred from Cheshire from Halton, and from the Ditton ward to Merseyside, to Knowsley, to the parish of Tarbock, and to the Halewood East ward.

(3) The areas transferred by paragraphs (1) and (2) shall additionally be transferred to the Knowsley District petty sessional division and the Knowsley, St. Helen's and Sefton coroner's district.

(4) Each area which is marked as shown on the following Table on the map indicated in column 2 shall be transferred from Mersyside, from Knowsley and from the parish named in column 3 to Cheshire, to Halton, to the ward and the electoral division named in column 4, and to the Halton petty sessional division and the Cheshire coroner's district, becoming unparished.

Transfers from Merseyside (Knowsley and Sefton) to Lancashire (West Lancashire), and creation of new West Lancashire parish of Simonswood

4. The Merseyside parish of Simonswood and its parish council shall be abolished.

5.-(1) The following areas shown on map 1-

(a) the part of the abolished parish marked S; and

(b) the parts of the Sefton parish of Melling marked N, O, P and R-

shall be transferred from Merseyside, and from Knowsley and Sefton respectively to Lancashire, to West Lancashire, to the Bickerstaffe ward, to the West Lancashire South electoral division, and to the Ormskirk petty sessional division and the Preston and South West Lancashire coroner's district.

(2) There shall be created in West Lancashire a new parish, to be named Simonswood, and consisting of the areas transferred by paragraph (1).

(3) There shall be a parish council for the new parish, consisting of 5 parish councillors.

(4) Elections for the new council shall be held on such day before 1st April 1994 as the returning officer(5) shall appoint, and the councillors elected thereat shall come into office on 1st April 1994 and shall retire on the fourth day after the ordinary day of election of councillors in 1998.

(5) The proper officer of the West Lancashire District Council shall convene both the first annual meeting of the new council, which shall be held in April 1994, and the first assembly of the parish meeting, and if the latter is held before the former, the parish meeting may appoint a person to take the chair, who shall have, for the purposes of that occasion only, the powers and authority of a chairman.

(6) The new parish council shall be the residuary successor to the abolished council, and shall assume custody of its public books, documents and records.

(7) The parts of the abolished parish marked K and T on map 1 shall remain in Merseyside, and in Knowsley, but shall become unparished. The area marked T shall be transferred from the Tower Hill ward of that district to the Northwood ward.

(8) For the purposes of article 3 of the Local Government Finance (Miscellaneous Provisions) (England) Order 1993(6), there is specified in relation to the new parish the sum of £3,000 (three thousand pounds).

Transfers within Merseyside between Knowsley and Sefton

6.-(1) The following areas shown on map 1-

(a) the parts of the abolished parish marked M, Q, and U;

(b) the unparished parts of the Park ward marked A and C; and

(c) the unparished parts of the Tower Hill ward marked G, I and L-

shall be transferred from Knowsley to Sefton, to the parish of Melling, to the Molyneux ward, and to the South Sefton petty sessional division.

(2) The parts of the parish of Melling which are marked B, D, E, F, H and J on map 1 shall become unparished, and shall be transferred to Knowsley, and to the Knowsley District petty sessional division. The areas marked B and D shall additionally be transferred to the Park ward, and those marked E, F, H and J to the Tower Hill ward.

Transfers within Merseyside between Knowsley and St. Helens

7.-(1) Each area which is marked as shown on the following Table on the map indicated in column 2 shall be transferred from Knowsley, and from the parish or, where unparished, the ward named in column 3 to St. Helens, to the parish and ward named in column 4, and to the St. Helens petty sessional division.

(2) Each area which is marked as shown on the following Table on the map indicated in column 2 shall be transferred from St. Helens, and from the parish named in column 3 to Knowsley, to the parish (and parish ward, if any) and ward named in column 4, and to the Knowsley District petty sessional division.

Transfers within Merseyside between Knowsley and Liverpool

8.-(1) Each area which is marked as shown on the following Table on the map indicated in column 2 shall be transferred from Knowsley, and from the parish (or, where unparished, the ward) named in column 3 to Liverpool, to the ward named in column 4 and to the Liverpool Metropolitan District petty sessional division and the Liverpool coroner's district, becoming or remaining unparished.

(2) Each area which is marked as shown on the following Table on the map indicated in column 2 shall be transferred from Liverpool, and from the ward named in column 3 to Knowsley, to the parish and parish ward (if any) and the ward named in column 4, and to the Knowsley District petty sessional division and the Knowsley, St. Helens and Sefton coroner's district.

Town and Country Planning

9.-(1) In this article,"provision" means a provision of a development plan (as defined in section 336(1) of the Town and Country Planning Act 1990(7)).

(2) Any provision applying to an area transferred by this Order shall continue to apply to that area, notwithstanding the transfer, until replaced by a provision which so applies, and which is expressed to supersede the preserved provision.

Explanatory Note

(This note is not part of the Order)

This Order makes changes in the boundary between-

(a) the county of Cheshire (borough of Halton) and the metropolitan county of Merseyside (metropolitan borough of Knowsley); and

(b) the county of Lancashire (district of West Lancashire) and Merseyside (Knowsley and Sefton).

It also transfers areas within Merseyside between-

(i)the metropolitan boroughs of Knowsley and Sefton;

(ii)the metropolitan boroughs of Knowsley and St. Helens; and

(iii)Knowsley and the city of Liverpool.

The main change effected by the Order is the abolition of the Knowsley parish of Simonswood, the transfer of most of its area to Lancashire, and to West Lancashire, and the creation of a new parish, also named Simonswood, in that county and district. A parish council is established for the new parish, with provision for its expenses.

Consequential changes to local government electoral areas, petty sessional divisions and coroners' districts are made.

The map and table forming part of this Note are a general guide only to the areas affected. The table gives in approximate terms the hectarage and population affected by the transfers.

The maps described in article 2 should be inspected for full details of the transfers. Any person may inspect the maps at any reasonable time at the offices of each city, borough, metropolitan borough or district whose area is affected, and additionally at the offices of the Secretary of State for the Environment located in 2, Marsham Street, London SW1P 3EB.

The Local Government Area Changes Regulations 1976 contain general provisions regarding the effect of orders such as this one.