Citation, commencement and interpretation

1.-(1) This Order may be cited as the Borough of Dacorum (Electoral Changes) Order 1998.

(2) This Order shall come into force on 6th May 1999, except that for the purpose of all proceedings preliminary or relating to an election to be held on or after that date this Order shall come into force on the day after that on which it is made.

(3) In this Order-�

"the borough" means the borough of Dacorum;

"existing", in relation to a ward, means the ward as it exists on the date this Order is made; and

any reference to "the map" is a reference to the map prepared by the Department of the Environment, Transport and the Regions marked "Map of the Borough of Dacorum (Electoral Changes) Order 1998", and deposited in accordance with regulation 27 of the Local Government Changes for England Regulations 1994(4).

Wards of Dacorum

2.-(1) The existing wards of the borough(5) shall be abolished.

(2) The borough shall be divided into twenty-seven wards which shall bear the names set out in column (1) of Schedule 1.

(3) The wards shall comprise the areas described in column (2) of that Schedule by reference to parishes, or, where no area is so described, the area designated on the map by reference to the name of the ward and demarcated by red lines; and the number of councillors to be elected for each ward shall be the number specified in respect of the ward in column (3) of that Schedule.

(4) Where a boundary is shown on the map as running along a road, railway line, footway, waterway or other similar geographical feature, it shall be treated as running along the centre line of the feature.

Wards of the parish of Berkhamsted

3.-(1) The existing wards of the parish of Berkhamsted shall be abolished.

(2) The parish shall be divided into three parish wards which shall bear the names Berkhamsted Castle, Berkhamsted East and Berkhamsted West and each parish ward shall comprise the area of the ward of the borough bearing the same name and the number of councillors to be elected for each parish ward shall be five.

Wards of the parish of Tring

4.-(1) The existing wards of the parish of Tring shall be abolished.

(2) The parish of Tring shall be divided into three parish wards which shall bear the names set out in column (1) of Schedule 2; each parish ward shall comprise the area of the borough ward specified in column (2) of that Schedule and the number of councillors to be elected for each parish ward shall be the number specified in respect of the parish ward in column (3) of that Schedule.

Revocation

5. The Borough of Dacorum (Electoral Arrangements) Order 1976 is hereby revoked.

Article 2

SCHEDULE 1NAMES AND AREAS OF WARDS AND NUMBERS OF COUNCILLORS

Article 4

SCHEDULE 2WARDS OF THE PARISH OF TRING: NAMES, AREAS AND NUMBERS OF COUNCILLORS

Explanatory Note

(This note is not part of the Order)

This Order gives effect to recommendations by the Local Government Commission for England for electoral changes in the borough of Dacorum.

Article 2 abolishes all of the existing wards of the borough and provides for the creation of 27 new wards. That article and Schedule 1 also make provision for the names and areas of, and numbers of councillors for, the new wards.

Articles 3 and 4 abolish the existing wards of the parishes of Berkhamsted and Tring and provide for the creation of new wards and the number of councillors.

The areas of the new borough and parish wards are demarcated on the map described in article 1(3). Prints of the map may be inspected at all reasonable times at the offices of Dacorum Borough Council and at the offices of the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions which are located at 2nd Floor, Ashdown House, 123 Victoria Street, London SW1E 6DE.