Why I’m opposing the Boundary Commission over my ward

Plymouth City Councillor speaks out about the Boundary Commission changes

By Alison Casey, on Monday, November 14, 2011

Plymouth Moor View Councillor Alison Casey condoms the decision to merge the representation of the city with that of Dartmoor

I’m one of the three Plymouth City Councillors representing the Moor View ward. I’m writing this post to ask for your help to keep us in the city and stop the Boundary Commission giving my home over to the MP for Okehampton.

When I found out that the Boundary Commission had proposed chopping my ward out of Plymouth I was amazed. Moor View and its people are proud to be part of Plymouth. We have the city’s airport, its hospital and most of its industry within our community. We are as much a part of Plymouth as any other area in the city.

Somewhere in London there is an bureaucrat who looked at a map of our community and decided that we have more in common with the residents of Dartmoor and people of Okehampton than those in Plymouth. They’re wrong.

Identity matters to me and those people I represent. I’m proud to be a Plymouth City Councillor, proud to be from Plymouth, proud to have a Plymouth accent, and proud to live in this great city. The people I and my ward colleague Cllr Mike Wright represent are proud to be Plymouthians.

I feel sorry for the civil servant who drew up the plans. He or she doesn’t know about what it means to be a Plymouthian. They won’t know the pride in wearing an Argyle top, or what it means to listen to Sparksy on the radio. They won’t know about the community spirit, the identity and our community. But that ignorance means that they can propose ripping my ward out of the city without a second thought or apology.

I’m a local councillor and am here to fight for local residents. I am not an MP, nor do I want to be. I want to be a local councillor fighting for my bit of Plymouth. I don’t often respond to Government consultations and I don’t pick fights unless it matters to the people of Estover, Leigham and Glenholt that make up the Moor View ward. But because I am proud to be a Plymouth resident, proud to be a Plymouthian and proud that my ward is a part of the City of Plymouth I am fighting the Boundary Commission’s plans. And I hope you can too.

Moor View ward versus the national Boundary Commission looks like a David and Golliath fight. They have lawyers, population projections, more statistics than would sink a ship and the backing of the Government on their side. But we have a more powerful weapon – our pride in being part of Plymouth.

I want Moor View ward and the residents of Estover, Glenholt and Leigham to remain part of Plymouth, represented by a Plymouth MP and not chopped out of our city. It matters who represents us. It matters that we remain part of Plymouth and have someone who understands our city to represent us.
Will you help us keep Moor View in Plymouth?

This was my first Government consultation response I’ve ever written but if it means defending my ward against plans that I believe will hurt us then it will be the first of many for me. Let’s keep Moor View as part of Plymouth – let’s tell the Boundary Commission that we’re Plymouth and proud.