Theresa Villiers MP gave evidence to a public hearing in Kenton Hall in Harrow today on proposed new constituency boundaries. The hearing was part of a consultation on proposals to ensure all parliamentary constituencies have roughly equal numbers of voters. The changes will also reduce the number of MPs to 600.
Theresa is encouraging people to take part in the consultation. To have your say, click on the following link.
This is the statement Theresa has submitted to the consultation about the proposed new Chipping Barnet and Mill Hill constituency:
“I have represented Chipping Barnet for 17 years (for 11 years as its MP and for 6 years prior to that as MEP for London). Whilst I support aspects of the Commission’s plans for Barnet and Enfield, I believe that the counter-proposal for north London submitted by the Conservative Party would better serve the needs of the two boroughs and more closely reflect community ties.
In particular, I support a new Chipping Barnet and Mill Hill constituency made up of the following wards: Brunswick Park, East Barnet, High Barnet, Mill Hill, Oakleigh, Totteridge and Underhill. That is very similar to the Boundary Commission proposals except that I advocate keeping Brunswick Park in the new constituency rather than gaining Cockfosters. In both cases, Coppetts ward is taken out of the constituency.
This comparatively small change to the Boundary Commission proposal for Chipping Barnet and Mill Hill would enable the recreation of an Enfield Southgate seat made up of Bowes, Bush Hill Park, Cockfosters, Grange, Palmers Green, Southgate, Southgate Green, and Winchmore Hill. I believe that would be a far better option for Enfield residents than splitting up the current constituency between five MPs, as proposed by the Commission.
My proposal would also mean there would be no need to create a Finchley and Southgate constituency which I feel is a needlessly artificial construct which links together two areas with only a very limited amount in common. The Finchley and Muswell Hill seat in the Conservative counter-proposal - made up of Coppetts, East Finchley, West Finchley, Woodhouse, Alexandra, Crouch End, Fortis Green, Highgate and Muswell Hill – makes much more sense in terms of community links.
Chipping Barnet has existed since 1974 and is based on a constituency created in 1945. In that time, the boundaries have remained relatively constant and the constituency covers communities that grew up alongside the expansion of the rail and tube network. My proposal minimises the changes that would be made to the existing constituency and to neighbouring ones. It also keeps the whole constituency in one borough.
I propose to make the case for my counter-proposal by considering each ward in turn.
Brunswick Park
In my view, it is important that the Brunswick Park and East Barnet wards remain together and in the Chipping Barnet and Mill Hill constituency. The communities in the two wards are heavily interconnected. Much of Brunswick Park ward has the address ‘East Barnet’, and is considered to be part of East Barnet by the East Barnet Resident’s Association. It is also part of the parish of East Barnet. There is an overlapping school catchment area in Church Hill School, while Monkfrith School’s catchment area stops at the constituency boundary.
In turn, East Barnet cannot be separated from High Barnet or Oakleigh wards: many residents consider themselves to be part of ‘New Barnet’ which includes streets in each of the three different wards.
While parts of Brunswick Park have links to Southgate, this is not the case for the whole ward and certainly not the case for East Barnet village. There is also a natural geographical dividing line between Brunswick Park ward and the Southgate constituency at present with main roads (Waterfall Road, Chase Side) and an overground portion of the Tube Line. This is not the case with the Commission’s proposed boundary.
The North London Business Park, currently the administrative centre of Barnet Council, is also situated in Brunswick Park ward. It is a known local landmark and local employer and it would be natural for it to remain part of a Barnet constituency.
For these reasons, I feel it is important that the Brunswick Park ward remains within the Chipping Barnet and Mill Hill constituency.
Cockfosters
I am concerned that the residents of Enfield do not get a good deal from the Boundary Commission proposals. Breaking up Enfield Southgate into five pieces represented by five different MPs is not right for an area with its own clear history and identity. It is a needlessly radical change and is not justified when there are alternatives which would meet population requirements without such a drastic restructuring of constituency boundaries.
All three main parties are united in rejecting these proposals for Enfield. Because of the need to tackle the very real problem with the Boundary Commission proposals for Enfield Southgate, I believe Cockfosters should not be moved into the Chipping Barnet and Mill Hill constituency. I support the plan put forward by David Burrowes MP to save the Southgate constituency.
Cockfosters ward is part of the borough of Enfield. I believe it is important for the Commission to try to minimise the number of ‘orphan wards’ created which are joined up with constituencies falling largely within a neighbouring borough. The Conservative proposals for north London remove the need to separate Cockfosters ward from the rest of Enfield.
Admittedly, some who live in Hadley Wood in Cockfosters ward might consider their local town centre to be High Barnet; but the area also has community and economic links with Potters Bar. Moreover the bulk of Cockfosters ward is on the other side of a main road, the A111, with its own town centre and would not look naturally to High Barnet as its local high street.
Unlike Barnet, this part of Cockfosters ward is linked by the Piccadilly line and feeder bus services to Southgate and Wood Green. School catchment areas do not cross over from High Barnet to Hadley Wood. Whilst there are some community links between Cockfosters ward and the Cockfosters area of East Barnet ward I do not believe these are strong enough to justify creating an orphan ward when there is a credible proposal which makes this unnecessary.
Coppetts
Much of Coppetts ward has always had strong ties with Finchley and with Muswell Hill. Until the relatively recent past, the ward was part of the Finchley constituency and many residents remember Mrs Thatcher as their local MP. The area of Coppetts which is south of the North Circular has always tended to look southwards towards Muswell Hill and Haringey.
Many of the roads in this southern part of the ward have Muswell Hill addresses and some residents are somewhat surprised when they learn that their address is part of the Chipping Barnet constituency and the borough of Barnet, not Haringey. The area has a more distinctively urban feel than the dispersed less densely developed wards that make up the bulk of Chipping Barnet.
Coppetts ward has its own town centre and local high streets and residents would tend to gravitate towards them or further south into Muswell Hill or west into Finchley. Many residents would view the Whittington as their local hospital rather than Barnet Hospital. The parish boundaries for Coppetts ward, whether Friern Barnet or St Peter le Poer Friern Barnet, are either self-contained or link to Woodhouse ward in Finchley. Although there is one school catchment area – Queenswell Infant School – that overlaps with the rest of Chipping Barnet, the school catchment area for Summerside School overlaps with Woodhouse ward, while Holly Park school catchment area is self-contained.
Integrating Coppetts ward alongside its neighbours in Muswell Hill and the Woodhouse area of Finchley would make sense in terms of geography and with regard to community and economic ties. I am not aware of substantial links between this ward and Southgate and I believe a Finchley and Muswell Hill seat (made up of Coppetts, East Finchley, West Finchley, Woodhouse, Alexandra, Crouch End, Fortis Green, Highgate and Muswell Hill) would be a much more logical home for Coppetts than the Boundary Commission’s Finchley and Southgate proposal.
Mill Hill
Mill Hill is one of those very rare parts of Greater London where the original village has retained much of its semi-rural character despite the expansion of the suburbs around it. It has significant areas of green belt including agricultural land and its conservation areas have helped protect many buildings of significant heritage value. All these characteristics give the ward a great deal in common with Totteridge and provide a strong reason for the Boundary Commission to stick with its proposal to move Mill Hill from the Hendon constituency to a new Chipping Barnet and Mill Hill seat.
Mill Hill has more in common with Totteridge and other Chipping Barnet green belt wards such as High Barnet, than it does with the urban areas of the Hendon constituency.
School catchment areas for rest of Hendon broadly stop at Mill Hill’s ward boundaries, starting from the other side of the M1. Mill Hill is largely self-contained within parish boundaries and school catchment areas (e.g. Dollis Hill School). An exception is Frith Manor with a catchment area overlapping with Totteridge ward. The school provides a good illustration of community ties between the two wards, attracting enthusiastic support from parents and community representatives from both Totteridge and Mill Hill. The communities in Totteridge, Woodside Park (also part of Totteridge ward) and Mill Hill often work together on matters of common interest such as the Millbrook Park development on the old Inglis Barracks site.
Because of the scale of the green belt in Mill Hill, it will always be an unusual shape in any constituency: the heart of the ward is a former village and that identity is still evident, sharing large amounts of green space and a nature reserve with Totteridge. There is a clear logic in uniting the two.
Mill Hill, unlike the rest of Hendon, is part of the High Barnet branch of the Northern Line. Although there aren’t obvious links with other local town centres, there is a strong case for the Mill Hill to be in the same constituency as Totteridge, Arkley and Chipping Barnet/Hadley Green since all four areas have a distinctive village feel and a strong emphasis on conserving their historic character and open spaces.
In summary, the Chipping Barnet constituency has been roughly the same since 1974, entirely contained within the borough of Barnet. There are strong arguments for moving Coppetts ward into a new Finchley and Muswell Hill seat, and for including Mill Hill ward in a new Chipping Barnet and Mill Hill constituency, and making no further changes.”