No case of boundary gerrymandering or manipulation

In November 2012 I was asked to serve on the Local Electoral Area Boundary Committee, the remit of which was to draw up boundaries for the 2014 local elections.

I had read the Department of the Environment, Community, and Local Government’s ‘Putting People First’ action programme for effective local government published the previous month with interest.

It seemed to me to make much sense in streamlining local government numbers while at the same time devolving specific functions and delegation of greater responsibility to local authorities. I did not make my views on the document known publicly.