Number of Market Drayton town councillors looks set to be cut by five
A move which will see the number of members on Market Drayton Town Council reduced by five looks set to go ahead.
Shropshire Council has recommended the proposal to reduce the number from 17 to 12 be approved.
It will be discussed by the unitary authority at its meeting tomorrow in Shirehall, Shrewsbury, which begins at 10am.
It has been carrying out a community governance review of the town council after concerns were raised it was too big.
If approved, the changes are likely to take effect at the 2017 elections.
Councillor David Minnery, mayor of Market Drayton, said: "This reduction is at the request of the town council and follows from a promise made to residents before the last election to make the council more efficient and effective.
"This will result in changes to the way that the next council will operate and will, hopefully, resolve some of the criticisms that have been made in the past, but will make more work in the short-term while everything is changed."
The town council also requested to extend the boundaries of the parish into the parishes of Adderley and Moreton Say, but Shropshire Council has recommended no changes be made at this stage.
A report ahead of tomorrow's meeting said: "The council gave public notice of the community governance review of the parishes of Adderley, Market Drayton and Moreton Say in January 2016 and also published the terms of reference for that review.
"This was in response to a request from the Market Drayton Town Council to reduce the number of town councillors and to extend the boundaries of the parish into the parishes of Adderley and Moreton Say.
"Currently, Market Drayton Town Council has 17 councillors spread over three wards. The town council requested that consideration be given to reducing that number to 12.
"The community governance working party considers that a reduction in the number of councillors to 12 can provide for effective and convenient community governance for the parish of Market Drayton spread over the existing three wards.
"The community governance working party was not provided with any evidence to support extending the boundary of the parish of Market Drayton in the manner that had been suggested.
"Objections had been made to the request. Consequently, members of the working group felt unable to agree to those changes and recommends that no change is made to the boundaries at this stage."
