Powys will lose five councillors ahead of next year's council election

Rebecca Evans, the Welsh Government minister for finance and local government, said that decisions on the electoral boundary reviews will start to be announced from Monday.

Over a three-month period to the end of September, announcements on ward changes to the principal Welsh local authorities will be made.

It is hoped that this will allow potential candidates, political parties, and groups enough time to work out how they will campaign at next year’s council elections.

Usually, the Local Democracy and Boundary Commission Wales (LDBCW) review electoral boundaries every 10 years.

In 2016, the Welsh Government had asked for all 22 to be looked at during the lifetime of the last Senedd term.

Ms Evans said: “The foundations of any democracy include fair and independently drawn electoral boundaries, creating electoral wards, so each community has fair and equal representation.

“In Wales, a process has been underway over the last four years, to look at the electoral wards for local government in Wales – for the 22 principal local authorities.

“Ministers have a duty under the Local Democracy (Wales) Act 2013 to ensure ‘effective and convenient’ local government across Wales.

“The final proposals are now being presented to me to make a decision on.

“My aim is to make decisions about each of the 22 boundary reviews by the end of September 2021, so that changes can be made in time for the 2022 local government elections.”

Ms Evans added: “This means that, from June 21, I will announce the first set of decisions on the reviews.”

Final proposals by the LDBCW on changes to Powys ward boundaries were submitted to the Welsh Government on March 21, 2019.

At the next election, the number of councillors is expected to drop from 73 to 68.

At the time there was some unhappiness in Powys at the “bonkers” way wards had been re-jigged.

Concerns were raised about putting Llanbrynmair and Trefeglwys together in a ward, as the area is 30 miles from end to end with a mountain in the middle.

LDBCW had tried to make sure that wards average 1,569 electors each.

Current numbers can range from 790 voters in Llanbrynmair to 2,658 voters in the Brecon St John ward.

The number of electoral wards would also come down from 73 to 60 as a number of current wards would be merged and will elect two councillors.

The recommendations are:

• 68 members down

• 60 electoral wards

• Eight two councillor multi-member wards these are: Aber-craf and Ystradgynlais, Knighton and Beguildy, Crickhowell with Cwmdu and Tretower, Llandrindod South, Llanidloes with Llangurig, Newtown Central and South, Brecon East and Brecon West.

• According to the commission, the average number of electors at the moment is 1,461.

• By bringing the number of councillors down to 68 the ratio of voters per councillor comes to 1,569 and the ward boundaries have been re-jigged to get as close to that figure as possible.

Eight wards would disappear altogether, they are Llanbadarn Fawr, Newtown Llanllwchaiarn North, Newtown Llanllwchaiarn West, Brecon St David Within, Brecon St John, Brecon St Mary, Tawe-Uchaf and Ystradgynlais