It's always struck me as being a bit odd that two completely separate villages with different issues, priorities and community features have been lumped together as one council ward. I remember at the time it happpened that there was some opposition, and when I've been out and about in Brixton this week, a few people have picked up on it, and they don't seem very happy.
The story, basically, is this: until 1999, Brixton had one councillor and Wembury had two. The Boundary Commission reviewed the situation in 1997 (there is a link at the bottom, you need page 22) and decided that to even out the population distribution, the two wards would be combined and have only two councillors. At the same time they cut the number of councillors from 44 to 40- meaning that not only did we lose out, but the voters in the district lost their representatives on the whim of an unelected body. Despite clear objections from both sides, and an expressed desire by Brixton Parish Council to be in with Yealmpton- which would be far more logical- a bad decision was made.
Fast forward to 2007, and it is obvious that this needs to be looked at again. I think that Brixton needs- deserves- it's own representative, either alone or with Yealmpton, particularly with a whole new town being built on it's doorstep.
The two communities- apart from being several miles apart- have little in common and no real shared sense of community, unlike Brixton and Yealmpton (which you can walk between. Ever tried walking from Brixton to Wembury?). Brixton is a older village whereas Wembury is a more modern creation- OK, Down Thomas isn't but Wembury village and Heybrook Bay are. Brixton hasn't gone through the same redevelopments that Wembury has in recent years. Brixton has industry and an agricultural hinterland. And so on.
This unfairness needs to be sorted out- both sides are losing out. I will campaign for Brixton to get it's own councillor once again.
http://www.boundarycommittee.org.uk/files/dms/devon-south-hams_6439-6043__E__.pdf
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