Earlier this month I warned local residents that there were plans afoot to propose to the Local Government Boundary Commission for England that Sutton should be split in half for county council elections, with one half of the village having one county councillor and the other half having another. I made a submission to the Commission which argued against this, and encouraged others to do likewise.

I was told by a number of residents at the time that I was mistaken, and that such a proposal could not possibly be put forward. It gives me no pleasure to say that I was right.

Tomorrow Cambridgeshire County Council will consider its submission (this link will open a PDF document) to the Boundary Commission about the future of its electoral boundaries. The county council’s working party did not reach agreement about East Cambridgeshire’s boundaries, and will therefore consider two alternative proposals. It is not clear which one the county council will choose tomorrow, but it is very possible that it will be the second.

The first proposal, an adapted version of the working group’s suggestions during its discussions in 2014, combines Sutton with Mepal, Coveney, Witcham, Little Downham, Pymoor, Wentworth and Witchford. That makes sense, and I would support such a proposal.

The second proposal draws a line through Sutton, along The America, the High Street, and Station Road. The two halves would be represented by different county councillors. Sutton would be the only village to be treated in this way.

There is absolutely no logic behind the second proposal. The variation between the number of voters in each area under the second proposal is greater than under the first proposal; the Commission accepts a difference of up to 10 per cent from the average, and under the second proposal ‘Sutton South’ just squeaks in at -9.9 per cent, while ‘Sutton North’ comes in at -9.8 per cent. (Under the first proposal, Sutton and the other villages would vary from the average by 6.6 per cent).

The proposal to split Sutton has been made by two bodies. The first is South East Cambridgeshire Conservative Association. The second is East Cambridgeshire District Council. I am in the process of trying to find out why the leadership of a council of which I am a member submitted a proposal to split the village I represent without informing me in advance, discussing it at a meeting of the council, seeking the views of councillors, or even sending me a copy afterwards.

Of course it is the Boundary Commission, not the county council, that makes the final decision on our boundaries. If you wrote to the Commission expressing the view that Sutton should not be split, thank you. All we can now do is await the outcome of tomorrow’s county council meeting and, if they do propose to gerrymander Sutton, hope that the Boundary Commission will reject their proposal.