The Local Government Boundary Commission has reviewed the council wards in Dudley to make sure that ward arrangements will help the council work effectively.

The Commission has published final recommendations for changes, saying residents should be represented by 24 three-councillor wards - a total of 72 councillors.

The boundaries of nine wards will change and 15 will stay the same. Publishing the recommendations Professor Colin Mellors, Chair of the Commission, said:

“We are very grateful to people in Dudley. We looked at all the views they gave us and they helped us improve our earlier proposals. We believe the new arrangements will deliver electoral fairness while maintaining local ties.”

Changes in response to what local people said include:

• Belmont Road, Crabbe Street, Hill Bank, King Street and Pearson Street will be included in Lye and Stourbridge North ward;
• Brierley Hill ward will be renamed Brierley Hill and Wordsley South;
• Wordsley ward will be renamed Wordsley North;
• and Cradley and Wollescote ward will be renamed Cradley North and Wollescote.

In initial proposals, the Boundary Commission confirmed that they did not intend to change the existing ward boundaries which placed all Wordsley homes that lie on the south side of the Stourbridge Canal together in a ward with 4000 properties in Brierley Hill.

However councillors Adam Davies and Wayne Little said this arrangement reinforced the common-sense logic for the name of the ward to be changed to finally recognise the 33% of it made up by Wordsley. Cllr Adam Davies said:

"We are really pleased that the Boundary Commission has listened to the strong case we have been making on behalf of local people.

“Residents in Audnam, Marine Crescent, the Swan Estate, Oak Park Road and the other areas of Wordsley that sit in our ward have long said they felt the existing ward name makes no sense and leaves them feeling under-represented.

“We therefore wrote to residents in those 2000 homes to seek their views on ‘Brierley Hill & Wordsley South’ as an alternative. A whopping 96% of those who responded to the survey said they felt this new name would be more representative of the place they live, so we took that case to the Boundary Commission and are really pleased that they have listened.

"We're proud to represent all parts of Brierley Hill & Wordsley South, and are pleased that this new ward name finally represents the identity of the communities within it." 

Cllr Little added: "This new ward name finally reflects the fact that almost a third of households in the ward have an address that says Wordsley rather than Brierley Hill.

"This is important, because for people to engage with local government structures and processes, and to raise issues in their area, they need to know who represents them.”

Local resident and community campaigner Danny Shaw, who works as an NHS Sonographer at Russells Hall Hospital and himself lives in the Wordsley South area of the ward, added: “This change makes much more sense.

"Adam and Wayne have been great advocates for the whole ward, even before this name change – but the old ward name was still confusing for lots of Wordsley residents who felt it acted as an unnecessary barrier between them and the local government system.

"This name change finally puts that right.”

Details can be found on online. The changes become law once Parliament has approved them. Staff at the council will ensure that the arrangements are in place for the 2024 elections.