If it was a Machiavellian plan to test residents’ flair for a figure of speech, it worked like a dream. ‘Like a jigsaw,’ said one. ‘Like someone has put a Spirograph on a map,’ objected another. One retired church minister even described it as the work of Martians.
But as those comments suggest, a plan by North Yorkshire council to merge the towns of Malton and Norton, communities divided by the River Derwent since Roman times, is more nightmare than dream for locals who have expressed dismay over the proposed creation of two new wards.
The improbable move has come about because the newly created council wants to reduce the number of elected members from 90 to 89. This has led the Boundary Commission to require remapping most of North Yorkshire into 89 new electoral areas, with even numbers of voters in each one.
To counter an imbalance between the populations of Norton and Malton, the towns have been split north to south, with parts of each combined in what residents have branded ‘bureaucracy gone mad’.
One of the most egregious effects of the move will see St Nicholas Street split in two, with one side designated to the east ward and the other to the west ward.
‘It is being split down the middle and will not be the only one,’ said Di Keal, the mayor of Norton, who lives on the street. ‘It will be very very confusing for the electorate. It makes absolutely no sense whatsoever.
‘Although Malton and Norton are two towns and have distinct characters, we are basically one community separated by a river.
‘So splitting us in this nonsensical way – like someone has drawn a jigsaw puzzle over the town – makes no sense for community cohesion.’
Di Keal, the mayor of Norton, lives on St Nicholas Street, which would be split into separate wards under plans drawn up by North Yorkshire council
St Nicholas Street in Malton, which the council plans to split in what Keal describes as a ‘nonsensical way – like someone has drawn a jigsaw puzzle over the town’
Local resident Janet Scott has dismissed the proposals, branding them: ‘Another load of hot air from the powers that be’
In response to the dismay among locals, town councillors have put forward an alternative plan to create a two-member ward, arguing that this would ensure equality of representation, reflect community identity, and ensure effective local government.
‘What makes more sense to ourselves and what we are proposing is we become one division for Malton and Norton with two representatives,’ explained Keal.
‘The Boundary Commission does not like that. They want one representative for each area.
‘But the proposals which have been drawn up by North Yorkshire Council are utterly ridiculous. It baffles me completely. It is all down to the numbers and getting equality in the electoral divisions.
‘But you cannot split towns like ours in such a completely nonsensical way. It will create practical problems during elections.
‘It will make polling stations more remote and confusing for people coming to vote.
‘The two town councils work closely together already, so it will make no difference to the town councils.
‘But splitting the communities in half just based on numbers is madness – bureaucracy gone mad.
‘Somebody from Mars drew this up by the look of it – certainly no one who spent any time looking at the culture of the area,’ said retired minister Peter Clark
The North Yorkshire towns of Malton and Norton have been divided by the River Derwent since Roman times
‘Putting Old Malton into Norton is just silly,’ says local resident Helen Roberts. ‘It is called Malton, for goodness’ sake’
‘The comments I am getting from the public are that this is absolutely crazy. It looks like someone has put a Spirograph on a map – and it must be costing a fortune.
‘The most stupid thing is Old Malton, which is currently in Malton, will come into Norton despite being on the other bank of the river.
‘North Yorkshire Council has approved this ludicrous plan, but both town councils have agreed an alternative to make it one large division with two county representatives.’
While council chiefs claim the new boundaries will not be superseded before 2030, locals believe the proposed construction of 645 new homes on farmland on the town’s outskirts could upset the calculations sooner rather than later.
Debbie Moore, 56, who has lived on St Nicholas Street for 25 years, said: ‘There are no benefits to the community from this. They should be spending the money sorting out other jobs.
‘Things like the overcrowded doctors and schools, the potholes and the traffic – and all the other things people are complaining about.
‘We have all these new houses being built and we cannot get doctor’s appointments as it is. A friend of mine was told she was 69th in the queue.
‘They also need to sort out the traffic. I have a five-year-old grandson and just getting him in an out the car scares me to death.’
North Yorkshire Council has recommended that just four of the 90 current divisions be left alone when the Boundary Commission makes its final ruling on the proposed changes
St NIcholas Street will be divided into two if the proposals go ahead, with one side designated to the east ward and the other to the west ward
Helen Roberts, 50, echoed Moore’s sentiments.
‘It’s just nonsense,’ said Roberts. ‘There must be an easier way around it since it is just to get rid of one councillor.
‘How about spending the money on flood defences that actually stop the flooding?
‘There are more than 600 new homes being built and they should put this plan on the back burner until then.
‘It is just ridiculous what they prioritise. They are not bothered about the people, they are just concerned about the numbers.
‘Putting Old Malton into Norton is just silly. It is called Malton, for goodness’ sake.
‘Anything this side of the river should be Norton, and anything the other side should be Malton. But I suppose that is just too simple.’
Peter Clark, 77, a retired Methodist minister, said: ‘Somebody from Mars drew this up by the look of it – certainly no one who spent any time looking at the culture of the area.
‘It is an arbitrary line to create two seat representation. It seems a bizarre way of doing it.
‘They are going for a north-south split when obviously it should be a river split. The reasoning for this has never even been properly explained.
‘If the idea is to create two council seats, they could not have thought of a worse way of doing it.
‘Building all these new houses will change the demography anyway.’
Janet Scott was equally outraged.
‘It is crazy,’ she said. ‘Another load of hot air from the powers that be.
‘They never do anything constructive, these politicians and bureaucrats. If they did, the voters would not hate them so much.
‘There are a lot of angry people in Malton and Norton already, so this idea is going to go down like lead balloon.’
North Yorkshire Council has recommended that just four of the 90 current divisions be left alone when the Boundary Commission makes its final ruling on the proposed changes.
The authority’s suggestion of reducing the total by one councillor to leave 89 single-member divisions from the May 2027 elections has already been approved.
This led to a cross-party working group being formed at the council to look at the boundaries of the divisions.
The group’s chairman, John Weighell, said it had been a ‘huge exercise’ to draw up the new divisions.
‘I’ve done it three times before but it’s been nothing like this – it has just been massive,’ said Weighell.
‘It is right that we look at communities, and I’m very worried that we [may] split up far too many communities, but we have rules to abide by.
‘Those rules from the Boundary Commission are very strict and are absolute red lines in very many ways.’
The review involves placing a population of 517,344 into 89 fairly equal divisions.
