Comment DBCC-4663

I believe the key issue with the current proposals is the pairing of Brecon, Radnor and Cwm Tawe, with Swansea East and Neath. Not only is this a very large, but it includes discrete, unconnected, urban, suburban and rural communities. It also crosses over three local authorities, and two health board areas. I would address this, and other pairings would necessarily flow from these changes.

The pairings I would recommend are:

1. Ynys Môn and Bangor Aberconwy (I like Eryri a Môn as a name for this)
2. Clwyd North and Clwyd East (to be called Clwyd)
3. Alyn and Deeside and Wrexham (I would simply call this Deeside or Dee Valley)
4. Dwyfor Meirionnydd and Ceredigion Preseli (I would call this Bae Ceredigion or Cardigan Bay)
5. Montgomeryshire and Glyndŵr and Brecon, Radnor and Cwm Tawe (This could simply be called Powys)
6. Mid and South Pembrokeshire and Caerfyrddin (Dyfed South)
7. Llanelli and Gower (Loughor)
8. Swansea West and Neath and Swansea East (Just call this Swansea)
9. Aberavon Maesteg and Bridgend (I would call this Afan a Ogwr)
10. Vale of Glamorgan and Pontypridd (I would call this Taff Bro Morgannwg)
11. Rhondda and Ogmore and Merthyr Tydfil and Aberdare (I would call this The Valleys)
12. Blaenau Gwent and Rhymney and Caerphilly (I would call this Rhymney, Sirhowy a Ebbw)
13. Monmouthshire and Tofaen (I would call this Monmouthshire and Torfaen)
14. Newport West and Islwyn and Newport East (i would call this Newport)
15. Cardiff North and Cardiff East (I would call this Cardiff Northeast)
16. Cardiff West and Cardiff South and Penarth (I would call this Cardiff Southwest)

Although I recognise that the DBCC has been mandated to form 16 Senedd Constituencies on the basis of pairing the 32 Westminster Constituencies, I believe that this is a sub-optimal approach, and would much rather we started from scratch to create new constituencies based on real communities. I hope there will be an opportunity to address some of these issues in future boundary reviews.

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