Hundreds of residents and businesses, based in the Marshfield area of Bradford have signed a petition to voice their concerns over the publication of plans by the Parliamentary Boundary Commission to split Marshfield in two at the next general election
The petition which is rapidly growing and has been signed by almost 50% of the Marshfield electorate has been circulated by local activists
The plans, published in early November by the Boundary Commission as part of their review of parliamentary boundaries ahead of the next general election, reversed the Commission’s original plan to keep the area of Marshfield within the Bradford East constituency, and took place with no formal consultation with residents.
Residents have now decided to take it upon themselves to voice their concerns about the controversial plans to split up Marshfield. Residents have already made their concerns clear at the Boundary Commission’s public hearings and in written submissions urging the Commission to keep the distinct community of Marshfield within just one parliamentary constituency.
Marshfield residents believe that despite this opposition, the Boundary Commission has made no reference to the hearings or the views of local people in Marshfield, and instead adopted proposals from a small number of submissions made by people in Bradford South, leading to angry accusations of bias and discrimination by the Boundary Commission.
Javaid Bostan, who lives in Marshfields and organiser of the ‘Residents of Marshfield Against the Boundary Commission Proposals’ petition said that “Earlier this year when we first heard that the Boundary Commission were considering the idea of splitting up Marshfield, I and many other people in Marshfield approached the Commission to urge them to abandon these plans, but they ignored us.
“Instead of listening to the local people who actually live in Marshfield and who will be deeply affected by the changes in these proposals, and hearing what we want, the Boundary Commission have instead listened to a small minority of people who don’t live in Marshfield, have never lived in Marshfield, and have no idea about our community in Marshfield
“I’m therefore extremely concerned about the bias that this clearly demonstrates by the Boundary Commission against communities like those in Marshfield in favour of communities in Bradford South. We will not stand by and let our views be ignored so blatantly, and if the Boundary Commission or anyone else think that people in Marshfield will agree to this without resistance, then they are very much mistaken.
“We urge the Boundary Commission to revisit their plans and instead keep Marshfield as part of Bradford East, not split us up.”
To oppose the Boundary Commission’s proposals, Mr Bostan and other local residents in the Marshfield area feel they will be moved against their and have actively drafted a petition which was circulated to people across Marshfield, calling out the Boundary Commission for ignoring the wishes of Marshfield’s ethnic minority communities who made clear their objections, and urged the Commission to review their proposals and stop communities in Marshfield being split up
A spokesperson from the Boundary Commission told Asian Standard: “The Boundary Commission for England has been asked by Parliament to rebalance the number of electors in each constituency, and make sure that each MP represents a roughly equal number of electors. A final consultation on our revised constituency map is currently open, and we look forward to receiving comments from the public about how we can improve our revised proposals before we make our final recommendations.
“We encourage you to have your say on the proposals by submitting your views via the consultation website bcereviews.org.uk. You can tell us whether or not you support our proposals, and if you support an alternative pattern of constituencies which fits within the legal requirements. View the map at bcereviews.org.uk today – our final consultation closes on 5 December, and any representations received after this date cannot be considered.”
