Great Aycliffe Town Council last week overwhelmingly agreed to back Great Aycliffe Residents’ Association (GARA) request for Aycliffe to be part of any change of name regarding the proposed boundary for our new Parliamentary Constituency from the Boundary Commission.
Cllr Arun Chandran, Secretary of GARA, put forward a strong case that in any future changes to the Constituencies being proposed by the Boundary Commission that Aycliffe should figure prominently in in its title.
The current use of “Sedgefield” has always puzzled people being a small town in the constituency. It seemed ridiculous whenever there was a straw poll the media went to Sedgefield.
The Commission are suggesting Billingham and Sedgefield, but GARA the Town Council and our MP Phil Wilson all agree on Aycliffe and Billingham – the two biggest towns within the proposed new boundary.
Whether these actual changes take place will be down to Parliamentary debates and legislation over the size and shape and number of future constituencies, but hopefully Aycliffe will figure in any name change proposed by the Boundary Commission.
