Shuffled

When in May 2021 we reported on the town council debating parliamentary constituency boundaries, we remarked 'who realistically is going to listen to a small town council representing some 6,000 people?'

May 2021 propsals

The town council wasn't happy. Whether this was a coincidence or not, it seems that the commission *did* listen. Before the town council on Monday were the fresh proposals.

Rhuthun/Ruthin is still to 'move east' and that wasn't overly popular though, as we said in May 2021, we can't have it both ways, complaining of being marginalised *and* of joining the industrial heartland of north east Wales that is so alien to Rhuthun. But, many, many of us commute for work to that very area.

New proposals. At least Rhewl rejoins us (having previously been hived off to Clwyd North) but, strangely, Efenechtyd is with Bangor Aberconwy

The revisions now exclude Y Fflint but retain Yr Wyddgrug. The proposed constituency is called Clwyd East and not Delyn. That is a smart move because for us over to the west of the Clwydian Range the word Delyn comes with much industrial baggage.  

The new proposals also include Llangollen. We probably have more in common in terms of visitors and rurality, even though there is less interaction between the two than between Rhuthun and Yr Wyddgrug. 

The real oddity is that the ward of Efenechtyd moves to the huge constituency including Bangor. Efenechtyd includes Clawddnnewydd and other villages and really should sit with Rhuthun. 

The town council concluded that the new proposal was better than the old proposal. This was no ringing endorsement but neither was it an outright rejection, as before. And, given that the current Clwyd West seems to lump unwanted Rhuthun on to Abergele and Colwyn Bay, with which we certainly don't identify, then at least we're no worse off and, given the importance to us of Yr Wyddgrug and points east, possibly better off.