PEOPLE living across the Braintree District have been invited to have their say on how many councillors the area needs.

The independent Local Government Boundary Commission for England is asking residents for their views on the number of representatives they think should sit on Braintree District Council in the future.

The six-week public consultation is the first part of an electoral review which will also consider changes to the number, names and boundaries of the council’s wards.

The commission has considered evidence submitted to it by the council’s political groups and is now consulting residents on a proposal that would see the authority represented by 50 councillors in future, 10 fewer than the current arrangements.

The commission is asking local people whether they think 50 is the right number of councillors for Braintree. Max Caller, chairman of the commission, called on people to have their say.

He said: “This is your chance to shape your council for the future.

“We are asking people across the district whether they agree that 50 councillors is the right number to represent Braintree in the future.

“We want to know if you think 50 is the right number of councillors to be able to take decisions effectively and whether it’s the right number to represent the interests of all the district’s communities.

“If you don’t agree that Braintree should be represented by 50 councillors, we want you to tell us your alternative and why you think there should be more, or fewer, members of the council in the future.

“Once we have taken a view on the number of councillors, we will re-draw ward boundaries to accommodate those elected members and we will ask local people to have their say during that process as well.”

Further information about the review is available at www.lgbce.org.uk and residents can have their say directly at consultation.lgbce.org.uk.

The current phase of consultation closes on May 7.