COUNCILLORS have welcomed plans by the Boundary Commission to create a “more representative” ward name for thousands of Wordsley addresses.

Almost 2,000 Wordsley homes and even the landmark Red House Glass Cone in Camp Hill have, for local government purposes, fallen under what has long been officially Brierley Hill ward - despite having a strong Wordsley identity and postal address.

However, residents in Wordsley and councillors Adam Davies and Wayne Little have celebrated successfully securing a more suitable ward name for the area as part of a borough-wide ward boundary review by the Local Government Boundary Commission for England.

In its final recommendations, the commission has now approved a request to rename the ward as Brierley Hill & Wordsley South.

In its initial proposals, the Boundary Commission confirmed it did not intend to change the existing ward boundaries - which already place all Wordsley homes that lie on the south side of the Stourbridge Canal (just short of 2,000 homes) together in a ward with 4,000 properties in Brierley Hill.

Ward councillors Adam Davies and Wayne Little (Conservative) said it therefore made sense for the ward name to be changed to finally recognise the 33 per cent of addresses that it in the Wordsley area.

Cllr Davies told the News: "We are really pleased that the Boundary Commission has listened to the strong case we have been making on behalf of local people.

“Residents in Audnam, Marine Crescent, the Swan Estate, Oak Park Road and the other areas of Wordsley that sit in our ward have long said they felt the existing ward name makes no sense and leaves them feeling under-represented.

“We therefore wrote to residents in those 2,000 homes to seek their views on ‘Brierley Hill & Wordsley South’ as an alternative.

“A whopping 96 per cent of those who responded to the survey said they felt this new name would be more representative of the place they live, so we took that case to the Boundary Commission and are really pleased they have listened.

"We're proud to represent all parts of Brierley Hill & Wordsley South, and are pleased that this new ward name finally represents the identity of the communities within it."

Cllr Wayne Little added: "This new ward name finally reflects the fact that almost a third of households in the ward have an address that says Wordsley rather than Brierley Hill. This is important, because for people to engage with local government structures and processes, and to raise issues in their area, they need to know who represents them.”

Local resident and community campaigner Danny Shaw, a hospital worker who lives in the Wordsley South area of the ward, said: “This change makes much more sense. Adam and Wayne have been great advocates for the whole ward, even before this name change – but the old ward name was still confusing for lots of Wordsley residents who felt it acted as an unnecessary barrier between them and the local government system. This name change finally puts that right.”