Community Governance Review 2026
What is a Community Governance Review?
A Community Governance Review is the process used to consider parish arrangements. A review can cover the whole or part of the district area and can consider the following:
- the electoral arrangements for parishes (the ordinary year of election; council size; the number of councillors to be elected to the council, and parish warding)
- the naming of parishes
- grouping parishes under a common parish council or de-grouping parishes and
- creating, merging, altering or abolishing parishes.
The council must ensure that community governance within the review area reflects the identities and interests of the community and is effective and convenient.
Why is the Council undertaking a Community Governance Review at this time?
The Council believes parish councils play an important role in terms of community empowerment at the local level. With Local Government Reorganisation coming shortly and parish elections due in May 2027, the Council wants to ensure parish governance in our district continues to be robust, representative and able to meet the challenges that lie before it. Furthermore, it wants to ensure there is clarity and transparency to the areas that parish councils represent.
What will this Community Governance Review be looking to consult on?
The details of what the Community Governance Review will cover is listed in the Terms of Reference, found below, along with other relevant documents:
Parish / Town Maps:
Dover District Council considered the Terms of Reference for the CGR at its meeting held on 28 January 2026. In setting the Terms of Reference, the Council considered the views of the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) and the Local Government Boundary Commission for England (LGBCE) in conducting a CGR. Due to the proximity of Local Government Reorganisation and its potential to amend parish as well as district/county boundaries, it was necessary to narrow the scope of this particular Community Governance Review to just one option – the setting of the number of councillors for each parish council - and run another CGR to consider all other options after Local Government Reorganisation has been completed and the new unitary authority is in place.
By looking solely at councillor numbers across the district, the CGR will not interfere with any plans for Local Government Reorganisation and can be accommodated in plenty of time for the May 2027 parish elections. In acknowledgement that a full CGR is not being conducted at this time, the requirement to hold a full CGR including options to amend wards, groupings and internal and external boundaries will be included on the Implementation Plan to be taken forward by the new unitary authority.
How to take part – Stage One: 9 February 2026 to 2 April 2026.
The Community Governance Review is a public consultation, so we want to hear from residents in the district as well as from town and parish councils.
You can take part in the first stage of the consultation by completing the online form here by 2 April 2026: https://forms.office.com/e/fL9WeT9bkr
or by submitting your representation in writing by 2 April 2026 by email to elections@dover.gov.uk or by mail to: Electoral Services (CGR), Council Offices, White Cliffs Business Park, Whitfield, Dover CT16 3PJ.
All representations received in connection with the Review will be considered, and consultees will be notified of the outcome of the Review if they have included contact details with their representation. The names of individual consultees will not be published at any point and the personal information (names, addresses and/or email addresses) received as part of the response to the Review will be destroyed 1 month after the Community Governance Reorganisation Order has been made.
What happens now?
- The first stage of the consultation will run from 9 February 2026 until 2 April 2026.
All representations received during that stage will be considered, and Draft Recommendations will be prepared based upon the representations.
- Once the Council has agreed the Draft Recommendations, they will be published and once again we will be asking residents and town and parish councils for their input. This consultation stage will run from 18 May 2026 until 7 August 2026.
- Once this stage has concluded, Final Recommendations will be made based upon the Draft Recommendations and the responses to them.
- Once Council has agreed the Final Recommendations, they will be published around the 22 October 2026, and the Review will be concluded.
- At least one month after the Final Recommendations are published, the Council will need to resolve to make the Community Governance Reorganisation Order, which will be signed, sealed and copies sent to the relevant agencies, including the Secretary of State and the Local Government Boundary Commission for England.