Shropshire Star

'Nasty smell', damaged ramp and poor lighting: Telford polling station to move under plans

A polling station that had a 'nasty smell', a damaged wheelchair ramp and defective lighting will not be used in future elections, if plans are approved.

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The Red Lion annex, Wellington, is one of four voting venues which Telford and Wrekin Council election chiefs plan to move.

Elections team leader Dave Bowen and officer Wendy Buckley say they also hope to stop using Lawley Village Primary Academy – which had to close twice in May to accommodate elections – and move polling to the Mormon Church on Smallhill Road, as “due to the high volume of housing” no other building is available.

In their report, due to go before the Telford and Wrekin Boundary Review Committee on Tuesday they say that, in general, they want to limit the use of portacabin-style buildings and schools in future.

“This council is fortunate in that most of its polling stations are well-established and meet the Electoral Commission’s guidelines,” Mr Bowen and Ms Buckley write.

“Additionally, of the handful of schools used, some are able to continue to operate during polling day.”

Only three temporary buildings and seven schools are used, Mr Bowen and Ms Buckley add.

Maintenance

In Wellington, they propose moving voting from an annex near the Red Lion Hotel on Holyhead Road, to the Sir John Bayley Club on Haygate Road.

Their report says the annex had multiple problems.

“A ramp into the building was badly damaged and an emergency maintenance team arrived to make repairs,” they write.

“Several lightbulbs were not working in the main hall, there were no kitchen facilities for the polling station staff [and] the building had a nasty smell which several electors complained about.”

Also in Wellington, the report proposes moving a polling station down North Road from St Patrick’s Catholic Primary School to Wellington Children’s Centre.

Lawley Village Primary Academy, on Bryce Way, was forced to close for both the local and European elections, prompting parent complaints.

Mr Bowen and Ms Buckley write they would prefer for voting to take place in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, as “no other venue is available within the area for use as a polling place”.

In Ketley, the Abacus Nursery had served as a polling station, but has closed and the building may be sold or leased soon, so Queenswood Primary School, on Yates Way, has offered to host instead.

The 1983 Representation of the People Act requires the council to review its 77 polling districts and stations by January 31.