Anger in Kells and Trim after Navan"s boundary extended

Councillors in Kells and Trim have expressed frustration that a large number of residents of both towns will not have a vote in the town council elections in June. Following the news last week that Navan Town Council"s boundaries are to be extended for the June election, local councillors in Kells and Trim are annoyed that the same efforts were not put into extending their boundaries. The Mayor of Kells, Cllr Brian Collins, said a lot of people in Kells were disenfranchised because of voting anomalies in the town. Some of the newer estates in the town are outside the official boundaries and residents cannot vote in the town council elections. 'We have a ridiculous situation in Balrath Wood where residents on one side of the estate have a vote and on the other side they cannot vote. People on one side have 14 public representatives, while those on the other have just five,' he said. Cllr Collins said that residents of Headfort Wood had no vote in the town council elections, despite being very much part of the urban community. Cllr Conor Ferguson said he very annoyed that these problems still exist after five years. 'It should have been sorted out by now as a lot of people are being disenfranchised,' he said. Cllr Ferguson said there were people who always voted in the town council elections who had moved to new houses a few 100 yards away and were now finding that they have no vote. He said he was concerned about the number of people who had been disenfranchised by this anomaly. 'We had been told up to six months ago that the boundary extensions could not be done until after the election, but something has changed and Navan"s boundaries have been extended,' he added. The Mayor of Trim, Cllr Trevor Golden, said that Navan was to serve as a template for Kells and Trim. 'We were told earlier this year that no boundary changes were to be made before the election and then, out of the blue, Navan"s boundaries were extended. Unfortunately, Trim and Kells were not in a position to apply to have them extended. 'It is a huge disappointment as we were told nothing could be done, yet if we had known that the Minister would make extensions, we could have put our application in. It is frustrating and unfair on both the voters and the councillors,' he said. 'So many people have been disenfranchised in places like Manorlands and Efferknock Manor. The town has grown so much in the past 10 years, it is ridiculous that they have not yet been included,' he said. Cllr Vincent McHugh explained that, as well as those who have no vote at all in the town council, there are voters in a number of estates who can vote for the councillors, but the town council has no responsibility for them at the moment. 'Hopefully, within the next few months, when the boundary is extended, the town councillors will be able to represent them properly,' he said. Navan Town Council"s boundaries were extended last week to include a total of 17,000 voters. Just 3,000 voters had been living inside the what was the town"s formal boundary until then, although an additional 8,000 voters in some of the older estates in the town were able to vote for the town councillors, although the council had no responsibility for them.