The Licensing and General Purposes Committee of Harrow Council met on Monday 19 February 2024 to review polling places and polling districts. The committee approved the recommendations for changes to polling districts and polling places across the borough.

Review of Polling Places and Polling Districts

The committee approved the final proposals for Harrow's statutory review of its polling places and polling districts. Councillor Matthew Goodwin-Freeman, on behalf of the Polling District Review Working Group, introduced the report, which detailed a number of minor changes to current arrangements.

These changes include:

• Greenhill Ward: Electors in GH2 will now vote at Harrow Baptist Church, College Road, instead of the Pavilion Greenhill Library, as the latter is now used by the Council's Registration Services.
• Harrow on the Hill: Electors in HH4 will vote at St George's Catholic Primary Voluntary Academy, Sudbury Hill, due to a fire at the previous location, a Portakabin in the Rising Sun Hotel and Restaurant Car Park, South Vale.
• Harrow Weald: Following public consultation, electors living in High Road HW2 will now vote at Blackwell Hall, moving from HW1.
• Hatch End: The Hatch End Lawn Tennis Club will be used as a new venue for electors in HE2, and the Hatch End Free Church for those in HE3. Public consultation supported this proposal.
• Headstone: Priory Way and Manor Way will be moved from Headstone PD2 into Headstone PD1.
• Pinner: Electors in PN1 will now vote at Pinner Hill Community Centre, rather than Pinner Wood School, following objections during the consultation period regarding the use of the school.
• Roxbourne: Electors in RB1 will vote at St Andrew's Church Hall, Malvern Avenue, Harrow, as the previous site at Brookside Close has been demolished.

It was clarified that polling places for residents in SM3, SM4, and SM5 were incorrectly listed in Appendix A of the report but were shown correctly in Appendix B.

The committee resolved to approve the recommendations of the Working Group regarding individual polling districts and polling places with immediate effect. They also agreed that any further changes in venue within a polling district would be decided by the Returning Officer in consultation with the relevant ward councillors.

The meeting was attended by Councillor Susan Hall as Chair, and Councillors Dan Anderson, June Baxter, Shahania Choudhury, Matthew Goodwin-Freeman, Chetna Halai, Rashmi Kalu, Amir Moshenson, Natasha Proctor, and Samir Sumaria. No Reserve Members were in attendance, and no declarations of interest were made. The meeting, which commenced at 5:15 pm, concluded at 5:23 pm.