PLANS to review and potentially redraw local parish boundaries across the entire borough of Rotherham are set to go out to public consultation.

Councillors are being asked to approve the first borough-wide community governance review since 2008, which will examine every part of Rotherham, including areas that already have parish councils and those that do not.

At this stage, no specific boundary changes have been proposed. Instead, the review will ask residents to have their say on how their communities are represented and whether boundaries should be changed.

This could include creating new parish councils in areas that currently do not have them, altering the edges of existing parishes, merging smaller areas together or splitting larger ones.

Consultation: The review will ask residents to have their say on how their communities are represented and whether boundaries should be changed

placeholder image — Consultation: The review will ask residents to have their say on how their communities are represented and whether boundaries should be changed

One area already likely to be looked at is Ravenfield, where the parish council has asked for its boundaries to be reconsidered. However, the review is not limited to a single location and will cover the whole borough, meaning communities across Rotherham could be affected.

Parish boundaries decide which council represents an area at a neighbourhood level and can also affect council tax through parish precepts.

A report to cabinet says the review is needed because Rotherham has changed significantly over the past 15 years, with new housing developments and shifting populations meaning some boundaries may no longer reflect how communities are organised.

Residents will be invited to take part in an initial consultation from May, before final decisions are made in 2027.

Any agreed changes would come into force at the next local elections in May 2028, potentially reshaping how communities across Rotherham are represented.