Plymouth boundary changes could see Tavistock, Plympton, Ivybridge, Wembury and Brixton joined

A PROPOSED shake-up of Plymouth's political map has been revisited in a bid to appease community concerns and better reflect local ties.

Under the planned changes the proposed constituency of Tavistock and Plympton, which includes the Moor View ward, would be made more "Plymouth-facing".

The revised seat would lose Okehampton to the north, while gaining Ivybridge, and Wembury and Brixton in the South Hams.

Meanwhile, the two Plymouth city constituencies would each swap a ward. It is proposed to move Eggbuckland from Plymouth Devonport to Plymouth Sutton, with St Peter and the Waterfront moving the other way.

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Tory MP for South West Devon Gary Streeter, who was highly critical of the original proposals which would have seen his seat carved up among three new constituencies, said: "It's moved from a dog's dinner to a healthy snack."

The overhaul of electoral boundaries is aimed at slashing the number of Westminster seats by 50 down to 600, and iron out discrepancies in constituency electorates.

But it is unclear if the proposals will even proceed after the Liberal Democrats led by Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg pulled the plug on backing the planned overhaul of the electoral map after proposals for House of Lords reform had to be scrapped in the face of entrenched opposition from Conservative MPs along with Labour's refusal to back a crucial timetable for the legislation.

Mr Clegg had claimed the Conservatives had broken the coalition 'contract' and that, as a result, his Liberal Democrat MPs could no longer support changes to constituency boundaries for the 2015 general election.

In its revised proposals, published today, the Boundary commission agreed Moor View was an 'integral' part of Plymouth, and admits it would have preferred to include it into one of the two city constituencies.

The report goes on: "However, we have concluded that this would not be achievable without undesirable consequences elsewhere, for example by splitting the community of Plymstock.

"We have therefore focused our attention on rendering the proposed constituency of Tavistock and Plympton, which includes Moor View, more Plymouth-facing and reflective of local ties."

Highlighting the significant changes to the proposed seat, it added: "The removal of six wards straddling or north of the A30 from Tavistock and Plympton, balanced by the addition of Ivybridge (seven miles from Plympton and linked to Plymouth by the A38) and other South Hams wards, produces a constituency that is focused on the Plymouth travel to work area and is generally more Plymouth-centred.

"The solution addresses concerns about the urban areas of Plympton and Moor View being linked to areas beyond Dartmoor that look to Exeter and with which there is no community of interest."

Meanwhile, two Torridge district wards from the proposed Tavistock and Plympton constituency move into the into the cross-border 'Devonwall' seat, which it is planned to rename Bideford, Bude and Launceston to include the area's three largest towns.

Following representations, South East Cornwall will retain its current name rather than being called Liskeard. The public consultation on the revised proposals now runs for eight-weeks until December 10.