Have Your Say on the Future of Local Community Representation in West Lancashire

West Lancashire Borough Council is seeking views from residents, businesses and community organisations across the borough to understand local preferences for community representation in the future.

As part of this consultation, views are being sought on a range of community representation options, including the potential creation of a Parish Council for Westhead, Town Councils for Skelmersdale and Ormskirk, the introduction of Area Committees as part of future Local Government Reorganisation arrangements, or retaining existing arrangements.

To make it easier to provide feedback, there are three separate surveys available below, one for Westhead, one for Skelmersdale and one for Ormskirk. You are welcome to complete the survey(s) for any area(s) that are of interest to you by selecting and completing each relevant survey.

The consultation will help the Council understand local views on the options available and ensure that the views of communities are reflected in future discussions. The survey will be available online from 9 November 2026 to 1 February 2027 and will only take a few minutes to complete.

The Council is encouraging residents, businesses and community organisations to learn more about the options available, take part in the consultation and help inform future decision-making.

This consultation is seeking to assess the appetite and demand for potential community governance arrangements in Ormskirk, Skelmersdale, and Westhead (the only areas of West Lancashire without any community governance arrangements at the moment). No implementation of any of the potential options will be brought forward on the basis of this consultation alone. Should the consultation show that there is a desire for a Town or Parish Council in these areas, the Council may decide to conduct a formal Community Governance Review in one or all of these areas, which could result in the implementation of new Town or Parish Councils.

Before completing the survey, please read the FAQs section, which provides further information and answers to frequently asked questions.

The purpose of the consultation is to gather views from residents and stakeholders. No decision has been made on whether Parish Councils, Town Councils or Area Committees should be established, and all options remain under consideration.

Please select the relevant survey(s) below and complete one, two or all three surveys, depending on the area(s) you wish to comment on.