New council boundaries outlined

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New council areas outlined

The boundaries and names of Northern Ireland's proposed new local government districts have been unveiled.

Belfast is to take parts of Lisburn, including Twinbrook and Poleglass, and areas of Castlereagh council.

The Slievecroob area of County Down is to be incorporated into a single council area of Newry City and Down.

There will be one councillor per ward. Belfast will have 60 wards and all other council areas will have 40.

In general, where two councils are grouped together, such as Antrim and Newtownabbey, the names will be amalgamated.

FULL LIST OF COUNCILS Belfast City Council Derry City and Strabane District Council Armagh City and Bann District Council Lisburn City and Castlereagh District Council Newry City and Down District Council Antrim and Newtownabbey District Council Ards and North Down District Council Causeway Coast District Council Fermanagh and Omagh District council Mid-Antrim District Council Mid-Ulster District Council

Where there are more than two, new district council names will appear like Causeway Coast, Mid-Antrim and Mid-Ulster.

The number of councils has fallen from 26 to 11.

The Local Government Boundaries Commissioner Dick MacKenzie said he had not taken political considerations into account and had not spoken to any politicians.

"The publication of my report is the first stage of a process which is designed to establish the district and ward boundaries for a completely new configuration of local government in Northern Ireland," he said.

"The proposed boundaries of the districts are based on the amalgamation of the existing councils, with the exception of Belfast for which I am recommending a revised boundary to reflect the expansion of the city over the years."

There will now be an eight week period for the submission of written comments followed by 11 public hearings until the end of November. It is up to the Northern Ireland Assembly to give its final approval.

HOW THE 26 COUNCILS WILL MERGE INTO 11

Map courtesy of the Local Government Boundaries Commissioner