IVYBRIDGE residents look likely to be petitioned by the town council in the coming months in an effort to get the town's boundary changed. Councillors want the boundary redrawn to include areas that are currently part of Ugborough parish, including the railway station, rugby club and, crucially, a new development that they said is likely to include around 500 new homes and the new Ivybridge Health Centre. The councillors feel that, as the new homes will be part of the town, Ivybridge should receive the financial benefits. If successful, the parish-town boundary would match new district council ward boundaries drawn up after a review by the Government's boundary commission and which come into force at next May's elections. But whatever the outcome, there are financial implications for residents. The town council said the development will be an extension of Ivybridge and it expects the boundary to be changed in line with ward boundaries. The development has been included in the area for the Neighbour-hood Plan currently in progress. However, it has now been told by South Hams Council that a petition is necessary for this to occur and it must get signatures from 10 per cent of residents – 937 people. A town council spokesperson said: 'The hard facts are that all financial benefits from the new development will go into Ugborough parish. 'Also, where this council is trying to support the continuation of youth services and Christmas activities, for example, then spreading the costs over more houses would have helped to ensure that the services could be maintained without an increase in council tax – this will be much more difficult without the new homes.' Clerk to Ivybridge Town Council Lesley Hughes said: 'It's obviously a big change when a development of up to 500 new homes is built. If that development is attached to Ugborough, I don't know whether there are even 500 homes in Ugborough, so it possibly doubles its size. I don't know whether the parish, which has a part-time clerk, is geared up to deal with this many new homes. 'A parish levy is part of council tax, but the services these new residents will be looking for would be in Ivybridge. They'll be represented by Ivybridge councillors and have an Ivybridge postcode. 'It's not as simple as just saying that council tax will be higher.' If the boundary is changed, residents of the 'new' part of Ivybridge would see an increase in their council tax of £79.18 per year, at current rates, for a band-D property, according to South Hams councillor for Ivybridge Filham ward Tony Barber. At a meeting of the town council on Monday, September 1, Cllr Barber said he would find it difficult to support the change unless there was a clear indication that the affected residents also supported it. He said: 'If the boundary changes, some people who now live in Ugborough will find themselves with an extra £80 of council tax to pay, and I have to do what's right by them as well. 'It's a bit of a mess that the boundary commission has left us with, but it will be sorted out. 'South Hams Council said quite clearly that if the town council wanted to change the boundary, then they'd have to do it through a petition.' A spokesman for South Hams Council said: 'We currently have no plans to instigate a town and parish boundary review, known as a community governance review, in this area of the South Hams. 'However, there is a mechanism in place to allow Ivybridge Town Council to trigger such a review and we're happy to explain the process to them.'