The political make-up of Three Rivers District Council could soon be altered by changes by proposed changes to number of elected politicians.

The Local Government Boundary Commission for England is currently consulting with the district council about the number of councillors there should be after 2014.

At present there are 48 members representing 20 wards, and the proposal is to reduce this to 39.

This scheme is supported by ruling Liberal Democrats but the Conservatives are proposing to reduce by more than a third, and having only 30 members and ten wards.

Opposition leader Chris Hayward said: "The Conservative group considers 39 to be too high and believes that 30 councillors would provide a more effective and efficient council, and offer better value for money."

He cited the Borough of Broxbourne, which is a similar size to Three Rivers and has about the same number of voters, has only 30 councillors.

He added: "Our view is that ten wards represented by three councillors each, will provide significant improvement over the current mixed ward structure offering resilience, community leadership and improved community representation."

In the group's proposal the Conservatives said Three Rivers had fewer residents per councillor than the national and county average.

They also suggested the size of the district, good road network, and the increasing use of electronic communication meant communities were closer than their geography suggested.

Liberal Democrat councillor for Abbots Langley, Sara Bedford , disagreed with the comparison with Broxbourne, as it operates using a different democratic structure.

She said: "Broxbourne has a strong leader which can make all the decisions and give permission to executive officers to make decisions, without consulting the public.

"We want a committee system which would mean more public involvement as they could come along and debate it, but you need enough members to be able to hold meetings."

Councillor Bedford said by reducing the number of councillors to 30, communities like Sarratt would be "bunched up" with Abbots Langley or Croxley Green.

She added: "We will end up with the ludicrous situation of having to group Moor Park and South Oxhey together.

"I don't think there's any two places in the country which are so different."

Labour councillor Steve Cox also disagreed with the Conservative proposal, suggesting the number should be higher, at 42 councillors.

He added: "Everyone supported a reduction but the Conservatives have gone cuts crazy."

The public consultation will close on September 3.