Stratford-On-Avon District

Stratford-on-Avon is a local government district in Warwickshire, England.

The district is named after its largest town of Stratford-upon-Avon, but with a change of preposition; the town uses "upon" and the district uses "on". The council is based in Stratford-upon-Avon and the district, which is predominantly rural, also includes the towns of Alcester, Shipston-on-Stour and Southam, and the large villages of Bidford-on-Avon, Studley and Wellesbourne, plus numerous other smaller villages and hamlets and surrounding rural areas. The district covers the more sparsely populated southern part of Warwickshire, and contains nearly half the county's area. The district includes part of the Cotswolds, a designated Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty.

Stratford-on-Avon District
River Avon at Stratford-upon-Avon
Shown within Warwickshire
Shown within Warwickshire
Sovereign stateUnited Kingdom
Constituent countryEngland
RegionWest Midlands
Administrative countyWarwickshire
Admin. HQStratford-upon-Avon
Government
 • TypeNon-metropolitan district
 • MPs:Nadhim Zahawi (C)
Jeremy Wright (C)
Area
 • Total377.6 sq mi (977.9 km2)
 • Rank27th
Population
 (2021)
 • Total135,964
 • RankRanked 170th
 • Density360/sq mi (140/km2)
Ethnicity (2021)
 • Ethnic groups
List
Religion (2021)
 • Religion
List
Time zoneUTC+0 (Greenwich Mean Time)
 • Summer (DST)UTC+1 (British Summer Time)
ONS code44UE (ONS)
E07000221 (GSS)

The neighbouring districts are Rugby and Warwick in Warwickshire, Solihull in the West Midlands, Bromsgrove, Redditch and Wychavon in Worcestershire, Cotswold in Gloucestershire, West Oxfordshire and Cherwell in Oxfordshire, and West Northamptonshire.

History

The district was formed on 1 April 1974 under the Local Government Act 1972. The new district covered the area of five former districts, which were all abolished at the same time:

The new district was named Stratford-on-Avon after its main town, but using the "Stratford-on-Avon" variant of the name, which had also been used for the rural district which had covered the parishes surrounding the town.

Proposals to merge the district with neighbouring Warwick District were put forward and provisionally agreed, before eventually being abandoned in April 2022.

Governance

Stratford-on-Avon District Council
Stratford-On-Avon District 
Type
Type
Leadership
Victoria Alcock,
Liberal Democrat
since 24 May 2023
Susan Juned,
Liberal Democrat
since 24 May 2023
David Buckland
since June 2019
Structure
Seats41 councillors
Stratford-On-Avon District 
Political groups
    Administration (25)
      Liberal Democrats (25)
    Other parties (16)
      Conservative (12)
      Green (3)
      Independent (1)
Length of term
4 years
Elections
First past the post
Last election
4 May 2023
Next election
6 May 2027
Meeting place
Stratford-On-Avon District 
Elizabeth House, Church Street, Stratford-upon-Avon, CV37 6HX
Website
www.stratford.gov.uk

Stratford-on-Avon District Council provides district-level services. County-level services are provided by Warwickshire County Council. The whole district is also covered by civil parishes, which form a third tier of local government.

Political control

The council has been under Liberal Democrat majority control since the 2023 election.

The first election to the council was held in 1973, initially operating as a shadow authority alongside the outgoing councils before coming into its powers on 1 April 1974. Since 1974 political control of the council has been as follows:

Party in control Years
Independent 1974–1976
No overall control 1976–1979
Conservative 1979–1991
No overall control 1991–1992
Conservative 1992–1994
No overall control 1994–2000
Conservative 2000–2002
No overall control 2002–2003
Conservative 2003–2023
Liberal Democrats 2023–present

Leadership

The leaders of the council since 2000 have been:

Councillor Party From To
Bob Stevens Conservative 2000 2003
Chris Saint Conservative 2003 2005
Les Topham Conservative 2005 9 May 2010
Stephen Gray Conservative 19 May 2010 18 May 2011
Chris Saint Conservative 18 May 2011 16 May 2018
Tony Jefferson Conservative 16 May 2018 7 May 2023
Susan Juned Liberal Democrats 24 May 2023

Composition

Following the 2023 election the composition of the council was:

Party Councillors
Liberal Democrats 25
Conservative 12
Green 3
Independent 1
Total 41

The next election is due in 2027.

Elections

Since the last boundary changes in 2023 the council has comprised 41 councillors representing 39 wards, with each ward electing one or two councillors. Elections are held every four years.

Premises

The council is based at Elizabeth House on Church Street in Stratford. The oldest part of the building was a house at 15 Church Street, built in 1911 as "Maugersbury House". The house was bought in 1920 by NFU Mutual and converted to be their offices. It was later extended in a similar style along Church Street in 1927 and 1957. The NFU left the building in 1982, after which it was bought by the council and converted to become their offices and meeting place, replacing the five sets of offices inherited from the council's predecessor authorities. The building was formally re-opened as the council's headquarters on 19 April 1985 by Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother, when it was named "Elizabeth House" in recognition of her visit.

Towns and parishes

Stratford-On-Avon District 
Southam, the district's second largest town.
Stratford-On-Avon District 
Shipston-on-Stour, another of the district's towns.
Stratford-On-Avon District 
Stratford-on-Avon population pyramid

The whole district is covered by civil parishes, of which there are 113. The parish councils for Alcester, Shipston-on-Stour, Southam and Stratford-upon-Avon have declared their parishes to be towns, allowing them to take the style "town council". Some of the smaller parishes have a parish meeting rather than a parish council or share a grouped parish council with neighbouring parishes. Henley-in-Arden and Studley are both post towns, but have parish councils rather than town councils.

The parishes are:

See also

References

52°11′25″N 1°42′31″W / 52.1902°N 1.7087°W / 52.1902; -1.7087

Tags:

Stratford-On-Avon District HistoryStratford-On-Avon District GovernanceStratford-On-Avon District Towns and parishesStratford-On-Avon District

🔥 Trending searches on Wiki English:

Priyanka ChopraNapoleonList of UFC eventsPatrick SwayzeMount TakaheBeau Is AfraidAngelina JolieFranceGolden State WarriorsAnnamarie TendlerBronny JamesIndonesiaWrexham A.F.C.Tu Jhoothi Main MakkaarDasara (film)Lou Diamond PhillipsJohn CenaElon MuskRachel BrosnahanWorld Chess ChampionshipKeri RussellLabour DayVallavaraiyan VandiyadevanLisa Marie PresleyHayden PanettiereLance ReddickMani RatnamCleopatraM3GANGoogleBeef (TV series)Thuy TrangWoody HarrelsonÆthelstanShameless (American TV series)George VGame of Thrones2022–23 Premier LeagueEmmett TillOrlando BloomRoman ReignsWhitney HoustonZendayaD'Angelo RussellJoe PesciWilliam ShakespeareXXXXGeorge VI2 Girls 1 CupMacOSGMilla JovovichAadhaarKate BeckinsaleLeonardo DiCaprioCat2023Jake GyllenhaalJenna OrtegaThe Super Mario Bros. MovieBrazilSuper Mario Bros. (film)CanadaAzerbaijan Grand PrixVarginha UFO incidentBrownie (folklore)2023 Karnataka Legislative Assembly electionPeso PlumaVin DieselWilliam, Prince of WalesRupert MurdochSteve JobsLewis HamiltonCameron DiazThe Last of Us (TV series)Catherine ReitmanJanice DickinsonFBI Index🡆 More