Congleton (borough)

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Borough of Congleton
CheshireCongleton.png
Shown within Cheshire
History
 • Origin Congleton Municipal Borough
Alsager Urban District
Middlewich Urban District
Sandbach Urban District
Congleton Rural District.
 • Created1 April 1974
 • Abolished31 March 2009
 • Succeeded by Cheshire East
Status Non-metropolitan district
ONS code 13UC
 •  HQ Westfields, Sandbach

Congleton was, from 1974 to 2009, a local government district with borough status in Cheshire, England. It included the towns of Congleton, Alsager, Middlewich and Sandbach. The headquarters of the borough council were located in Sandbach.

Contents

History

Chairmen of Congleton Rural District Council (1894-1974) Chairmen of Congleton Rural District Council (1894-1974).jpg
Chairmen of Congleton Rural District Council (1894-1974)

The borough was formed on 1 April 1974 under the Local Government Act 1972 by the merger of the former borough of Congleton, the urban districts of Alsager, Middlewich and Sandbach, and the Congleton Rural District. The new district was awarded borough status from its creation, allowing the chairman of the council to take the title of mayor. [1]

In 2006 the Department for Communities and Local Government considered reorganising Cheshire's administrative structure as part of the 2009 structural changes to local government in England. The decision to merge the boroughs of Congleton, Macclesfield, and Crewe and Nantwich to create a single unitary authority was announced on 25 July 2007, following a consultation period in which a proposal to create a single Cheshire unitary authority was rejected. [2]

The Borough of Congleton was abolished on 31 March 2009, with the area becoming part of the unitary authority of Cheshire East on 1 April 2009. [3] [4]

Civil parishes

Congleton was divided into 23 civil parishes and included no unparished areas. Of the 23 civil parishes, four were administered at this level of local government by town councils: Alsager, Middlewich, Sandbach, and Congleton; with the remainder having parish councils. [5] There are two pairs of civil parishes that are grouped together so that they share a parish council. These are Hulme Walfield and Somerford Booths, whose single parish council is called "Hulme Walfield and Somerford Booths Parish Council", and Newbold Astbury and Moreton cum Alcumlow, whose single parish council is called "Newbold Astbury-cum-Moreton Parish Council". [5]

The following civil parishes were included in the borough:

Demographics

The resident population of the borough, as measured in the 2001 Census, was 90,655, of which 49 per cent were male and 51 per cent were female.

Religion

The percentage of people of each religion in the borough (trom the Census 2001): [6]

Stated religionPercentage
Christian81.46%
Buddhist0.12%
Hindu0.11%
Jewish0.06%
Muslim0.17%
Sikh0.04%
Other religions0.16%
No religion11.46%
Religion not stated6.43%

Political control

The town of Congleton had been a municipal borough from 1836 to 1974 with a borough council. [7] The first elections to the new Congleton Borough created under the Local Government Act 1972 were held in 1973, initially operating as a shadow authority until the new arrangements came into effect on 1 April 1974. Political control of the council from 1974 until its abolition in 2009 was held by the following parties: [8]

Party in controlYears
No overall control 1974–1976
Conservative 1976–1982
No overall control 1982–1983
Conservative 1983–1986
No overall control 1986–1991
Liberal Democrats 1991–1992
No overall control 1992–1994
Liberal Democrats 1994–2002
No overall control 2002–2003
Conservative 2003–2009

Leadership

The leaders of the council from 1987 were:

CouncillorPartyFromTo
Dennis Round [9] Liberal 198714 July 1987
Linda Short [10] [11] Liberal Democrats 198714 December 2000
Rod Fletcher Liberal Democrats 20012002
Roland Domleo [12] [13] Conservative 200231 March 2009

Composition

The political composition of the council at its abolition in 2009 was: [14]

PartyCouncillors
Conservative25
Liberal Democrat13
Middlewich First6
Independent4

Premises

The council was based at Westfields on Middlewich Road in Sandbach. This was a large nineteenth century house which had been bought in 1960 by the Congleton Rural District Council, one of the council's predecessors. [15] In 2005–2007 a replacement headquarters building, also called Westfields, was built in front of the old house, which was then demolished. [16] The new building was formally opened on 25 January 2008. [17] After Congleton Borough Council's abolition, Westfields became the headquarters for the new Cheshire East Council. [18]

Alderman and Freeman of the Borough

Borough of Congleton roll of honorary Alderman plaque Borough of Congleton Roll of Honorary Alderman.jpg
Borough of Congleton roll of honorary Alderman plaque

The following people and military units received the Freedom of the Borough of Congleton or were an Alderman of the Borough of Congleton.

Individuals

Military Units

Council elections

By-election results

Congleton North By-Election 10 August 2000
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
Labour David Atkin30350.9+9.6
Liberal Democrats 15626.2−24.9
Conservative 13622.9+15.3
Majority14724.7
Turnout 59521.6
Labour gain from Liberal Democrats Swing
Congleton North West By-Election 10 August 2000
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
Conservative Sue Appleton27537.2+11.3
Liberal Democrats 25134.0−8.3
Labour 21328.8−3.0
Majority243.2
Turnout 73924.6
Conservative gain from Liberal Democrats Swing
Congleton North By-Election 26 August 2004 (2)
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
Conservative 191
Conservative 174
Labour 142
Labour 133
Liberal Democrats Simon Davey111
Liberal Democrats Paul Jones108
Turnout 85915.6
Conservative gain from Labour Swing
Conservative gain from Labour Swing
Congleton West By-Election 28 October 2004
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
Conservative 49153.7−1.5
Liberal Democrats Simon Davey27530.1+6.2
Labour 14816.2−4.8
Majority26123.6
Turnout 91420.5
Conservative hold Swing
Alsager Central By-Election 17 February 2005
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
Liberal Democrats Julian Burgess53256.1−14.2
Conservative Warwick Till36538.5+8.8
Labour William Howell525.5+5.5
Majority16717.6
Turnout 94934.5
Liberal Democrats hold Swing
Congleton North West By-Election 24 November 2005
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
Liberal Democrats Simon Davey34154.8+54.8
Conservative Matthew Carey19130.7−13.3
Labour Lisa Bossons9014.5−9.2
Majority15024.1
Turnout 62221.0
Liberal Democrats gain from Conservative Swing
Sandbach West By-Election 18 October 2007
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
Conservative Stella Furlong44545.1+3.6
Liberal Democrats Patrick Darnes38238.7−3.1
Labour Keith Haines16016.2−0.5
Majority636.4
Turnout 98719.2
Conservative hold Swing

See also

Notes

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 Source Borough of Congleton roll of honorary Alderman plaque photo

Related Research Articles

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Newbold Astbury</span> Human settlement in England

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hulme Walfield</span> Village in Cheshire, England

Hulme Walfield is a small village and civil parish, just north of Congleton, in the unitary authority of Cheshire East and the ceremonial county of Cheshire. It is home to most of Westlow Mere. According to the 2001 census, the population of the civil parish was 140, increasing slightly to 148 at the 2011 Census

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Moreton cum Alcumlow</span> Human settlement in England

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Somerford Booths</span> Civil parish in Cheshire, England

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The county of Cheshire, England, has many buildings that have been listed.

The ceremonial county of Cheshire, which comprises the unitary authorities of Cheshire East, Cheshire West and Chester, Halton and Warrington, returned 11 MPs to the UK Parliament from 1997 to 2024. Under the 2023 review of Westminster constituencies, coming into effect for the 2024 general election, the boundary commission proposed 12 constituencies, including two which crossed the border into the county of Merseyside.

References

  1. ↑ "District Councils and Boroughs". Parliamentary Debates (Hansard) . 28 March 1974. Retrieved 3 September 2022.
  2. ↑ BBC News, 25 July 2007 – County split into two authorities. Retrieval Date: 25 July 2007.
  3. ↑ Cheshire (Structural Changes) Order 2008 Archived 17 May 2009 at the Wayback Machine
  4. ↑ "Home". Congleton.gov.uk. Archived from the original on 6 January 2010. Retrieved 25 March 2022.
  5. 1 2 "Parish Councils". Congleton Borough Council. Archived from the original on 9 November 2007. Retrieved 1 December 2008.
  6. ↑ "Key Figures for 2001 Census: Census Area Statistics". neighbourhood.statistics.gov.uk. Retrieved 28 June 2008.
  7. ↑ "Congleton Municipal Borough". A Vision of Britain through Time. GB Historical GIS / University of Portsmouth. Retrieved 5 September 2022.
  8. ↑ "Compositions calculator". The Elections Centre. Retrieved 10 August 2022.
  9. ↑ "Sad council mourns chief, 42" . Crewe Chronicle . 22 July 1987. p. 2. Retrieved 8 August 2023– via Newspapers.com.
  10. ↑ "The end of an era in local politics". Warrington Guardian. 10 April 2003. Retrieved 5 September 2022.
  11. ↑ "Leader steps aside". Congleton Borough Council. 15 December 2000. Archived from the original on 24 April 2001. Retrieved 5 September 2022.
  12. ↑ "List of council membership". Congleton Borough Council. Archived from the original on 12 August 2002. Retrieved 5 September 2022.
  13. ↑ Jackson, Matt (19 September 2019). "'He was the best friend I had...' – Tributes paid to 'dedicated' Roland, 73, who served as council leader for years". Stoke on Trent Live. Retrieved 5 September 2022.
  14. ↑ "Your Councillors". Congleton Borough Council. Archived from the original on 20 October 2007. Retrieved 27 November 2008.
  15. ↑ "£12,000 conversion of Westfields". Crewe Chronicle . 16 July 1960. p. 18. Retrieved 8 August 2023– via Newspapers.com.
  16. ↑ "Fight to save historic home". Cheshire Live. 10 November 2004. Retrieved 5 September 2022.
  17. ↑ "New council HQ formally opened". North Wales Live. 25 January 2008. Retrieved 5 September 2022.
  18. ↑ "Westfields Council HQ". Cheshire East Council. Retrieved 5 September 2022.
  19. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 "CIVIC SUB COMMITTEE ITEM 6 HONORARY ALDERMEN AND FREEMAN" (PDF). cheshireeast.gov. p. 3. Archived (PDF) from the original on 14 December 2021. Retrieved 30 May 2023.
  20. 1 2 Alcock, Joan P (15 March 2014). Congleton Though Time. Stroud: Amberley Publishing. p. 32. ISBN   1445609762.
  21. ↑ legislation.gov.uk – The Borough of Congleton (Electoral Arrangements) Order 1975. Retrieved on 19 November 2015.
  22. ↑ legislation.gov.uk – The Cheshire, Derbyshire, Hereford and Worcester and Staffordshire (County Boundaries) Order 1991. Retrieved on 5 November 2015.
  23. ↑ legislation.gov.uk – The Cheshire, Derbyshire, Hereford and Worcester and Staffordshire (County Boundaries) (Variation) Order 1992. Retrieved on 5 November 2015.
  24. ↑ legislation.gov.uk – The Borough of Congleton (Electoral Changes) Order 1998. Retrieved on 4 October 2015.

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