| Port Talbot Afan (1974–1985) | |
|---|---|
| Borough | |
 | |
| Area | |
| • 1974 | 37,371 acres (151.24 km2) [1] |
| Population | |
| • 1973 [1] | 55,580 |
| • 1992 [2] | 51,100 |
| History | |
| • Created | 1 April 1974 |
| • Abolished | 31 March 1996 |
| • Succeeded by | Neath Port Talbot |
| • HQ | Port Talbot |
Port Talbot was one of the four local government districts of the county of West Glamorgan, Wales from 1974 to 1996. The borough was initially called Afan, changing its name to Port Talbot in 1986.
The district was formed as Afan on 1 April 1974 as part of a general reorganisation of local government in England and Wales under the Local Government Act 1972. The new district was named after the River Afan and was granted a charter bestowing the status of a borough. [1]
The Borough of Afan was created by the amalgamation of the areas of the municipal borough of Port Talbot and the urban district of Glyncorrwg, both previously part of the administrative county of Glamorgan. [3] [1] Following a resolution passed by the borough council, the borough was renamed as Port Talbot on 1 January 1986. [4]
On 1 April 1996 the two-tier system of councils introduced in Wales in 1974 was replaced, and the country was divided into twenty-two unitary "principal areas" by the Local Government (Wales) Act 1994. Port Talbot was amalgamated with the neighbouring Borough of Neath to form the county borough of Neath Port Talbot. [5]
The first election to the council was held in 1973, initially operating as a shadow authority alongside the outgoing authorities until it came into its powers on 1 April 1974. Political control of the council from 1974 until the council's abolition in 1996 was held by the following parties: [6]
| Party in control | Years | |
|---|---|---|
| Labour | 1974–1976 | |
| Independent | 1976–1979 | |
| Labour | 1979–1996 | |
The council was initially based at the former Port Talbot Borough Council's offices at the Municipal Buildings on Bevin Avenue at Aberavon seafront. This was a temporary prefabricated building erected in 1970 when the council vacated the old Aberavon Town Hall and Municipal Buildings (built 1915) on Water Street in Aberavon. The old town hall had then been demolished, along with a large part of the town centre, to make way for the Aberafan shopping centre. [7] In 1987 the council moved to a new purpose-built Civic Centre adjoining the Aberafan shopping centre. [8] The building at Bevin Avenue was later demolished and a cinema built on the site.
Aberavon is a constituency represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom since 2015 by Stephen Kinnock of the Welsh Labour Party. It includes the town of Aberavon, although the largest town in the constituency is Port Talbot.
Port Talbot is a town and community in the county borough of Neath Port Talbot, Wales, situated on the east side of Swansea Bay, approximately eight miles from Swansea. The Port Talbot Steelworks covers a large area of land which dominates the south east of the town. It is one of the biggest steelworks in the world, but has been under threat of closure since the 1980s. The population was 31,550 in 2021, comprising about a fifth of the 141,931 population of Neath Port Talbot.
Neath Port Talbot is a county borough in the south-west of Wales. Its principal towns are Neath, Port Talbot, Briton Ferry and Pontardawe. The county borough borders Bridgend County Borough and Rhondda Cynon Taf to the east, Powys and Carmarthenshire to the north; and Swansea to the west.
West Glamorgan is a former administrative county in South Wales. It is now a preserved county.
Aberavon is a town and community in Neath Port Talbot county borough, Wales. The town derived its name from being near the mouth of the river Afan, which also gave its name to a medieval lordship. Today it is essentially a district of Port Talbot, covering the central and south western part of the town. Aberavon is also the name of the nearby Blue Flag beach and the parish covering the same area.
The Borough of Ogwr was one of six districts of Mid Glamorgan in Wales, which existed from 1974 to 1996.
Neath is a constituency represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament since 2015 by Christina Rees, a Labour and Co-operative MP. As of 13 October 2022, she is currently suspended from the party and therefore sitting as an independent, following allegations of bullying.
Lliw Valley was a local government district with borough status in West Glamorgan, Wales from 1974 to 1996.
Neath was one of the four local government districts of West Glamorgan, Wales from 1974 to 1996.
Neath North is an electoral ward of Neath Port Talbot county borough, Wales falling within the community of Neath.
Coedffranc Central is an electoral ward of Neath Port Talbot county borough, Wales. Coedffranc Central is a part of the Coedffranc community and falls within the parliamentary constituency of Aberavon.
Neath Port Talbot County Borough Council is the local authority for the county borough of Neath Port Talbot, one of the 22 principal areas of Wales. The council was controlled by the Labour Party from its creation in 1996 until 2022, when Plaid Cymru and a group of independent councillors agreed to share power.
Sandfields is a mainly residential district of Port Talbot, Wales. The area is located in South Wales on a narrow coastal plain between Mynydd Dinas and the sea. The M4 motorway, A48 trunk road and South Wales Main Line run nearby. The area includes a council estate, industrial areas and a seaside resort at Aberavon Beach.
Cymmer is a small village in the community of Cymer and Glyncorrwg, in Neath Port Talbot in Wales, set on a hillside in the Afan Valley near the confluence of the River Afan and the River Corrwg. In 2001, Cymmer had a population of 2,883.
Glyncorrwg is a village in the Afan Valley, in southern Wales.
The Aberafan Shopping Centre is the only indoor shopping complex in Port Talbot, Wales. It currently has a floorspace of 24,100 m2 (259,000 sq ft) and houses over sixty stores on two levels, as well as the central library for Port Talbot. It was built in the 1970s by Star Dolphin Developments and was refurbished in the late 1990s. It replaced parts of the old town centre, which was substantially demolished between 1971 and 1976 to accommodate a flyover section of the M4 motorway.
The Port of Port Talbot is located on the River Afan estuary next to Port Talbot Steelworks in the industrial town of Port Talbot, South Wales. The whole basin complex covers about 500 acres (2.0 km2), consisting of: an inner set of floating docks, developed from 1834 onwards; and an outer tidal basin, completed in 1970. Owned and operated by Associated British Ports, the tidal basin has the deepest berthing facilities in the Severn estuary and is one of only a few harbours in the UK capable of handling Capesize vessels of up to 170,000 tonnes deadweight (DWT), mostly for the import of iron ore and coal for use by nearby Port Talbot Steelworks.
The history of local government in Wales in a recognisably modern form emerged during the late 19th century. Administrative counties and county boroughs were first established in Wales in 1889. Urban and rural districts were formed in 1894. These were replaced in 1974 by a two-tier authority system across the country comprising eight counties and, within them, thirty-seven districts. This system was itself replaced by the introduction of 22 single-tier authorities in 1996.
The electoral ward of Aberavon electoral ward includes the communities of Baglan and Baglan Bay, in Neath Port Talbot county borough, Wales. Baglan falls within the parliamentary constituency of Aberavon.
Ebenezer Chapel, Aberavon, is a Baptist church in Port Talbot, Wales. Built in 1881, it is located in the Civic Square, where it is the only surviving building from the old Port Talbot town centre to have survived the wholesale demolition that preceded the construction of a new town centre during the mid-1970s; the address was formerly "Talbot Street". It has been a listed building since 1980.
Local government districts of Wales 1974–1996 | |
|---|---|
| Clwyd | |
| Dyfed | |
| Gwent | |
| Gwynedd | |
| Mid Glamorgan | |
| Powys | |
| South Glamorgan | |
| West Glamorgan | |
