North Hertfordshire District | |
---|---|
Sovereign state | United Kingdom |
Constituent country | England |
Region | East of England |
Non-metropolitan county | Hertfordshire |
Status | Non-metropolitan district |
Admin HQ | Letchworth |
Established | 1 April 1974 |
Government | |
• Type | Non-metropolitan district council |
• Body | North Hertfordshire District Council |
• MPs | Kevin Bonavia (L) Chris Hinchliff (L) Alistair Strathern (L) |
Area | |
• Total | 144.9 sq mi (375.4 km2) |
• Rank | 91st (of 296) |
Population (2022) | |
• Total | 134,159 |
• Rank | 177th (of 296) |
• Density | 930/sq mi (360/km2) |
Ethnicity (2021) | |
• Ethnic groups | |
Religion (2021) | |
• Religion | List
|
Time zone | UTC0 (GMT) |
• Summer (DST) | UTC+1 (BST) |
ONS code | 26UF (ONS) E07000099 (GSS) |
OS grid reference | TL2355435083 |
North Hertfordshire is one of ten local government districts in the county of Hertfordshire, England. Its council is based in Letchworth Garden City and the largest town is Hitchin. The district also includes the towns of Baldock and Royston and numerous villages and surrounding rural areas. Part of the district lies within the Chiltern Hills, a designated Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty.
The neighbouring districts are East Hertfordshire, Stevenage, Welwyn Hatfield, St Albans, Luton, Central Bedfordshire, South Cambridgeshire and Uttlesford.
North Hertfordshire was created on 1 April 1974 under the Local Government Act 1972, covering the area of five former districts, which were all abolished at the same time: [2]
The new district was named North Hertfordshire, reflecting its position within the wider county. [3]
North Hertfordshire District Council | |
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Type | |
Type | |
Leadership | |
Anthony Roche since 18 July 2020 [5] | |
Structure | |
Seats | 51 councillors |
Political groups |
|
Elections | |
Last election | 2 May 2024 |
Next election | 4 May 2028 |
Meeting place | |
Council Offices, Gernon Road, Letchworth Garden City, SG6 3JF | |
Website | |
www |
North Hertfordshire District Council provides district-level services. County-level services are provided by Hertfordshire County Council. Much of the district is covered by civil parishes, which form a third tier of local government for their areas. [6] [7]
The council has been under no overall control since the 2019 election. Following the 2024 election the council is being run by a Labour minority administration.
The first election to North Hertfordshire District Council was held in 1973, initially operating as a shadow authority alongside the outgoing authorities until the new system came into force on 1 April 1974. Political control since 1974 has been as follows: [8]
Party in control | Years | |
---|---|---|
No overall control | 1974–1976 | |
Conservative | 1976–1994 | |
No overall control | 1994–1996 | |
Labour | 1996–1999 | |
Conservative | 1999–2019 | |
No overall control | 2019–present |
The leaders of the council since 1974 have been: [9] [10]
Councillor | Party | From | To | |
---|---|---|---|---|
Bob Flatman [11] | Conservative | 1 Apr 1974 | 19 May 1992 | |
Geoff Woods [12] | Conservative | 19 May 1992 | 1995 | |
David Kearns | Labour | 1995 | 1999 | |
F. John Smith [13] | Conservative | 1999 | 9 May 2010 | |
Lynda Needham | Conservative | 20 May 2010 | 5 May 2019 | |
Martin Stears-Handscomb | Labour | 21 May 2019 | 9 May 2021 | |
Elizabeth Dennis | Labour | 26 May 2021 | 23 May 2024 | |
Daniel Allen | Labour | 23 May 2024 |
Following the 2024 election the composition of the council was: [14]
Party | Councillors | |
---|---|---|
Labour | 25 | |
Liberal Democrats | 19 | |
Conservative | 7 | |
Total | 51 |
The next election is due in May 2028.
Since the last boundary changes in 2024, the council has comprised 51 councillors representing 25 wards, with each ward elected one, two or three councillors. Elections are held every four years. [15] [16]
When the council was created in 1974, it inherited five sets of offices from the five former authorities, spread across the four towns of Hitchin, Letchworth, Baldock and Royston. Initially the new council used the former Hitchin Rural District Council's offices (later called Centenary House) on Grammar School Walk in Hitchin as its headquarters, with the other offices providing additional accommodation. In 1975, the year after the new council's creation, it consolidated most of its functions into a new six-storey building called Council Offices on Gernon Road in Letchworth, designed by Tony Walker of architects Damond Lock, Grabowski and Partners. The building was formally opened on 22 July 1975 by Prince Richard, Duke of Gloucester. [17] [18] The council rented the building until 2013, when it purchased it for £3.6 million. [19]
North Hertfordshire contains four towns, being Baldock, Hitchin, Letchworth, and Royston. The district also borders the northern, western and southern edges of Stevenage, and some parts of the latter's urban area lie within North Hertfordshire rather than the borough of Stevenage, notably including much of the Great Ashby area. Knebworth is a post town, but its parish council has not formally declared it a town.
North Hertfordshire contains 35 civil parishes. Six of the smaller parishes do not have parish councils, having instead a parish meeting, being those marked with asterisks(*) below. [20] In addition, the three towns of Baldock, Hitchin, and Letchworth are unparished areas, as no successor parishes were created for those three former urban districts on their abolition in 1974. A Letchworth Garden City Parish was subsequently created in 2005, but was abolished in 2013. [21]
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In 2021 the council adopted a new logo of four hearts (shown in the infobox above) and the style "North Herts Council" instead of its full formal name of "North Hertfordshire District Council". Prior to this, the council had used a logo of the initials "NHDC" in a green and purple square for approximately thirty years. [23]
In terms of television, North Hertfordshire is served by BBC East and ITV Anglia with television signals received from the Sandy Heath TV transmitter. [24]
Radio stations that broadcast to the area are:
Local newspapers for the area are:
Hertfordshire is a ceremonial county in the East of England and one of the home counties. It borders Bedfordshire to the north-west, Cambridgeshire to the north-east, Essex to the east, Greater London to the south and Buckinghamshire to the west. The largest settlement is Watford, and the county town is Hertford.
Royston is a town and civil parish in the District of North Hertfordshire and county of Hertfordshire in England.
Hitchin is a market town in the North Hertfordshire district of Hertfordshire, England. The town dates from at least the 7th century. It lies in the valley of the River Hiz at the north-eastern end of the Chiltern Hills. It is 16 miles (26 km) north-west of the county town of Hertford, and 35 miles (56 km) north of London. The population at the 2021 census was 35,220.
Stevenage is a town and borough in Hertfordshire, England, about 27 miles (43 km) north of London. Stevenage is east of junctions 7 and 8 of the A1(M), between Letchworth Garden City to the north and Welwyn Garden City to the south. In 1946, Stevenage was designated the United Kingdom's first New Town under the New Towns Act.
Baldock is a historic market town in the North Hertfordshire district of Hertfordshire, England. The River Ivel rises from springs in the town. It lies 33 miles (53 km) north of London and 14 miles (23 km) north northwest of the county town of Hertford. Nearby towns include Royston to the northeast, Letchworth and Hitchin to the southwest and Stevenage to the south.
East Hertfordshire is one of ten local government districts in Hertfordshire, England. Its council is based in Hertford, the county town of Hertfordshire. The largest town in the district is Bishop's Stortford, and the other main towns are Ware, Buntingford and Sawbridgeworth. At the 2011 Census, the population of the district was 137,687. By area it is the largest of the ten local government districts in Hertfordshire. The district borders North Hertfordshire, Stevenage, Welwyn Hatfield and Broxbourne in Hertfordshire, and Epping Forest, Harlow and Uttlesford in Essex.
Willian is a village and former civil parish, adjoining the town of Letchworth, in the North Hertfordshire district of Hertfordshire, England. Along with Norton and Old Letchworth, it is one of the original three villages around which the garden city of Letchworth Garden City was created. Despite this, the village retains a separate character to the rest of Letchworth Garden City. In 1931 the parish had a population of 210.
Norton is a small village and former civil parish in Hertfordshire, England, one of the three original villages which were absorbed into Letchworth Garden City, the other two being Willian and Old Letchworth. The village is known to have existed by 1007, with remains of the medieval settlement visible as earthworks in a field beside the church. However, the history of the village goes back even further than that. In 1901 the parish had a population of 169.
North East Hertfordshire is a constituency represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament since 2024 by Chris Hinchliff of the Labour Party.
One third of North Hertfordshire District Council in England is elected each year, followed by one year without election. A boundary review is underway to allow the council to instead be elected all at once every four years from 2024 onwards.
Hitchin is a parliamentary constituency in Hertfordshire and Bedfordshire which returned one Member of Parliament (MP) to the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom from 1885 until it was abolished for the 1983 general election.
Hitchin Rural District was a rural district in Hertfordshire, England from 1894 to 1974, covering an area in the north of the county.
Letchworth Garden City, commonly known as Letchworth, is a town in the North Hertfordshire district of Hertfordshire, England. It is noted for being the first garden city. The population at the time of the 2021 census was 33,990.
The Comet is a weekly newspaper covering the English towns of Stevenage, Hitchin, Letchworth and Baldock, as well as the surrounding villages in north Hertfordshire and south-east Bedfordshire. It is based in Stevenage and part of the Archant group. The vast majority of its copies are delivered locally or picked up as a free newspaper, but it is also sold. It is published each Thursday in three editions—one concentrates on the Stevenage area, another focuses on Hitchin and a third pays particular attention to Letchworth and Baldock. Nick Gill has been editor since January 2017; previous permanent editors were Darren Isted (2002–14) and John Francis, who retired in June 2016.
The 2019 North Hertfordshire Council election was held on 2 May 2019, at the same time as other local elections across England and Northern Ireland. Of the 49 seats on North Hertfordshire District Council, 16 were up for election.
The 2021 North Hertfordshire District Council election took place on 6 May 2021 to elect 17 of the 49 members of North Hertfordshire District Council in England. This was on the same day as other local elections around the country. This election had originally been due to take place in May 2020, but was postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Ashwell Rural District was a rural district in Hertfordshire, England from 1894 to 1935, covering an area in the north-east of the county.
The 1973 North Hertfordshire District Council election was held on 7 June 1973. It was the first election to North Hertfordshire District Council, and was held at the same time as other local elections across England for the new non-metropolitan district councils that were created under the Local Government Act 1972. The elected councillors initially formed a shadow authority to oversee the transition to the new system, operating alongside the five outgoing district councils until 1 April 1974 when the new district formally came into being.
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