North West Leicestershire District | |
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![]() Coalville, the largest town and administrative centre of North West Leicestershire district | |
![]() Shown within Leicestershire | |
Sovereign state | United Kingdom |
Constituent country | England |
Region | East Midlands |
Administrative county | Leicestershire |
Admin. HQ | Coalville |
Government | |
• Type | North West Leicestershire District Council |
• MP: | Andrew Bridgen (Independent) |
Area | |
• Total | 108 sq mi (279 km2) |
• Rank | 126th |
Population (2022) | |
• Total | 107,672 |
• Rank | Ranked 224th |
• Density | 1,000/sq mi (390/km2) |
Ethnicity (2021) | |
• Ethnic groups | |
Religion (2021) | |
• Religion | List
|
Time zone | UTC+0 (Greenwich Mean Time) |
• Summer (DST) | UTC+1 (British Summer Time) |
ONS code | 31UH (ONS) E07000134 (GSS) |
Ethnicity | 98.8% White |
North West Leicestershire is a local government district in Leicestershire, England. The towns in the district include of Ashby-de-la-Zouch, Castle Donington, Coalville (where the council is based) and Ibstock. Notable villages in the district include Donington le Heath, Ellistown, Hugglescote, Kegworth, Measham, Shackerstone, Thringstone and Whitwick.
Castle Donington is notable as the location of Donington Park, a grand-prix circuit and a major venue for music festivals. The area has a long history of mineral extraction, with coal, brick clay, gravel and granite amongst the products. All the deep coal mines in the area have closed, but opencast mining still continues. The district is also home to part of the Battlefield Line and the Ibstock Brick.
The neighbouring districts are Charnwood, Hinckley and Bosworth, North Warwickshire, Lichfield, South Derbyshire, Erewash and Rushcliffe.
The district was created on 1 April 1974 under the Local Government Act 1972, covering the whole area of five former districts plus a single parish from a sixth, which districts were all abolished at the same time: [2]
The new district was named North West Leicestershire, reflecting its position in the wider county. [3]
North West Leicestershire District Council | |
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Type | |
Type | |
History | |
Founded | 1 April 1974 |
Leadership | |
Allison Thomas since 11 August 2022 [5] | |
Structure | |
Seats | 38 councillors |
Political groups |
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Length of term | 4 years |
Elections | |
Last election | 4 May 2023 |
Next election | 6 May 2027 |
Meeting place | |
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Stenson House, London Road, Coalville, LE67 3FN | |
Website | |
www |
North West Leicestershire District Council provides district-level services. County-level services are provided by Leicestershire County Council. Much of the district is also covered by civil parishes, which form a third tier of local government. [6] [7]
The council has been under no overall control since the 2023 election, being run by an alliance of the Conservatives, Liberal Democrats and two of the independent councillors, led by Conservative councillor Richard Blunt. [8]
The first election to the council was held in 1973, initially operating as a shadow authority alongside the outgoing authorities until coming into its powers on 1 April 1974. Since 1974 political control of the council has been as follows: [9]
Party in control | Years | |
---|---|---|
Labour | 1974–1976 | |
No overall control | 1976–1979 | |
Labour | 1979–1983 | |
No overall control | 1983–1991 | |
Labour | 1991–2007 | |
Conservative | 2007–2023 | |
No overall control | 2023–present |
The leaders of the council since 2003 have been: [10]
Councillor | Party | From | To | |
---|---|---|---|---|
Frank Straw | Labour | pre-2003 | 6 May 2007 | |
Richard Blunt | Conservative | 15 May 2007 |
Following the 2023 election the composition of the council was: [11]
Party | Councillors | |
---|---|---|
Labour | 17 | |
Conservative | 12 | |
Liberal Democrats | 5 | |
Independent | 4 | |
Total | 38 |
The Conservatives, Liberal Democrats and two of the independent councillors sit together as the "Alliance Group" which forms the council's administration. [12] The next election is due in 2027.
Since the last boundary changes in 2015 the district has comprised 38 wards, each of which elects one councillor. Elections are held every four years. [13]
The district is coterminous with the North West Leicestershire parliamentary constituency. [14]
The council meets at Stenson House on London Road in Coalville. The building was built in 1934 as the headquarters of the old Coalville Urban District Council. [15] Following the creation of North West Leicestershire in 1974 the building was significantly extended to the rear. In 2022 the extension was closed pending demolition, and the council opened a new customer services centre on Belvoir Road, retaining and refurbishing the 1934 front part of Stenson House to be used for meetings and civic functions. [16]
Population growth in North West Leicestershire | ||||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Year | 1951 | 1961 | 1971 | 1981 | 1991 | 2001 | 2011 | 2016 | 2021 | 2031 | ||
Population | 64,892 | 65,615 | 71,671 | 78,048 | 80,550 | 85,485 | 93,348 | 98,600 | 101,500 | 107,000 | ||
Census [17] | ONS [18] | ONS Projections [19] |
North West Leicestershire has experienced steady population growth in recent times as the district balances the agro-rural economy with the end of labour-intensive deep coal-mining. Alternative employment opportunities exist within the district in the services and distributive sectors, together with local or nearby manufacturing and extractive/transformative/construction industries. The lack of rail services to/from Leicester, Loughborough and other nearby centres limits access for employment, commerce and leisure to a road journey that competes with freight and heavy-haulage vehicles especially to the south and east.
Since 2013 Norton Motorcycles has its head office in Donington Hall, Castle Donington. [20] BMI (British Midland), an airline, was headquartered in Donington Hall. [21] The airline moved its headquarters to Donington Hall in 1982. [22] The subsidiary bmibaby also had its head office in Donington Hall. [23]
Prior to its disestablishment, Excalibur Airways had its head office on the grounds of East Midlands Airport in Castle Donington. [24] Prior to its disestablishment, Orion Airways had its head office on the grounds of East Midlands Airport. [25]
In 2011 Coalfield Resources plc were given permission to develop an opencast coal mining pit on the site of the former Minorca colliery between Measham and Swepstone on a seam which will be 1 mi (1.6 km) across and extract 1,250,000 tonnes (1,380,000 tons) of coal over five years, and 250,000 tonnes (280,000 tons) of clay. [26]
In terms of television, the area receive better TV signals from the Sutton Coldfield TV transmitter which broadcast BBC West Midlands and ITV Central (West) from Birmingham. [27] Some eastern parts of the district are still able to receive the Waltham TV transmitter to get BBC East Midlands and ITV Central (East) from Nottingham. [28]
Radio stations for the area are:
Most of the district is covered by civil parishes. Parts of the former Coalville Urban District covering the main part of Coalville and the Thringstone area are unparished areas. [7] The parish councils for Ashby-de-la-Zouch and Ashby Woulds have declared their parishes to be towns, allowing them to take the style "town council". (Whilst Ibstock is a post town and Castle Donington is sometimes called a town, neither parish council has formally declared them to be towns.) [32] The parishes are: [33]
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Leicestershire is a ceremonial county in the East Midlands of England. It is bordered by Derbyshire, Nottinghamshire, and Lincolnshire to the north, Rutland to the east, Northamptonshire to the south-east, Warwickshire to the south-west, and Staffordshire to the west. The city of Leicester is the largest settlement and the county town.
Ashby-de-la-Zouch, also spelled Ashby de la Zouch, is a market town and civil parish in the North West Leicestershire district of Leicestershire, England, near to the Derbyshire and Staffordshire borders. Its population at the 2021 census was 16,491. Ashby de la Zouch Castle was an important fort in the 15th to 17th centuries. During the 19th century, the town's main industries were ribbon manufacturing, coal mining, and brickmaking.
Donisthorpe is a village in the North West Leicestershire district of Leicestershire, England, historically an exclave of Derbyshire.
Coalville is a town in the district of North West Leicestershire, Leicestershire in the East Midlands of England. In 2011, it had a population of 34,575. It lies on the A511 between Leicester and Burton upon Trent, close to junction 22 of the M1 motorway where the A511 meets the A50 between Ashby-de-la-Zouch and Leicester. It borders the upland area of Charnwood Forest to the east of the town.
Measham is a large village in the North West Leicestershire district in Leicestershire, England, near the Derbyshire, Staffordshire and Warwickshire boundaries. It lies off the A42, 4+1⁄2 miles (7.2 km) south of Ashby de la Zouch, in the National Forest. Historically it was in an exclave of Derbyshire absorbed into Leicestershire in 1897. The name is thought to mean "homestead on the River Mease". The village was once part of Derbyshire before being transferred to Leicestershire.
North West Leicestershire is a constituency represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament since 2010 by Andrew Bridgen. Bridgen originally served as a Conservative and now serves as an Independent following his suspension in January 2023 and subsequent expulsion. He joined the Reclaim Party in May 2023, then left Reclaim and became an Independent again the following December.
Loughborough is a constituency in Leicestershire represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament since 2019 by Jane Hunt, a Conservative. From 2010 until 2019, it was represented by Nicky Morgan, who served in the governments of David Cameron and Boris Johnson. In 2020, she was elevated to the Peerage and became a member of the House of Lords. The constituency is a considered a bellwether, as it has reflected the national result at every general election since February 1974.
Ibstock is a former coal mining town and civil parish about 3 miles (5 km) south of Coalville in North West Leicestershire, England. The population of the civil parish was 5,760 at the 2001 census increasing to 6,201 at the 2011 census and 7,615 at the 2021 census.
Ellistown is a village about 2 miles (3 km) south of Coalville in North West Leicestershire, England. It is named after Colonel Joseph Joel Ellis who died in 1885. The population from the 2011 census was included in the civil parish of Ellistown and Battleflat.
Thringstone is a village in the North West Leicestershire district, in Leicestershire, England. About 3 miles (4.8 km) north of Coalville, it lies in the English National Forest.
The River Sence is a river which flows in Leicestershire, England. The tributaries of the Sence, including the Saint and Tweed, fan out over much of western Leicestershire from Charnwood Forest and Coalville in the north-east to Hinckley and almost to Watling Street in the south and south-west. Its watershed almost coincides with Hinckley and Bosworth Borough of Leicestershire, which was formed in 1974 by amalgamation of Market Bosworth Rural District and Hinckley Urban District. It flows into the Anker, which in turn flows into the River Tame. It is part of the wider River Trent catchment, which covers much of central England. In 1881, Sebastian Evans wrote that the usual names for this river were Shenton Brook and Sibson Brook.
North West Leicestershire District Council elections are held every four years. North West Leicestershire District Council is the local authority for the non-metropolitan district of North West Leicestershire in Leicestershire, England. Since the last boundary changes in 2015, 38 councillors are elected from 38 wards.
The Ashby and Nuneaton Joint Railway was a pre-grouping railway company in the English Midlands, built to serve the Leicestershire coalfield. Both the Midland Railway and the London and North Western Railway (LNWR) wished to build a line on similar alignments, and they agreed to build jointly. Construction began in 1869 and the railway was opened in 1873. It linked Moira and Coalville with Nuneaton. Mineral traffic was busy, and the line formed a useful link for through goods trains. Some long distance passenger operation took place over the line, but it was never successful in carrying passengers.
Coleorton is a village and civil parish in North West Leicestershire, England. It is situated on the A512 road approximately 2 miles (3.2 km) east of Ashby de la Zouch. Nearby villages include Newbold, to the north, Thringstone to the east, and Swannington to the south-east.
Hugglescote is a village on the River Sence in North West Leicestershire, England. The village is about 1 mile (1.6 km) south of the centre of Coalville, and its built-up area is now contiguous with the town.
Donington le Heath is a village on the River Sence just over 1 mile (1.6 km) south of the centre of Coalville in North West Leicestershire. Donington is contiguous with the village of Hugglescote immediately to the east. The population of the village is included in the civil parish of Hugglescote and Donington le Heath.
Hugglescote and Donington le Heath is a civil parish in North West Leicestershire, England. It includes the villages of Hugglescote and Donington le Heath, each of which is about 1 mile (1.6 km) south of the centre of Coalville. The population of the civil parish at the 2011 census was 4,446.
Where else in the world can one tour an 18th century Gothic Revival mansion, view a Norton Motorcycle being built, watch a World Superbike race and attend an Iron Maiden concert all in the same place?