Ribble Valley

Last updated

Ribble Valley
Borough and non-metropolitan district
Beacon Hill overlooking the Ribble valley - geograph.org.uk - 2175047.jpg
Beacon Hill overlooking Ribble Valley
Ribble Valley UK locator map.svg
Ribble Valley shown within Lancashire and England
Sovereign state United Kingdom
Constituent country England
Region North West England
Ceremonial county Lancashire
Historic county Lancashire and West Riding
Admin. HQ Clitheroe
Government
 • TypeRibble Valley Borough Council
 •  MPs: Nigel Evans
Area
 • Total225.2 sq mi (583.2 km2)
 • Rank 74th
Population
 (2021)
 • Total61,561
 • Rank Ranked 299th
 • Density270/sq mi (110/km2)
Time zone UTC+0 (Greenwich Mean Time)
 • Summer (DST) UTC+1 (British Summer Time)
ONS code 30UL (ONS)
E07000124 (GSS)
Ethnicity95.8% White
2.5% S. Asian [1]

Ribble Valley is a local government district with borough status in Lancashire, England. Its council is based in Clitheroe, the largest town. The borough also includes the town of Longridge and numerous villages and surrounding rural areas. It is named after the River Ribble. Much of the district lies within the Forest of Bowland, a designated Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty.

Contents

The neighbouring districts are Pendle, Burnley, Hyndburn, Blackburn with Darwen, South Ribble, Preston, Wyre, Lancaster and North Yorkshire.

History

The district was created on 1 April 1974 under the Local Government Act 1972, covering the whole area of four former districts and parts of another three, which were abolished at the same time: [2]

The new district was named Ribble Valley after the River Ribble which flows through the area. [3] The new district was awarded borough status from its creation, allowing the chair of the council to take the title of mayor. [4]

The Bowland Rural District had been in the West Riding of Yorkshire prior to the reforms, whereas the other parts had all been in Lancashire. The council was granted a coat of arms in 1975, which includes both the Red Rose of Lancaster and White Rose of York, referencing the two historic counties. [5]

The parish of Simonstone was transferred from Burnley to Ribble Valley in 1987. [6]

Governance

Ribble Valley Borough Council
Ribble Valley Borough Council logo.svg
Type
Type
History
Founded1 April 1974
Leadership
Mark Hindle,
Conservative
since 23 May 2023 [7]
Stephen Atkinson,
Conservative
since 15 January 2019
Marshal Scott
since April 2009 [8]
Structure
Seats40 councillors
Political groups
Administration (17)
  Conservative (17)
Other parties (23)
  Labour (8)
  Liberal Democrat (8)
  Independent (5)
  Green (2)
Elections
First past the post
Last election
 4 May 2023
Next election
6 May 2027
Meeting place
Ribble Valley Borough Council 03.JPG
Council Offices, Church Walk, Clitheroe, BB7 2RA
Website
www.ribblevalley.gov.uk

Ribble Valley Borough Council provides district-level services. County-level services are provided by Lancashire County Council. The whole borough is covered by civil parishes, which form a third tier of local government. [9]

Political control

The council has been under no overall control since the 2023 election, being led by a Conservative minority administration. [10] [7]

The first election to the council was held in 1973, initially operating as a shadow authority alongside the outgoing authorities before coming into its powers on 1 April 1974. Political control of the council since 1974 has been as follows: [11] [12]

Party in controlYears
Conservative 1974–1995
No overall control 1995–2003
Conservative 2003–2023
No overall control 2023–present

Leadership

The role of mayor is largely ceremonial in Ribble Valley. Political leadership is instead provided by the leader of the council. The leaders since 1999 have been: [13]

CouncillorPartyFromTo
Peter Redpath [14] Conservative 19992002
Chris Holtom Conservative 20026 May 2007
Michael Ranson Conservative 15 May 200714 May 2013
Stuart Hirst Conservative 14 May 20139 May 2017
Ken Hind [15] Conservative 9 May 201720 Dec 2018
Stephen Atkinson Conservative 15 Jan 2019

Composition

Following the 2023 election and a subsequent change of allegiance in October 2023, the composition of the council was: [16] [17]

PartyCouncillors
Conservative 17
Labour 8
Liberal Democrats 8
Independent 5
Green 2
Total40

The next election is due in 2027.

Elections

Since the last boundary changes in 2019 the council has comprised 40 councillors representing 26 wards, with each ward electing one or two councillors. Elections are held every four years. [18]

Premises

The council is based at the Council Offices on Church Walk in Clitheroe, which was purpose-built for the council in 1980. [19] [20] The council chamber is in an adjoining building at 13 Church Street, which had been offices of the old Clitheroe Borough Council prior to the 1974 reforms. [21]

Education

State-funded schools

Primary

See List of schools in Lancashire § Ribble Valley

Secondary

Specialist

  • Hillside Specialist School, Longridge

Independent schools

Adult education

Sport

Longridge Town FC

Local radio

Community radio

Ribble Valley Radio was a community radio station based in Clitheroe, part of the new, third sector of local radio licensed by OFCOM. [22] The project was launched in September 2004. The radio station helped six local residents into paid work within the radio sector in just three years and trained more than 100 volunteers to present and produce their own radio shows. The project was not supported by the Borough Council, which caused controversy in the area, and local newspaper the Clitheroe Advertiser and Times' held a poll which returned the result that 94% agreed that the Ribble Valley Borough Council were wrong not to fund the project and assist its long-term success. Many letters appeared in support of the project and damning the "short sighted" decision of the council. The whole episode brought excellent publicity and boosted the radio station's listening figures by 400%.

MP Nigel Evans was a staunch supporter and tabled an Early Day Motion at Parliament EDM 979 [23] calling for "better resources and funding" for Ribble Valley Radio and the new and emerging sector. None of this was sufficient to save the station and on 14 October 2007 Ribble Valley Radio closed, because it was unable to gain sufficient funding to apply for a licence. [24]

A new group, known as Ribble FM, [25] was formed in 2011 with the aim of applying for a community radio licence in the third round of licensing by Ofcom. Ribble FM was set up by The Bee founder Roy Martin and includes local directors and trustees.

Settlements

Location map United Kingdom Borough of Ribble Valley.svg
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;   Billington
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Towns, villages and hills in the Borough of Ribble Valley          Forest of Bowland AONB

Civil parishes

Ribble Valley parishes Borough of Ribble Valley parishes map.svg
Ribble Valley parishes

The whole borough is covered by civil parishes. The parish councils for Clitheroe and Longridge have declared their parishes to be towns, allowing them to take the style "town council". [26]

  1. Aighton, Bailey and Chaigley
  2. Balderstone
  3. Bashall Eaves
  4. Billington and Langho
  5. Bolton-by-Bowland
  6. Bowland Forest High
  7. Bowland Forest Low
  8. Bowland-with-Leagram
  9. Chatburn
  10. Chipping
  11. Clayton-le-Dale
  12. Clitheroe
  13. Dinckley
  14. Downham
  15. Dutton
  16. Easington
  17. Gisburn
  18. Gisburn Forest
  19. Great Mitton
  20. Grindleton
  21. Horton
  22. Hothersall
  23. Little Mitton
  24. Longridge
  25. Mearley
  26. Mellor
  27. Middop
  28. Newsholme
  29. Newton
  30. Osbaldeston
  31. Paythorne
  32. Pendleton
  33. Ramsgreave
  34. Read
  35. Ribchester
  36. Rimington
  37. Sabden
  38. Salesbury
  39. Sawley
  40. Simonstone
  41. Slaidburn
  42. Thornley-with-Wheatley
  43. Twiston
  44. Waddington
  45. West Bradford
  46. Whalley
  47. Wilpshire
  48. Wiswell
  49. Worston

Economy

Although Ribble Valley is the largest area of Lancashire, it also has the smallest population. The economy of Ribble Valley is mainly rural in nature, with a high proportion of jobs being in the private sector, due to BAE there is a bigger sway towards manufacturing jobs and less of a service economy when compared to the rest of Lancashire presumably due to the size of the authority and the dispersed nature of settlements. The authority also has the highest proportion of remote workers in Lancashire. [27]

Notable businesses

Freedom of the Borough

The following people and military units have received the Freedom of the Borough of Ribble Valley.

Military Units

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Read, Lancashire</span> Human settlement in England

Read is a village in Lancashire 5 miles west northwest of Burnley and 2 miles east of Whalley. It is on the A671 which is the main road between Burnley and Clitheroe. The population of the civil parish as taken at the 2011 census was 1,419.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Forest of Bowland</span> Upland conservation area in Lancashire, England

The Forest of Bowland, also known as the Bowland Fells and formerly the Chase of Bowland, is an area of gritstone fells, deep valleys and peat moorland, mostly in north-east Lancashire, England, with a small part in North Yorkshire. It is a western outlier of the Pennines.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Blackburn Hundred</span> Former sub-division of Lancashire, UK

Blackburn Hundred is a historic sub-division of the county of Lancashire, in northern England. Its chief town was Blackburn, in the southwest of the hundred. It covered an area similar to modern East Lancashire, including the current districts of Ribble Valley, Pendle, Burnley, Rossendale, Hyndburn, Blackburn with Darwen, and South Ribble.

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

Newton or Newton-in-Bowland is a village and civil parish in the Ribble Valley district, in the county of Lancashire, England, formerly known as Newton-on-Hodder. The civil parish had a population of 237 in 2001, according to the United Kingdom Census, increasing to 315 at the 2011 Census. The township covers almost 6,000 acres of the Forest of Bowland. Historically, the village is part of the West Riding of Yorkshire, but was transferred to Lancashire for administrative purposes on 1 April 1974, under the provisions of the Local Government Act 1972.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Aighton, Bailey and Chaigley</span> Human settlement in England

Aighton, Bailey and Chaigley is a civil parish in the Borough of Ribble Valley in Lancashire, England, just west of Clitheroe. The population of the civil parish at the 2011 census was 1,307, an increase from 1,249 in 2001.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bashall Eaves</span> Village and civil parish in the Ribble Valley district of Lancashire, England

Bashall Eaves is a village and civil parish in the Ribble Valley district of Lancashire, England, about four miles (6 km) west of Clitheroe. The placename element eaves is Old English and refers to Bashall's location on the borders of the Forest of Bowland. Historically, the village is part of the West Riding of Yorkshire, but was transferred to Lancashire for administrative purposes on 1 April 1974, under the provisions of the Local Government Act 1972.

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

Slaidburn is a village and civil parish within the Ribble Valley district of Lancashire, England. The parish covers just over 5,000 acres of the Forest of Bowland.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bowland Forest Low</span> Human settlement in England

Bowland Forest Low is a civil parish in the Ribble Valley district of Lancashire, England, covering some 5,500 acres (22 km2) of the Forest of Bowland. According to the 2001 census, the parish had a population of 168, falling to 160 at the 2011 Census. The parish includes the hamlets of Whitewell and Cow Ark. From northwards clockwise, it borders the civil parishes of Newton, Bashall Eaves, Aighton, Bailey and Chaigley, Bowland-with-Leagram and Bowland Forest High. Before 1974, it formed part of Bowland Rural District in the West Riding of Yorkshire.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Simonstone, Lancashire</span> Human settlement in England

Simonstone is a small village and civil parish in the Ribble Valley district of Lancashire, England. The population of the civil parish taken at the 2011 census was 1,154. It is about 4 miles (6 km) west of Burnley and south of Pendle Hill and Clitheroe along the A671 road. The village adjoins the village of Read, Lancashire and neighbours Padiham.

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

Sabden is a village and civil parish in the Ribble Valley, Lancashire, England. Sabden is located south of Pendle Hill, in a valley about three miles north west of Padiham. The parish covers 2,450.9 acres (991.85 ha), of which 103.2 acres (41.75 ha) is occupied by the village. It lies in the Forest of Pendle section of the Forest of Bowland Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty.

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

Gisburn is a village and civil parish within the Ribble Valley borough of Lancashire, England. Historically within the West Riding of Yorkshire, it lies 8 miles (13 km) northeast of Clitheroe and 11 miles (18 km) west of Skipton. The civil parish had a population of 506, recorded in the 2001 census, increasing to 521 at the 2011 Census.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pendleton, Lancashire</span> Human settlement in England

Pendleton is a small village and civil parish in Ribble Valley, within the county of Lancashire, England. It is close to the towns of Whalley and Clitheroe. The parish lies on the north west side of Pendle Hill below the Nick o' Pendle. The village is just off the A59, Liverpool to York main road, since the construction of the Clitheroe By-Pass. Older roads through the parish include one from Clitheroe to Whalley which passes through the Standen area and another to Burnley which passes Pendleton Hall.

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

Mearley is a civil parish in Lancashire, England. The parish is north-west of Pendle Hill, east of Clitheroe, and is in the Ribble Valley district. It is a small parish with no villages or hamlets and a population of 25, the second smallest in Lancashire, at the 2001 census. It has no parish council, but instead has a parish meeting shared with neighbouring Worston. From the 2011 Census population information for both Mearley and Worston is included within the civil parish of Pendleton, giving a total of 349. The eastern part of the parish is included in the Pendle outlier section of the Forest of Bowland Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sawley, Lancashire</span> Human settlement in England

Sawley is a village and civil parish in the Borough of Ribble Valley in Lancashire, England. The population of the civil parish was 305 at the 2001 Census, rising to 345 at the 2011 census. It is situated north-east of Clitheroe, on the River Ribble. It was historically part of the West Riding of Yorkshire.

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

Great Mitton is a village and a civil parish in the Ribble Valley, Lancashire, England. It is separated from the civil parish of Little Mitton by the River Ribble, both lie about three miles from the town of Clitheroe. The combined population of both civil parishes at the 2011 census was 266. In total, Great and Little Mitton cover less than 2000 acres of the Forest of Bowland, making it the smallest township in the Forest. Historically, the village is part of the West Riding of Yorkshire, but was transferred to Lancashire for administrative purposes on 1 April 1974, under the provisions of the Local Government Act 1972.

Twiston is a village and a civil parish in the Ribble Valley District, in the English county of Lancashire. It is near the town of Clitheroe and the village of Downham. The parish is part of the Forest of Bowland Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB). It adjoins the Ribble Valley parishes of Downham and Rimington, and the Pendle parish of Barley-with-Wheatley Booth.

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

Middop is a rural hamlet and civil parish in Lancashire, England. It is in Ribble Valley district. Middop is near the villages of Rimington and Gisburn and approximately 8 miles (13 km) north-east of its post town, Clitheroe. In the 2001 United Kingdom census, Middop had a population of 43. Owing to the limited population from the 2011 Census details are included in the parish of Rimington.

References

  1. ↑ Neighbourhood Statistics: Ribble Valley
  2. ↑ "The English Non-metropolitan Districts (Definition) Order 1972", legislation.gov.uk , The National Archives, SI 1972/2039, retrieved 22 August 2022
  3. ↑ "The English Non-metropolitan Districts (Names) Order 1973", legislation.gov.uk , The National Archives, SI 1973/551, retrieved 22 August 2022
  4. ↑ "District Councils and Boroughs". Parliamentary Debates (Hansard) . 28 March 1974. Retrieved 16 January 2012.
  5. ↑ "North West Region". Civic Heraldry. Retrieved 15 October 2023.
  6. ↑ "Local Government Boundary Commission For England Report No. 5O5" (PDF). Local Government Boundary Commission For England. October 1985. Archived from the original (PDF) on 18 November 2015. Retrieved 13 March 2017.
  7. 1 2 "Council minutes, 23 May 2023". Ribble Valley Borough Council. Retrieved 15 October 2023.
  8. ↑ Briggs, Ben (18 December 2008). "Burnley man appointed Ribble Valley Council chief". Lancashire Telegraph. Retrieved 15 October 2023.
  9. ↑ "Local Government Act 1972", legislation.gov.uk , The National Archives, 1972 c. 70, retrieved 31 May 2023
  10. ↑ Jacobs, Bill (11 May 2023). "Battered Ribble Valley Tories seek to keep power as a minority". Lancashire Telegraph. Retrieved 14 October 2023.
  11. ↑ "Compositions calculator". The Elections Centre. Retrieved 20 August 2022.
  12. ↑ "Ribble Valley". BBC News Online . Retrieved 8 November 2009.
  13. ↑ "Council minutes". Ribble Valley Borough Council. Retrieved 23 August 2022.
  14. ↑ "Sudden death of former leader". Lancashire Telegraph. 8 March 2006. Retrieved 23 August 2022.
  15. ↑ "Tory leader Ken Hind stands down as council leader". Burnley Express. 21 December 2018. Retrieved 23 August 2022.
  16. ↑ "Local elections 2023: live council results for England". The Guardian.
  17. ↑ Boothroyd, David (13 October 2023). "Cheltenham still enraged by bureaucracy". Local Councils. Retrieved 14 October 2023.
  18. ↑ "The Ribble Valley (Electoral Changes) Order 2017", legislation.gov.uk , The National Archives, SI 2017/1267, retrieved 15 October 2023
  19. ↑ "No. 48120". The London Gazette . 6 March 1980. p. 3585.
  20. ↑ "No. 48273". The London Gazette . 7 August 1980. p. 11223.
  21. ↑ "Council offices and meetings". Ribble Valley Borough Council. Retrieved 15 October 2023.
  22. ↑ http://www.ofcom.org.uk/radio/ Archived 2009-07-10 at the Wayback Machine ofcom.org.uk
  23. ↑ http://edmi.parliament.uk/EDMi/EDMDetails.aspx?EDMID=32699&SESSION=885 edmi.parliament.uk
  24. ↑ Radio station closes due to funding problems Archived 2008-02-23 at Wikiwix
  25. ↑ "Home". Ribble FM. 16 May 2020. Retrieved 16 May 2020.
  26. ↑ "Information on Town and Parish Councils". Ribble Valley Borough Council. Retrieved 15 October 2023.
  27. ↑ "District Profile – Ribble Valley". Lancashire County Council. Archived from the original on 6 October 2014. Retrieved 3 October 2014.
  28. ↑ "Cavalry regiment parades through Leyland". The Lancashire Telegraph. Retrieved 16 May 2022.
  29. ↑ "King's Royal Hussars homecoming parade in Leyland". BBC News. 10 November 2012. Retrieved 16 May 2022.
  30. ↑ "Flag waving public line the route for Freedom parade". The Lancashire Evening Post. Retrieved 16 May 2022.
  31. ↑ "Duke of Lancaster's Regiment's freedom of Ribble Valley". BBC News. 10 March 2011. Retrieved 16 May 2022.
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