Teignbridge District | |
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![]() Teignbridge shown within Devon | |
Sovereign state | United Kingdom |
Constituent country | England |
Region | South West England |
Non-metropolitan county | Devon |
Status | Non-metropolitan district |
Admin HQ | Newton Abbot |
Incorporated | 1 April 1974 |
Government | |
• Type | Non-metropolitan district council |
• Body | Teignbridge District Council |
• Leadership | Leader & Cabinet (Liberal Democrats) |
• MPs | Mel Stride Martin Wrigley |
Area | |
• Total | 246.3 sq mi (637.9 km2) |
• Rank | 49th (of 296) |
Population (2022) | |
• Total | 135,952 |
• Rank | 171st (of 296) |
• Density | 550/sq mi (210/km2) |
• Ethnicity | 96.2% White British |
Time zone | UTC0 (GMT) |
• Summer (DST) | UTC+1 (BST) |
ONS code | 18UH (ONS) E07000045 (GSS) |
OS grid reference | SX8475477137 |
Website | www |
Teignbridge District Council | |
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Type | |
Type | |
Leadership | |
Phil Shears since January 2018 [2] | |
Structure | |
Seats | 47 councillors |
Political groups | Administration (26)
Opposition (21)
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Elections | |
Last election | 4 May 2023 |
Last election | 6 May 2027 |
Meeting place | |
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Forde House, Brunel Road, Newton Abbot, TQ12 4XX | |
Website | |
www |
Teignbridge is a local government district in Devon, England. Its council is based in the town of Newton Abbot. The district also includes the towns of Ashburton, Buckfastleigh, Dawlish, Kingsteignton and Teignmouth, along with numerous villages and surrounding rural areas. Teignbridge contains part of the south Devon coastline, including the Dawlish Warren National Nature Reserve. Some of the inland western parts of the district lie within the Dartmoor National Park. It is named after the old Teignbridge hundred.
The neighbouring districts are Torbay, South Hams, West Devon, Mid Devon, East Devon and Exeter.
The district was formed on 1 April 1974 under the Local Government Act 1972, covering the whole area of six former districts and part of a seventh, which were all abolished at the same time: [3]
The new district was named Teignbridge after the medieval hundred of that name which had covered some of the area. [4] The hundred in turn had been named after the bridge over the River Teign on Exeter Road west of Kingsteignton, where there had been a number of bridges since Roman times. [5] [6]
Teignbridge District Council provides district-level services. County-level services are provided by Devon County Council. [7] The whole district is also covered by civil parishes, which form a third tier of local government. [8]
In the parts of the district within the Dartmoor National Park, town planning is the responsibility of the Dartmoor National Park Authority. The district council appoints two of its councillors to serve on the 19-person National Park Authority. [9]
The council has been under Liberal Democrat majority control since the 2023 election.
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: [10] [11]
Party in control | Years | |
---|---|---|
Independent | 1974–1983 | |
No overall control | 1983–2011 | |
Conservative | 2011–2019 | |
Liberal Democrats | 2019–2021 | |
No overall control [12] | 2021–2023 | |
Liberal Democrats | 2023–present |
The leaders of the council since 2003 have been: [13]
Councillor | Party | From | To | |
---|---|---|---|---|
Alan Connett [14] | Liberal Democrats | 2003 | 2011 | |
Jeremy Christophers [15] | Conservative | 2011 | 5 May 2019 | |
Gordon Hook [16] | Liberal Democrats | 20 May 2019 | 3 Sep 2020 | |
Alan Connett | Liberal Democrats | 3 Sep 2020 | 7 May 2023 | |
Martin Wrigley | Liberal Democrats | 23 May 2023 | 30 July 2024 | |
Richard Keeling [17] | Liberal Democrats | 30 July 2024 |
Following the 2023 election and a by-election in May 2024, the composition of the council was: [18]
Party | Councillors | |
---|---|---|
Liberal Democrats | 26 | |
Alliance | 9 | |
Conservative | 9 | |
Independent | 3 | |
Total | 47 |
One of the independent councillors sits in a group with the South Devon Alliance, the other two do not form part of a group. [19] The next election is due in 2027.
Since the last boundary changes in 2019 the council has comprised 47 councillors representing 24 wards, with each ward electing one, two or three councillors. Elections are held every four years. [20]
The council is based at Forde House on Brunel Road in Newton Abbot. [21]
The council bought the Forde House estate in 1978 for £60,000. [22] The estate comprised a Tudor mansion and its grounds. A modern office building was built in the grounds to serve as the council's headquarters, being formally opened on 27 April 1987. [23] The new office building now takes the name Forde House, with the old mansion now called Old Forde House.
The district is entirely divided into civil parishes. Some of the smaller parishes have a parish meeting rather than a parish council. The parish councils for Ashburton, Buckfastleigh, Dawlish, Kingsteignton, Newton Abbot and Teignmouth take the style "town council". [24]
Settlements in the district include:
Buckfastleigh is a market town and civil parish in Devon, England situated beside the Devon Expressway (A38) at the edge of the Dartmoor National Park. It is part of Teignbridge and, for ecclesiastical purposes, lies within the Totnes Deanery. It is 18 miles east-northeast of Plymouth, 20 miles southwest of Exeter and has a population of 3,661. It is a centre of tourism and is home to Buckfast Abbey, the South Devon Railway, the Buckfastleigh Butterfly Farm and Otter Sanctuary, the Tomb of Squire Richard Cabell and The Valiant Soldier.
The River Teign is a river in the county of Devon, England. It is 31 mi (50 km) long and rises on Dartmoor, becomes an estuary just below Newton Abbot and reaches the English Channel at Teignmouth.
Teignmouth is a seaside town, fishing port and civil parish in the English county of Devon. It is on the north bank of the estuary mouth of the River Teign, about 12 miles (19 km) south of Exeter. The town had a population of 14,749 at the 2011 census.
Newton Abbot is a market town and civil parish on the River Teign in the Teignbridge District of Devon, England. Its population was 24,029 in 2011, and was estimated at 26,655 in 2019. It grew rapidly in the Victorian era as the home of the South Devon Railway locomotive works. This later became a major steam engine shed, retained to service British Railways diesel locomotives until 1981. It now houses the Brunel industrial estate. The town has a race course nearby, the most westerly in England, and a country park, Decoy. It is twinned with Besigheim in Germany and Ay in France.
Dawlish is a seaside resort town and civil parish in the Teignbridge district in Devon, England. It is located on the south coast of England at a distance of 12 miles (19 km) from the city of Exeter and a similar distance from the town of Torquay. The 2011 Census population was recorded at 11,312, rising to 13,355 in a 2019 estimate. Dawlish had grown in the 18th century from a small fishing port into a seaside resort, as had its near neighbour, Teignmouth, in the 19th century.
Teignbridge was, from 1983 until 2010, a county constituency represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It elected one Member of Parliament (MP) by the first past the post system of election.
Central Devon is a constituency represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament since 2010 by Mel Stride of the Conservative Party.
Newton Abbot is a constituency in Devon represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament since 2024 by Martin Wrigley of the Liberal Democrats. It was previously represented since its 2010 creation by Anne Marie Morris, a Conservative.
Kingsteignton, is a town and civil parish in south Devon, England. It lies at the head of the Teign Estuary to the west of Teignmouth in the Teignbridge district. It is bypassed by the A380 and is also on the A383, A381, B3193 and B3195. Kingsteignton is currently represented in Parliament by Martin Wrigley, as part of the Newton Abbot constituency. Local schools include: Rydon Primary School, Teign School, Kingsteignton school and Saint Michael's Church of England School.
The Haldon Hills, usually known simply as Haldon, is a ridge of high ground in Devon, England. It is situated between the River Exe and the River Teign and runs northwards from Teignmouth, on the coast, for about 24 km (15 mi) until it dwindles away north west of Exeter at the River Yeo, just south of Crediton. The highest points of just over 250 metres (820 ft) lie to the south west of Exeter. The southernmost part is known as Little Haldon; it is partially separated from the main bulk of the hills by a col formed by the valleys of the Dawlish Water to the east and the valley at Rixdale to the west.
Teignbridge District Council in Devon, England is elected every four years. Since the last boundary changes in 2019, 47 councillors have been elected from 24 wards.
Highweek, less commonly called Highweek Village is an ecclesiastical parish, former manor and village, now a suburb of Newton Abbot, but still retaining its village identity, in the civil parish of Newton Abbot, in the Teignbridge district, in the county of Devon, England. It is prominent and recognisable due to its high location on a ridge on the north western edge of the town. The area is the centre of the modern electoral ward of Bradley. That ward's population at the 2011 census was 5,043.
An election to Devon County Council took place on 2 May 2013 as part of the 2013 United Kingdom local elections. 62 councillors were elected from electoral divisions which returned one county councillor each by first-past-the-post voting for a four-year term of office. The electoral divisions were the same as those used at the previous election in 2009. No elections were held in Plymouth and Torbay, which are unitary authorities outside the area covered by the County Council.
West Buckfastleigh is a small civil parish in the South Hams district, on the eastern border of Dartmoor in Devon, England. Situated within the parish are the village of Scorriton and the hamlets of Michelcombe and Combe. In 2011 it had a population of 301.
Hackney Marshes is a local nature reserve in Devon, England. It comprises a low-lying area of flood meadows located at the head of the Teign Estuary by Kingsteignton.
The 2017 Devon County Council election took place on 4 May 2017 as part of the 2017 local elections in the United Kingdom. All 60 councillors were elected from 58 electoral divisions, which returned either one or two county councillors each by first-past-the-post voting for a four-year term of office.