Borough of Havant | |
---|---|
Sovereign state | United Kingdom |
Constituent country | England |
Region | South East England |
Non-metropolitan county | Hampshire |
Status | Non-metropolitan district |
Admin HQ | Havant |
Incorporated | 1 April 1974 |
Government | |
• Type | Non-metropolitan district council |
• Body | Havant Borough Council |
• MPs | |
Area | |
• Total | 21.4 sq mi (55.3 km2) |
• Rank | 238th (of 296) |
Population (2022) | |
• Total | 124,854 |
• Rank | 193rd (of 296) |
• Density | 5,800/sq mi (2,300/km2) |
Ethnicity (2021) | |
• Ethnic groups | |
Religion (2021) | |
• Religion | List
|
Time zone | UTC0 (GMT) |
• Summer (DST) | UTC+1 (BST) |
ONS code |
|
OS grid reference | SU717062 |
The Borough of Havant is a local government district with borough status in Hampshire, England. Its council is based in Havant. Other towns and villages within the borough include Bedhampton, Cowplain, Emsworth, Hayling Island, Purbrook, Waterlooville and Widley. The borough covers much of the semi-urban area in the south east of Hampshire, between the city of Portsmouth and the West Sussex border.
Havant itself was an ancient parish. [2] Until 1852 it was governed by its vestry, in the same way as most rural areas. The parish was made a local board district in 1852, governed by an elected local board. [3] Such districts were reconstituted as urban districts in 1894. [4] The neighbouring parish of Warblington (which contained Emsworth) was made an urban district at the same time. [5]
The Havant Urban District was substantially enlarged in 1932, taking in the urban district of Warblington and the parishes of Bedhampton, North Hayling, South Hayling and Waterloo, with some adjustments to the boundaries with other neighbouring areas. It was renamed the Havant and Waterloo Urban District, and the whole area was made a single urban parish called Havant. [6]
The Havant and Waterloo Urban District was reconstituted as a non-metropolitan district named just "Havant" by the Local Government Act 1972 on 1 April 1974. [7] [8] The district was granted borough status as part of the 1974 reforms, allowing the chair of the council to take the title of mayor. No successor parish was created for the former urban district. [9]
The Borough of Havant is twinned with Wesermarsch district in Germany and Yavoriv Raion in Western Ukraine. [10]
Havant Borough Council | |
---|---|
Type | |
Type | |
Leadership | |
Steve Jorden since April 2023 [12] | |
Structure | |
Seats | 36 councillors |
Political groups |
|
Length of term | 4 years |
Elections | |
Last election | 4 May 2023 |
Next election | 2 May 2024 |
Meeting place | |
Public Service Plaza, Civic Centre Road, Havant, PO9 2AX | |
Website | |
www |
Havant Borough Council provides district-level services. County-level services are provided by Hampshire County Council. There are no civil parishes in the borough. [13] [14]
The council has been under Conservative majority control since 2002.
Political control of the council since the 1974 reforms has been as follows: [15] [16]
Party in control | Years | |
---|---|---|
No overall control | 1974–1978 | |
Conservative | 1978–1990 | |
No overall control | 1990–2002 | |
Conservative | 2002–present |
The role of mayor is largely ceremonial in Havant. Political leadership is instead provided by the leader of the council. The leaders since 2001 have been: [17]
Councillor | Party | From | To | |
---|---|---|---|---|
David Gillett | Conservative | 2001 | 2008 | |
Tony Briggs | Conservative | 2008 | 28 May 2014 | |
Mike Cheshire | Conservative | 28 May 2014 | 6 May 2018 | |
Michael Wilson | Conservative | 9 May 2018 | 19 May 2021 | |
Alex Rennie | Conservative | 19 May 2021 |
Following the 2024 election, the composition of the council was: [18]
Party | Councillors | |
---|---|---|
Conservative | 13 | |
Labour | 10 | |
Liberal Democrats | 7 | |
Green | 4 | |
Reform UK | 2 | |
Total | 36 |
As of mid-May 2024, no decision has been made on who will be in charge of the council, with negotiations between the parties ongoing. [19] The next council election will be 2026.
Since the last boundary changes in 2002 the council has comprised 38 councillors representing 14 wards with each ward electing two or three councillors. Elections are held in three years out of every four, with roughly a third of the council being elected each time for a four-year term of office. Hampshire County Council elections are held in the fourth year of the cycle when there are no borough council elections. [20]
The wards are:
New ward boundaries have been drawn up which will come into effect for the 2024 elections. [21]
The council is based at the Public Service Plaza on Civic Centre Road in Havant. The building was previously called Civic Offices and had been built in 1977, replacing the old Town Hall on East Street in the centre of Havant, which subsequently became The Spring Arts & Heritage Centre. [22] A large extension was added to the Civic Offices in 2011 to incorporate some Hampshire County Council offices and space for voluntary organisations as well, after which the building was renamed Public Service Plaza. [23]
Emsworth is a town in the Borough of Havant in the county of Hampshire, on the south coast of England near the border with West Sussex. It lies at the north end of an arm of Chichester Harbour, a large and shallow inlet from the English Channel, and is equidistant between Portsmouth and Chichester.
Waterlooville is a town in the Borough of Havant in Hampshire, England, approximately 6 miles (9.7 km) north northeast of Portsmouth. It is the largest town in the borough. The town had a population of 64,350 in the 2011 Census. It is surrounded by Purbrook, Blendworth, Cowplain, Lovedean, Clanfield, Catherington, Crookhorn, Denmead, Hambledon, Horndean and Widley. It forms part of the South Hampshire conurbation. The town formed around the old A3 London to Portsmouth road.
Havant is a town in the south-east corner of Hampshire, England between Portsmouth and Chichester. Its borough comprises the town (45,826) and its suburbs including the resort of Hayling Island as well as Rowland's Castle, the larger town of Waterlooville and Langstone Harbour. Housing and population more than doubled in the 20 years following World War II, a period of major conversion of land from agriculture and woodland to housing across the region following the incendiary bombing of Portsmouth and the Blitz.
East Hampshire is a local government district in Hampshire, England. Its council is based in the town of Petersfield, although the largest town is Alton. The district also contains the town of Bordon along with many villages and surrounding rural areas.
The Borough of Fareham is a local government district with borough status in Hampshire, England. Its council is based in Fareham. Other places within the borough include Portchester, Hill Head, Sarisbury, Stubbington, Titchfield and Warsash. The borough covers much of the semi-urban area between the cities of Southampton and Portsmouth, and is part of the South Hampshire conurbation. The neighbouring districts are Eastleigh, Winchester, Portsmouth and Gosport. The district's southern boundary is the coast of the Solent.
Winchester, or the City of Winchester, is a local government district with city status in Hampshire, England.
Widley is an area of the Greater Portsmouth conurbation in Hampshire, near Waterlooville and Purbrook. It is on the dip slope of the South Downs just north of the ridge called Portsdown Hill.
Leigh Park is a large suburb of Havant, in Hampshire, England. It currently forms the bulk or whole of four electoral wards: Battins, Bondfields, Barncroft and Warren Park.
Havant is a constituency in Hampshire represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament since 2015 by Alan Mak, a member of the Conservative Party. He is the first person of Chinese and East Asian origin to be elected to the House of Commons.
Portsmouth North is a constituency represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament since 2010 by Penny Mordaunt, the current Leader of the House of Commons and Lord President of the Council. She is a Conservative MP.
Bedhampton is a former village, and now suburb, located in the borough of Havant, Hampshire, England. It is located at the northern end of Langstone Harbour and at the foot of the eastern end of Portsdown Hill.
Gosport Borough Council is the local authority for the borough of Gosport, in the county of Hampshire, England. The council consists of 28 councillors, two or three for each of the 14 wards in the town. It is currently controlled by the Liberal Democrats, led by Peter Chegwyn. The borough council is based at Gosport Town Hall.
Warblington is a suburb of Havant, in the county of Hampshire, England. Warblington used to be a civil parish, and before that was part of the Hundred of Bosmere.
Portsmouth City Council is the local authority of the city of Portsmouth, Hampshire, England. It is a unitary authority, having the powers of a non-metropolitan county and district council combined. It provides a full range of local government services, including Council Tax billing, libraries, social services, town planning, waste collection, and disposal, and it is a local education authority.
The 2012 Havant Borough Council election took place on 3 May 2012 to elect members of Havant Borough Council in Hampshire, England. One third of the council was up for election and the Conservative Party stayed in overall control of the council.
St Thomas à Becket Church, sometimes referred to as St Thomas of Canterbury's Church and known until 1796 as the Church of Our Lady, is the Church of England parish church of Warblington in Hampshire, England. It was founded in the Saxon era, and some Anglo-Saxon architecture survives. Otherwise the church is largely of 12th- and 13th-century appearance; minimal restoration work was undertaken in the 19th century. Its situation in a "lonely but well-filled churchyard" in a rural setting next to a farm made it a common site for body snatching in that era, and two huts built for grave-watchers survive at opposite corners of the churchyard.