Bingley Urban District

Myrtle Grove, which became the council headquarters in 1926

In 1847, an act was passed that elevated 47 people into the Bingley Improvement Commissioners. This act was passed due to a great increase in the town's population, linked in with the arrival of the railway and increased industrialisation.[2] This in turn led to slum-like and squalid living conditions, which were recognised as needing improvement. The Local Government Act 1894, paved the way for the creation of the Bingley Urban District Council (BUDC) in 1894,[3][4] and on the inception of the council, they occupied a building on the main street that had been built in 1878 and was formerly occupied by a co-operative society.[5] In 1898, the Bingley Outer Urban District Council and the Wilsden Urban District Council were absorbed by the BUDC, thus enlargening the area.[6] However, this only occurred after a great debate about sewerage and other utilities, with Bradford Corporation wanting assurances that the new and larger area would not supply fresh water to areas under its control.[7] By 1955, the BUDC was responsible for Bingley, Cottingley, Cullingworth, Eldwick, Flappitt, Gilstead, Harden, Low Springs, Ryecroft and Wilsden.[8]

In 1904, the BUDC paid £14,000 to buy up some properties on the Old Main Street and part of the graveyard of All Saints Church. This enabled them to build the new main road straight past what is now the new fire station, and across the graveyard, cutting it into two sections. This required its own Act of 1901, and the removal of interred bodies from the site, whilst the headstones were used to line the paths around the graveyard.[9][10][11]

As a local council, they had responsibility for public services such as a fire brigade, water supply, medical needs and power supplies (gas and electricity).[12] The BUDC also controlled the public tips in the area of which they had four in 1946; Dowley Gap, Cullingworth, Harden and Wilsden.[13] BUDC invoked several bye-laws relating to public health in the district, and these covered slaughterhouses, markets, the cemetery, smoke abatement, recreation grounds, suppression of litter and even the sale of contraceptives in automated machines.[14] On the social side, the BUDC organised community events such as Boer War commemorative event in 1905 (for the 1899–1902 campaign) and promoting a visit by General Booth in 1907.[15]

In February 1914, the BUDC enabled the Bradford tram system to be extended into Bingley from Nab Wood (Saltaire). It was opened through Bingley to Crossflatts by October 1914.[16] This entailed the widening of Cottingley Bridge and affording at least a 40 feet (12 m) width on the Main Street in Bingley. The BUDC was also to be responsible for the supply of electricity, which they bought from the Keighley Corporation Tramways company.[17] In 1928, the St Ive's estate was purchased for the area by the BUDC for £39,500.[18] In 1923, certain offices of the BUDC were transferred from their previous BUDC offices (some being located in the Mechanics Institute) to Myrtle Grove, on the western side of the town in the rapidly developing Myrtle Park area. By 1926, all of the BUDC's operations had been transferred to Myrtle Grove which had now become the Town Hall.[19]

In 1936, many jobs that are now the responsibility of private enterprises, official regional, or national agencies, were undertaken by the BUDC. These included;[20]

The novelist John Braine worked for the BUDC in Bingley Library for several years in the 1950s. During this period, he wrote Room at the Top, which allowed him to give up his day job. However, some commented that the novel painted Bradford (and the wider area) as a "seedy, immoral place", and the BUDC criticised the library in Bingley for buying six copies of the novel.[21][22]

In 1974, the Bingley UD was merged into the newly formed Metropolitan District of Bradford, along with the other Aire Valley urban districts of Baildon, Ilkley, Shipley and Silsden, and the Municipal Borough of Keighley.[23][24]

• 1847 – 1894 Bingley Improvement commissioners, the precursor authority of the BUDC[30]
• 1893 – Prince of Wales' Park created (BUDC took on this responsibility on their formation one year later)[31]
• 1894 – BUDC created[30]
• 1898 – The Bingley Outer and Wilsden Urban District Councils were amalgamated into Bingley Urban District Council.[32]
• 1902 – A new fire station was built on Elm Tree Hill (opposite Park Road), replaced by new station in 1973[33][34]
• 1908 – Myrtle Park purchased for the town[35]
• 1912 (onwards) – The Electric Lighting Order was passed which allowed for the provision of electricity in the town. This was extended to East Morton and West Morton in 1925[36]
• 3 February 1914– The Bradford Tram system was extended into Bingley from Nab Wood[17]
• 1928 – Purchased the St Ives estate[37]
• 31 March 1948 – Electricity generation and supply for the area was removed from the BUDC and vested in the Yorkshire Electricity Board (see Electricity Act 1947)[38]
• 1948 – Gas, medical, fire, and ambulance services were removed from the BUDCs control into national and regional agencies: NHS for the medical work and West Riding County Council for the fire and ambulance provision[39]
• 1974 – Opening of Bingley Arts Centre[40]
• 1974 – subsumed into Bradford District Council[30]

• John Braine, worked for the BUDC in Bingley Library in the 1950s[41]
• Tom Snowden, chairman of BUDC between 1921 and 1922[42]
• Pat Wall, worked for the BUDC in 1973, later became MP for Bradford North[43]

• Bingley Coat of Arms