Congleton (borough)

Congleton was, from 1974 to 2009, a local government district with borough status in Cheshire, England. It included the towns of Congleton, Alsager, Middlewich and Sandbach. The headquarters of the borough council were located in Sandbach.

For the principal settlement of this borough, see Congleton.

Borough of Congleton
Congleton
Shown within Cheshire
History
 • OriginCongleton Municipal Borough
Alsager Urban District
Middlewich Urban District
Sandbach Urban District
Congleton Rural District.
 • Created1 April 1974
 • Abolished31 March 2009
 • Succeeded byCheshire East
StatusNon-metropolitan district
ONS code13UC
 • HQWestfields, Sandbach

History
Chairmen of Congleton Rural District Council (1894-1974)

The borough was formed on 1 April 1974 under the Local Government Act 1972 by the merger of the former borough of Congleton, the urban districts of Alsager, Middlewich and Sandbach, and the Congleton Rural District. The new district was awarded borough status from its creation, allowing the chairman of the council to take the title of mayor.[1]

In 2006 the Department for Communities and Local Government considered reorganising Cheshire's administrative structure as part of the 2009 structural changes to local government in England. The decision to merge the boroughs of Congleton, Macclesfield, and Crewe and Nantwich to create a single unitary authority was announced on 25 July 2007, following a consultation period in which a proposal to create a single Cheshire unitary authority was rejected.[2]

The Borough of Congleton was abolished on 31 March 2009, with the area becoming part of the unitary authority of Cheshire East on 1 April 2009.[3][4]

Civil parishes

Congleton was divided into 23 civil parishes and included no unparished areas. Of the 23 civil parishes, four were administered at this level of local government by town councils: Alsager, Middlewich, Sandbach, and Congleton; with the remainder having parish councils.[5] There are two pairs of civil parishes that are grouped together so that they share a parish council. These are Hulme Walfield and Somerford Booths, whose single parish council is called "Hulme Walfield and Somerford Booths Parish Council", and Newbold Astbury and Moreton cum Alcumlow, whose single parish council is called "Newbold Astbury-cum-Moreton Parish Council".[5]

The following civil parishes were included in the borough:

Demographics

The resident population of the borough, as measured in the 2001 Census, was 90,655, of which 49 per cent were male and 51 per cent were female.

Religion

The percentage of people of each religion in the borough (trom the Census 2001):[6]

Stated religionPercentage
Christian81.46%
Buddhist0.12%
Hindu0.11%
Jewish0.06%
Muslim0.17%
Sikh0.04%
Other religions0.16%
No religion11.46%
Religion not stated6.43%

Political control

The town of Congleton had been a municipal borough from 1836 to 1974 with a borough council.[7] The first elections to the new Congleton Borough created under the Local Government Act 1972 were held in 1973, initially operating as a shadow authority until the new arrangements came into effect on 1 April 1974. Political control of the council from 1974 until its abolition in 2009 was held by the following parties:[8]

Party in controlYears
No overall control1974–1976
Conservative1976–1982
No overall control1982–1983
Conservative1983–1986
No overall control1986–1991
Liberal Democrats1991–1992
No overall control1992–1994
Liberal Democrats1994–2002
No overall control2002–2003
Conservative2003–2009

Leadership

The leaders of the council from 1987 were:

CouncillorPartyFromTo
Dennis Round[9] Liberal 1987 14 July 1987
Linda Short[10][11] Liberal Democrats198714 December 2000
Rod Fletcher Liberal Democrats20012002
Roland Domleo[12][13] Conservative200231 March 2009

Composition

The political composition of the council at its abolition in 2009 was:[14]

Party Councillors
Conservative 25
Liberal Democrat 13
Middlewich First 6
Independent 4

Premises

The council was based at Westfields on Middlewich Road in Sandbach. This was a large nineteenth century house which had been bought in 1960 by the Congleton Rural District Council, one of the council's predecessors.[15] In 2005–2007 a replacement headquarters building, also called Westfields, was built in front of the old house, which was then demolished.[16] The new building was formally opened on 25 January 2008.[17] After Congleton Borough Council's abolition, Westfields became the headquarters for the new Cheshire East Council.[18]

Alderman and Freeman of the Borough
Borough of Congleton roll of honorary Alderman plaque

The following people and military units received the Freedom of the Borough of Congleton or were an Alderman of the Borough of Congleton.

Individuals
  • C. W. Harrison (Alderman 4 October 1984)[nb 1]
  • A. G. Smith (Alderman 4 October 1984)[nb 1]
  • C. H. Kelly (Alderman 25 September 1986)[nb 1]
  • L. Yarwood (Alderman 29 September 1988)[nb 1]
  • J. M. Telfer (Alderman 28 September 1989)[nb 1]
  • F. Bowers (Alderman 5 November 1992)[nb 1]
  • W. Vickers Q.P.M. (Alderman 5 November 1992)[nb 1]
  • E. Henshall MBE. BA. Dip. Ed.(Alderman 22 September 1994)[nb 1]
  • R. Tomlinson (Alderman 29 October 1998)[nb 1]
  • R. C. Parry (Alderman 29 January 2004)[nb 1]
  • K. A. Hemsley (Alderman 29 January 2004)[nb 1]
  • K. A. Thompson (Alderman 29 January 2004)[nb 1]
  • M. J. Cooper (Alderman 2009)[19]
  • T. Farrell (Alderman 2009)[19]
  • R. A. Giltrap (Alderman 2009)[19]
  • L. Morris (Alderman 2009)[19]
  • F. Walton (Alderman 2009)[19]
  • D. Brown (Alderman 2009)[19]
  • R. M. Domleo (Alderman 2009)[19]
  • P. J. Edwards (Alderman 2009)[19]
  • R. I. Fletcher (Alderman 2009)[19]
  • D. I. Hough (Alderman 2009)[19]
  • G. Chambers (Freeman 2009)[19]

Military Units

Council elections
  • 1973 Congleton Borough Council election
  • 1976 Congleton Borough Council election (New ward boundaries)[21]
  • 1979 Congleton Borough Council election
  • 1980 Congleton Borough Council election
  • 1982 Congleton Borough Council election
  • 1983 Congleton Borough Council election
  • 1984 Congleton Borough Council election
  • 1986 Congleton Borough Council election
  • 1987 Congleton Borough Council election
  • 1988 Congleton Borough Council election
  • 1990 Congleton Borough Council election
  • 1991 Congleton Borough Council election (Borough boundary changes took place but the number of seats remained the same)[22][23]
  • 1992 Congleton Borough Council election
  • 1994 Congleton Borough Council election
  • 1995 Congleton Borough Council election
  • 1996 Congleton Borough Council election
  • 1998 Congleton Borough Council election
  • 1999 Congleton Borough Council election (New ward boundaries)[24]
  • 2000 Congleton Borough Council election
  • 2002 Congleton Borough Council election
  • 2003 Congleton Borough Council election
  • 2004 Congleton Borough Council election
  • 2006 Congleton Borough Council election
  • 2007 Congleton Borough Council election

By-election results
Congleton North By-Election 10 August 2000
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour David Atkin 303 50.9 +9.6
Liberal Democrats 156 26.2 -24.9
Conservative 136 22.9 +15.3
Majority 147 24.7
Turnout 595 21.6
Labour gain from Liberal Democrats Swing
Congleton North West By-Election 10 August 2000
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Sue Appleton 275 37.2 +11.3
Liberal Democrats 251 34.0 -8.3
Labour 213 28.8 -3.0
Majority 24 3.2
Turnout 739 24.6
Conservative gain from Liberal Democrats Swing
Congleton North By-Election 26 August 2004 (2)
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative 191
Conservative 174
Labour 142
Labour 133
Liberal Democrats Simon Davey 111
Liberal Democrats Paul Jones 108
Turnout 859 15.6
Conservative gain from Labour Swing
Conservative gain from Labour Swing
Congleton West By-Election 28 October 2004
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative 491 53.7 -1.5
Liberal Democrats Simon Davey 275 30.1 +6.2
Labour 148 16.2 -4.8
Majority 261 23.6
Turnout 914 20.5
Conservative hold Swing
Alsager Central By-Election 17 February 2005
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Liberal Democrats Julian Burgess 532 56.1 -14.2
Conservative Warwick Till 365 38.5 +8.8
Labour William Howell 52 5.5 +5.5
Majority 167 17.6
Turnout 949 34.5
Liberal Democrats hold Swing
Congleton North West By-Election 24 November 2005
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Liberal Democrats Simon Davey 341 54.8 +54.8
Conservative Matthew Carey 191 30.7 -13.3
Labour Lisa Bossons 90 14.5 -9.2
Majority 150 24.1
Turnout 622 21.0
Liberal Democrats gain from Conservative Swing
Sandbach West By-Election 18 October 2007
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Stella Furlong 445 45.1 +3.6
Liberal Democrats Patrick Darnes 382 38.7 -3.1
Labour Keith Haines 160 16.2 -0.5
Majority 63 6.4
Turnout 987 19.2
Conservative hold Swing

See also

Notes
  1. Source Borough of Congleton roll of honorary Alderman plaque photo

References
  1. "District Councils and Boroughs". Parliamentary Debates (Hansard). 28 March 1974. Retrieved 3 September 2022.
  2. BBC News, 25 July 2007 – County split into two authorities. Retrieval Date: 25 July 2007.
  3. Cheshire (Structural Changes) Order 2008 Archived 17 May 2009 at the Wayback Machine
  4. "Home". Congleton.gov.uk. Archived from the original on 6 January 2010. Retrieved 25 March 2022.
  5. "Parish Councils". Congleton Borough Council. Archived from the original on 9 November 2007. Retrieved 1 December 2008.
  6. "Key Figures for 2001 Census: Census Area Statistics". neighbourhood.statistics.gov.uk. Retrieved 28 June 2008.
  7. "Congleton Municipal Borough". A Vision of Britain through Time. GB Historical GIS / University of Portsmouth. Retrieved 5 September 2022.
  8. "Compositions calculator". The Elections Centre. Retrieved 10 August 2022.
  9. "Sad council mourns chief, 42". Crewe Chronicle. 22 July 1987. p. 2. Retrieved 8 August 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
  10. "The end of an era in local politics". Warrington Guardian. 10 April 2003. Retrieved 5 September 2022.
  11. "Leader steps aside". Congleton Borough Council. 15 December 2000. Archived from the original on 24 April 2001. Retrieved 5 September 2022.
  12. "List of council membership". Congleton Borough Council. Archived from the original on 12 August 2002. Retrieved 5 September 2022.
  13. Jackson, Matt (19 September 2019). "'He was the best friend I had...' – Tributes paid to 'dedicated' Roland, 73, who served as council leader for years". Stoke on Trent Live. Retrieved 5 September 2022.
  14. "Your Councillors". Congleton Borough Council. Archived from the original on 20 October 2007. Retrieved 27 November 2008.
  15. "£12,000 conversion of Westfields". Crewe Chronicle. 16 July 1960. p. 18. Retrieved 8 August 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
  16. "Fight to save historic home". Cheshire Live. 10 November 2004. Retrieved 5 September 2022.
  17. "New council HQ formally opened". North Wales Live. 25 January 2008. Retrieved 5 September 2022.
  18. "Westfields Council HQ". Cheshire East Council. Retrieved 5 September 2022.
  19. "CIVIC SUB COMMITTEE ITEM 6 HONORARY ALDERMEN AND FREEMAN" (PDF). cheshireeast.gov. p. 3. Archived (PDF) from the original on 14 December 2021. Retrieved 30 May 2023.
  20. Alcock, Joan P (15 March 2014). Congleton Though Time. Stroud: Amberley Publishing. p. 32. ISBN 1445609762.
  21. legislation.gov.uk – The Borough of Congleton (Electoral Arrangements) Order 1975. Retrieved on 19 November 2015.
  22. legislation.gov.uk – The Cheshire, Derbyshire, Hereford and Worcester and Staffordshire (County Boundaries) Order 1991. Retrieved on 5 November 2015.
  23. legislation.gov.uk – The Cheshire, Derbyshire, Hereford and Worcester and Staffordshire (County Boundaries) (Variation) Order 1992. Retrieved on 5 November 2015.
  24. legislation.gov.uk – The Borough of Congleton (Electoral Changes) Order 1998. Retrieved on 4 October 2015.

53°9′N 2°18′W

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