West Dunbartonshire

West Dunbartonshire (Scots: Wast Dunbairtonshire; Scottish Gaelic: Siorrachd Dhùn Breatann an Iar, pronounced [ˈʃirˠəxk ɣum ˈpɾʲɛht̪ən̪ˠ əɲ ˈiəɾ]) is one of the 32 local government council areas of Scotland. The area lies to the north-west of the Glasgow City council area and contains many of Glasgow's commuter towns and villages. West Dunbartonshire also borders Argyll and Bute, East Dunbartonshire, Renfrewshire and Stirling.

For the constituency, see West Dunbartonshire (UK Parliament constituency).

West Dunbartonshire
Wast Dunbairtonshire
Siorrachd Dhùn Breatann an Iar
Coat of arms of West Dunbartonshire
Coat of arms
Official logo of West Dunbartonshire
Council logo
Coordinates: 55°59′24″N 4°30′54″W
Sovereign stateUnited Kingdom
CountryScotland
Lieutenancy areaDunbartonshire
Admin HQDumbarton
Government
 • BodyWest Dunbartonshire Council
 • MPs
 • MSPs
Area
 • Total61.3 sq mi (158.8 km2)
 • RankRanked 31st
Population
 (2021)
 • Total87,790
 • RankRanked 26th
 • Density1,400/sq mi (550/km2)
ONS codeS12000039
ISO 3166 codeGB-WDU

The council area was formed in 1996 from the former Clydebank district and the eastern part of Dumbarton district, which had both been part of Strathclyde Region.

West Dunbartonshire has three main urban areas: Clydebank, Dumbarton and the Vale of Leven. The area also includes the intervening rural areas, including the Kilpatrick Hills and the south-eastern bank of Loch Lomond. The council is based at 16 Church Street in Dumbarton, although Clydebank is the largest town.

History

West Dunbartonshire was created in 1996 under the Local Government etc. (Scotland) Act 1994, which abolished the regions and districts which had been created in 1975, replacing them with unitary council areas. West Dunbartonshire covered the area of the abolished Clydebank district and the eastern part of Dumbarton district. In a referendum in 1994 the largely rural western part of the old Dumbarton district, including the town of Helensburgh, had voted to join Argyll and Bute rather than stay with Dumbarton.[1][2]

The 1994 act originally named the new district "Dumbarton and Clydebank", but the shadow authority elected in 1995 requested a change of name to "West Dunbartonshire", which was agreed by the government before the new council area came into force.[3][4]

Communities

The area is divided into 17 community council areas, 10 of which have community councils as at 2023 (being those with asterisks in the list below):[5]

Governance
West Dunbartonshire
Coat of arms or logo
Leadership
Douglas McAllister,
Labour
since 18 May 2022[6]
Martin Rooney,
Labour
since 18 May 2022[6]
Peter Hessett
since 2022[7]
Structure
Seats22 councillors
11 / 22
8 / 22
1 / 22
2 / 22
Elections
Single transferable vote
Last election
6 May 2022
Next election
6 May 2027
Meeting place
Burgh Hall, 16 Church Street, Dumbarton, G82 1QL
Website
www.west-dunbarton.gov.uk

The council comprises 22 councillors elected from 6 wards.[8]

Political control

The first election was held in 1995, initially operating as a shadow authority alongside the outgoing authorities until the new system came into force on 1 April 1996. Political control of West Dunbartonshire Council since 1996 has been as follows:[9]

Party in controlYears
Labour1996–2007
No overall control2007–2012
Labour2012–2017
No overall control2017–2022
Labour2022–2022
No overall control2022–

Leadership

The leaders of the council since 1996 have been:[10]

CouncillorPartyFromToNotes
Mary Campbell Labour1 Apr 1996Jun 1997
Andy White LabourJun 199720 Dec 2006
Martin Rooney Labour20 Dec 200612 Mar 2007
Denis Agnew Independent12 Mar 2007May 2007
Iain Robertson SNP16 May 200726 May 2010
Ronnie McColl SNP26 May 20103 May 2012
Martin Rooney Labour16 May 2012May 2017
Jonathan McColl SNP17 May 2017May 2022
Martin Rooney Labour18 May 2022

Premises

The council is based at the former Burgh Hall at 16 Church Street in Dumbarton. It also has an area office in the main shopping centre in Clydebank.[11]

When the council was created in 1996, it inherited several buildings from its predecessors, including Municipal Buildings and Crosslet House from Dumbarton District Council, Clydebank Town Hall and the nearby Council Offices on Rosebery Place from Clydebank District Council, and the County Buildings, Dumbarton from Strathclyde Regional Council.

The council gradually consolidated its offices, with Crosslet House being demolished in 2015,[12] the Rosebery Place offices being demolished in 2017,[13] and the County Buildings being demolished in 2019.[14]

In 2018 the council consolidated most of its offices to Burgh Hall, which had been vacant for some years. The front part of the 1866 building was retained and a modern office complex built to the rear.[15] The Municipal Buildings in Dumbarton are still used by the council as a register office, whilst Clydebank Town Hall is now primarily an events venue.

Elections

Since 2007 elections have been held every five years under the single transferable vote system, introduced by the Local Governance (Scotland) Act 2004. Election results since 1995 have been as follows:[9]

Year Seats Labour SNP Conservative Independent / Other Notes
19952214701
19992214701New ward boundaries.[16]
20032217302[lower-alpha 1]
20072210903[lower-alpha 2]New ward boundaries.[17]
20122212604[lower-alpha 3]
20172281022[lower-alpha 4]New ward boundaries.[18]
20222212901[lower-alpha 5][19]
  1. 1 Scottish Socialist
  2. 1 Scottish Socialist
  3. 1 Scottish Socialist
  4. 1 West Dunbartonshire Community Party
  5. 1 West Dunbartonshire Community Party

Since the 2022 election, one Labour councillor was suspended from the party in November 2022, meaning Labour lost its majority on the council which is therefore now under no overall control.[20] One SNP councillor resigned from the party in January 2023.[21] Both now sit as independents.

Wards
Map of the area's wards (2017 configuration)

Six multi-member wards were created for the 2007 election, replacing 22 single-member wards which had been in place since the creation of the council in 1995:[22]

Ward number Ward Location Largest settlement Additional settlements Seats
1 Lomond Balloch Gartocharn, Jamestown, Levenvale, Mill of Haldane 3
2 Leven Alexandria Bonhill, Dalmonach, Renton, Dumbarton (northern parts) 4
3 Dumbarton Dumbarton Milton, Bowling 4
4 Kilpatrick Duntocher Faifley, Hardgate 3
5 Clydebank Central Clydebank 4
6 Clydebank Waterfront Clydebank Old Kilpatrick 4

Wider politics

Independence referendum

On 18 September 2014, West Dunbartonshire was one of the four council areas which had a majority "Yes" vote in the Scottish Independence Referendum at 54% with an 87.9% turnout rate.[23]

Settlements
The largest settlements in West Dunbartonshire.

Largest settlements by population:

Settlement Population (mid-2020 est.)[24]
Clydebank

25,620

Dumbarton

20,480

Bonhill

9,060

Alexandria

6,710

Duntocher

6,680

Balloch

6,010

Faifley

4,740

Old Kilpatrick

4,470

Renton

2,350

Bowling

560

Main sights

References
  1. "Was Argyll and Bute move right decision?". Helensburgh Advertiser. 15 August 2014. Retrieved 20 February 2023.
  2. "Local Government etc. (Scotland) Act 1994", legislation.gov.uk, The National Archives, 1994 c. 39, retrieved 21 February 2023
  3. "Local Government etc. (Scotland) Act 1994", legislation.gov.uk, The National Archives, 1994 c. 39, retrieved 17 February 2023
  4. "Historical information from 1973 onwards". Boundary-Line support. Ordnance Survey. Retrieved 17 February 2023.
  5. "Active Community Councils". West Dunbartonshire Council. Retrieved 21 February 2023.
  6. "Council minutes, 18 May 2022". West Dunbartonshire Council. Retrieved 21 February 2023.
  7. "West Dunbartonshire Council: Peter Hessett is new chief executive". Clydebank Post. 1 June 2022. Retrieved 21 February 2023.
  8. "West Dunbartonshire Council May 2007 to present". Enline pic. Archived from the original on 31 July 2007. Retrieved 31 July 2007.
  9. "Compositions calculator". The Elections Centre. Retrieved 21 February 2023.
  10. "Council minutes". West Dunbartonshire Council. Retrieved 21 February 2023.
  11. "Council Offices". West Dunbartonshire Council. Retrieved 21 February 2023.
  12. "Historic Crosslet House knocked down for £10million 'super' care home". Dumbarton and Vale of Leven Reporter. 16 September 2015. Retrieved 1 August 2022.
  13. "Former West Dunbartonshire Council offices". Alamy. Retrieved 19 February 2023.
  14. "Demolition of former Dumbarton council offices blamed for rat infestation". Daily Record. 11 June 2019. Retrieved 17 December 2022.
  15. "West Dunbartonshire Council settles into flagship HQ". Urban Realm. 31 July 2018. Retrieved 3 June 2021.
  16. "The West Dunbartonshire (Electoral Arrangements) Order 1998", legislation.gov.uk, The National Archives, SI 1998/3075, retrieved 21 February 2023
  17. Scottish Parliament. The West Dunbartonshire (Electoral Arrangements) Order 2006 as made, from legislation.gov.uk.
  18. Scottish Parliament. The West Dunbartonshire (Electoral Arrangements) Order 2016 as made, from legislation.gov.uk.
  19. "4 May 2017 Council Election Results". www.west-dunbarton.gov.uk.
  20. Grant, Tom (25 November 2022). "Craig Edward: Court accused councillor sits as Independent". Clydebank Post. Retrieved 21 February 2023.
  21. Walker, David (18 January 2023). "SNP councillor and sister of MP resigns from party over gender reform stance". Scottish Daily Express. Retrieved 21 February 2023.
  22. "United Kingdom: Scotland | Council Areas and Electoral Wards". City Population. 30 June 2019. Retrieved 28 March 2021.
  23. "Indyref". BBC. Retrieved 19 September 2014.
  24. "Mid-2020 Population Estimates for Settlements and Localities in Scotland". National Records of Scotland. 31 March 2022. Retrieved 31 March 2022.
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