Cheshire West and Chester

"Cheshire West" redirects here. For the former European Parliament constituency, see Cheshire West (European Parliament constituency).

Coordinates: 53°12′47″N 2°54′07″W / 53.213°N 2.902°W / 53.213; -2.902

Cheshire West and Chester
Shown with England
Geography
Status	Unitary Authority; Borough
Origin	2009 structural changes
Region	North West England
Area - Total	Ranked 32nd 918.28 km2 (354.55 sq mi)
Admin HQ	Chester
ISO 3166-2	GB-CHW
ONS code	00EW
NUTS 3	UKD22
Demography
Population - Total (2010 est.) - Density	Ranked 16th 327,300 357 /km2 (920 /sq mi)
Ethnicity	98.5% White
Politics
Cheshire West and Chester Council http://www.cheshirewestandchester.gov.uk/
Executive	Conservative
Members of Parliament	Andrew Miller (Lab) Stephen O'Brien (Con) Stephen Mosley (Con) Graham Evans (Con) George Osborne (Con)
Districts

Cheshire West and Chester^[1][2][3] is a unitary authority area with borough status,^[4] in the ceremonial county of Cheshire. It was established in April 2009 as part of the 2009 structural changes to local government in England, by virtue of an order under the Local Government and Public Involvement in Health Act 2007.^[5] It replaced the boroughs of Ellesmere Port and Neston, Vale Royal and Chester District and part of the former Cheshire County Council, which was disaggregated between the two new unitary Authorities of Cheshire East and Cheshire West & Chester. The rest of ceremonial Cheshire is composed of Cheshire East, Warrington and Halton. The decision to create the Cheshire West and Chester 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.^[6] Chester City Council had proposed the new authority be called "The City of Chester and West Cheshire" but this was also rejected.^[7]

Politics and administration

See also: Cheshire West and Chester Council election, 2008

The electoral wards for the new unitary authority were the same as those used in the former Cheshire County Council elections, with each ward electing 3 councillors.^[8] The first elections to the authority took place on 1 May 2008,^[9] with the Conservatives gaining control with a majority of 38 councillors.^[10] When first contested there were 72 elected councillors in the authority led by Councillor Mike Jones.

Due to boundary changes put into effect prior to 2011 elections, 3 additional councillor seats were created, making a total of 75 councillors in the authority. The new wards are a mixture of single member wards, two member wards and three member wards. The Conservative Party retained control with a diminished majority having won 42 seats whilst Labour won 32 seats and the Liberal Democrats won 1. It is likely that the changes in the ward boundaries favoured the opposition parties when compared with the ward boundaries used for the 2008 which were seen as favouring the Conservative party. The 2008 elections took place when the Labour party nationally was performing particularly badly.

Details of the current councillors can be found using this link. http://cmttpublic.cheshirewestandchester.gov.uk/mgMemberIndex.asp?FN=PARTY&VW=LIST&PIC=0&J=1 Members of Cheshire West and Chester District Council Councillors by Party Affiliation] Cheshire West and Chester District Council, Accessed April 4, 2009 </ref> .^[11] There will be a by-election in October 2011 following the death of Labour Party Leader Derek Bateman in July 2011.

Council wards

Cheshire West and Chester Borough Council

No Picture Available
Administration	Conservative
Leader	Cllr Mike Jones
Political Party	Conservative
Deputy	Cllr Les Ford
Predecessor	None
Leader of Opposition	Cllr. Pat Merrick (acting)
Father of the House	Cllr. Brian Crowe (includes service on Chester City Council)
Chairman	Lord Mayor Eleanor Johnson
Chief Executive	Steve Robinson

^[12]

The District is divided into 30 wards, listed below in alphabetical order.

• Blacon
• Boughton
• Broxton
• Chester City
• Chester Villages
• Davenham and Moulton
• Dodleston and Huntington
• Ellesmere Port Town
• Elton
• Farndon
• Frodsham
• Garden Quarter
• Gowy
• Grange
• Great Boughton
• Handbridge Park
• Hartford and Greenbank
• Helsby
• Hoole
• Kingsley
• Lache
• Ledsham and Manor
• Little Neston and Burton
• Malpas
• Marbury
• Neston
• Netherpool
• Newton
• Rossmore
• Saughall and Mollington
• Shakerley
• St Paul's
• Strawberry
• Sutton
• Tarporley
• Tarvin and Kelsall
• Tattenhall
• Upton
• Weaver and Cuddington
• Whitby
• Willaston and Thornton
• Winnington and Castle
• Winsford Over and Verdin
• Winsford Swanlow and Dene
• Winsford Wharton
• Witton and Rudheath ^[13][14]

Local nature reserves

Cheshire West council maintains six Local Nature Reserves: Burton Mill Wood (Ellesmere Port), Helsby Quarry (Vale Royal), Marshall's Arm (Vale Royal), Rivacre Valley (Ellesmere Port), Stanney Wood (Ellesmere Port) and Whitby Park (Ellesmere Port).^[15]

References

1. ^ Vale Royal Borough Council - Minister's announcement is welcomed
2. ^ Chester City Council - Two new councils for Cheshire
3. ^ Cheshire West and Chester Council Shadow Authority
4. ^ http://www.cheshirewestandchester.gov.uk/your_council/press_releases/2009_press_releases/april/history_in_the_making.aspx
5. ^ Cheshire (Structural Changes) Order 2008
6. ^ BBC News, 25 July 2007 - County split into two authorities. Retrieval Date: 25 July 2007.
7. ^ Chester City Council proposals. Retrieval date: 3 July 2010.
8. ^ "People and Places" proposed electoral wards. Retrieval Date: 9 August 2007.
9. ^ Proposals for new City of Chester and West Cheshire Local Authority. Chester District website. Retrieval Date: 25 October 2007.
10. ^ Cheshire West and Chester election Results, May 2, 2008
11. ^ Cheshire West and Chester 2011 Election Results May 5, 2011
12. ^ Cheshire West and Chester Council Wards Cheshire West and Chester Council, Accessed April 4, 2009
13. ^ Cheshire West and Chester 2011 Elections: Result by Ward May 5, 2011
14. ^ Cheshire West and Chester Member Index: Your Councillors by Ward May 6, 2011
15. ^ "Statutory Sites". Cheshire West and Chester council. http://www.cheshirewestandchester.gov.uk/planning/specialist_environmental_servs/natural_environment/biodiversity/nature_conservation_sites/statutory_sites.aspx. Retrieved 28 January 2011. 

External links

• Cheshire West and Chester Council website
• Webcasts - Cheshire West and Chester Council meetings
• Cheshire West and Chester Council's facebook page
• Cheshire West and Chester Council on twitter
• Cheshire West and Chester Council's videos