North Hertfordshire

North Hertfordshire District
Non-metropolitan district
North Hertfordshire shown within Hertfordshire
North Hertfordshire shown within Hertfordshire
Sovereign stateUnited Kingdom
Constituent countryEngland
RegionEast of England
Non-metropolitan countyHertfordshire
StatusNon-metropolitan district
Admin HQLetchworth
Incorporated1 April 1974
Government
 • TypeNon-metropolitan district council
 • BodyNorth Hertfordshire District Council
 • LeadershipLeader and Cabinet (Labour-Liberal Democrat (council NOC))
 • MPsBim Afolami
Oliver Heald
Stephen McPartland
Area
 • Total144.9 sq mi (375.4 km2)
 • Rank104th (of 309)
Population
 (2021)
 • Total133,210
 • Rank173rd (of 309)
 • Density920/sq mi (350/km2)
 • Ethnicity[1]
91.4% White
4.0% S.Asian
1.9% Black
1.8% Mixed Race
0.9% Chinese or other
Time zoneUTC0 (GMT)
 • Summer (DST)UTC+1 (BST)
ONS code26UF (ONS)
E07000099 (GSS)
OS grid referenceTL2355435083
Websitewww.north-herts.gov.uk

North Hertfordshire is a local government district in Hertfordshire, England. Its council is based in Letchworth.

North Hertfordshire District Council
Logo
Type
Type
Leadership
Chair
Sam North,
Liberal Democrat
since 26 May 2022
Elizabeth Dennis-Harburg,
Labour
since 26 May 2021[2]
Structure
Seats49
United Kingdom North Hertfordshire District Council 2019.svg
Political groups
Administration (30)
  Labour (17)
  Liberal Democrats (13)

Opposition (19)

  Conservatives (19)
Elections
Last election
6 May 2021
Meeting place
North Hertfordshire Council Offices, Letchworth.jpg
Council Offices, Gernon Road, Letchworth Garden City, SG6 3JF
Website
http://www.north-herts.gov.uk

The district was formed on 1 April 1974 by the amalgamation of the urban districts of Baldock, Hitchin, Letchworth, and Royston and the Hitchin Rural District.

From eastward clockwise, it borders the districts of East Hertfordshire, Stevenage, Welwyn Hatfield, St Albans in Hertfordshire, Central Bedfordshire, Luton, Central Bedfordshire again, and South Cambridgeshire.

Towns

Parishes and unparished areas

North Hertfordshire contains following civil parishes and unparished areas. Changes since 1974 resulting in creation or abolition of parishes are noted, but not boundary changes between parishes:

Area Status From To Parish authority Notes
Ashwell Civil Parish 1 Apr 1974 date Parish Council
Baldock Unparished Area 1 Apr 1974 date none Former Baldock Urban District: no successor parish created and so became an unparished area.
Barley Civil Parish 1 Apr 1974 date Parish Council
Barkway Civil Parish 1 Apr 1974 date Parish Council
Bygrave Civil Parish 1 Apr 1974 date Parish Council
Caldecote Civil Parish 1 Apr 1974 date Grouped Parish Council Shares grouped parish council with Newnham, called Caldecote and Newnham Parish Council.
Clothall Civil Parish 1 Apr 1974 date Parish Meeting
Codicote Civil Parish 1 Apr 1974 date Parish Council
Graveley Civil Parish 1 Apr 1974 date Parish Council Ceded land to form parish of Great Ashby in 2011.
Great Ashby Civil Parish 1 Apr 2011 date Community Council Created from part of Graveley in 2011.
Hexton Civil Parish 1 Apr 1974 date Parish Meeting
Hinxworth Civil Parish 1 Apr 1974 date Parish Council
Hitchin Unparished Area 1 Apr 1974 date none Former Hitchin Urban District: no successor parish created and so became an unparished area.
Holwell Civil Parish 1 Apr 1974 date Parish Council
Ickleford Civil Parish 1 Apr 1974 date Parish Council
Kelshall Civil Parish 1 Apr 1974 date Parish Meeting
Kimpton Civil Parish 1 Apr 1974 date Parish Council
Kings Walden Civil Parish 1 Apr 1974 date Parish Council
Knebworth Civil Parish 1 Apr 1974 date Parish Council
Langley Civil Parish 1 Apr 1974 date Parish Meeting
Letchworth Unparished Area 1 Apr 1974 31 Mar 2005 none Former Letchworth Urban District: no successor parish created and so became an unparished area.
Letchworth Garden City Civil Parish 1 Apr 2005 31 Mar 2013 Town Council
Letchworth Garden City Unparished Area 1 Apr 2013 date none Parish and Town Council abolished 2013 to become an unparished area again.
Lilley Civil Parish 1 Apr 1974 date Parish Council
Newnham Civil Parish 1 Apr 1974 date Grouped Parish Council Shares grouped parish council with Caldecote, called Caldecote and Newnham Parish Council.
Nuthampstead Civil Parish 1 Apr 1974 date Parish Meeting
Offley Civil Parish 1 Apr 1974 date Parish Council
Pirton Civil Parish 1 Apr 1974 date Parish Council
Preston Civil Parish 1 Apr 1974 date Parish Council
Radwell Civil Parish 1 Apr 1974 date Parish Meeting
Reed Civil Parish 1 Apr 1974 date Parish Council
Royston Civil Parish 1 Apr 1974 date Town Council
Rushden Civil Parish 1 Apr 1974 date Grouped Parish Council Shares grouped parish council with Wallington, called Rushden and Wallington Parish Council.
Sandon Civil Parish 1 Apr 1974 date Parish Council
St Ippolyts Civil Parish 1 Apr 1974 date Parish Council
St Paul's Walden Civil Parish 1 Apr 1974 date Parish Council
Therfield Civil Parish 1 Apr 1974 date Parish Council
Wallington Civil Parish 1 Apr 1974 date Grouped Parish Council Shares grouped parish council with Rushden, called Rushden and Wallington Parish Council.
Weston Civil Parish 1 Apr 1974 date Parish Council
Wymondley Civil Parish 1 Apr 1974 date Parish Council

Composition

See also: North Hertfordshire District Council elections

The council consists of 49 elected members, representing twenty-four electoral wards. Nine of the wards elect two councillors each. Seven elect one, whilst eight elect three.

The council has been under no overall control since 2019, being run by a Labour and Liberal Democrats joint administration. In the 2021 council elections Labour lost the Letchworth Grange seat to the Conservative party. A total of 17 seats out of the 49 of the council were contested, including 2 bye-elections. The 16 other seats were held by the incumbent party. In the 2022 council elections, the Conservatives lost 2 seats to the Liberal Democrats, Letchworth South West and Hitchin Priory, as well as losing a further 2 seats to Labour, being Royston Palace and Baldock Town.[3]

Party Councillors Change
(2022)
Conservative 19 -4
Labour 17 +2
Liberal Democrats 13 +2
Total 49 -
Source: BBC News

Wards

North Hertfordshire consists of twenty four wards, electing 1, 2 or 3 members.

Premises

When the council was created in 1974, it inherited five sets of offices from the five former authorities, spread across the four towns of Hitchin, Letchworth, Baldock and Royston. Initially the new council used the former Hitchin Rural District Council's offices (later called Centenary House) on Grammar School Walk in Hitchin as its headquarters, with the other offices providing additional accommodation. In 1975, the year after the new council's creation, it consolidated most of its functions into a six-storey building on Gernon Road in Letchworth, which had been built as part of the Central Area (later Garden Square) Shopping Centre. The building was named Council Offices and has served as the council's headquarters since then.[4][5][6] The council rented the building until 2013, when it purchased it for £3.6 million.[7]

Arms

Coat of arms of North Hertfordshire
Notes
Granted 16 January 1975
Crest
On a wreath of the colours two sprigs of oak in saltire fructed Proper enfiling a mural crown Or perched thereon a hooded crow (Corvus cornix cornix) close Proper.
Escutcheon
Chevronny of six Or and Gules a pale Ermine on a chief Vert a fleece between two garbs of barley Or.
Supporters
On either side a hart attired of ten tynes Proper gorged with a coronet pendent therefrom a pentagon Or charged with a cogwheel Sable
Motto
Memores Acte Prudentes Futuri[8]

Former logo used c. 1990–2021.

In 2021 the council adopted a new logo of four hearts (shown in the infobox above) and the style "North Herts Council" instead of its full formal name of "North Hertfordshire District Council". Prior to this, the council had used a logo of the initials "NHDC" in a green and purple square for approximately thirty years.[9]

References

  1. ^ Office for National Statistics: Neighbourhood Statistics: North Hertfordshire
  2. ^ "Minutes, Council 26 May 2021". North Herts Council. Retrieved 6 December 2021.
  3. ^ "The 2022 UK election results". State of the Nation. 5 May 2022. Retrieved 7 May 2022.
  4. ^ Miller, Mervyn (2002). Letchworth: The First Garden City (2nd ed.). Chichester: Phillimore. pp. 177, 189. ISBN 1-86077-213-7.
  5. ^ London Gazette, 13 June 1975, page 7654, council address given as Grammar School Walk, Hitchin
  6. ^ London Gazette, 10 July 1975, page 8810, council address given as Council Offices, Gernon Road, Letchworth.
  7. ^ Scott, James (12 December 2013). "NHDC buys own Letchworth GC offices for £3.6M". The Comet. Archant. Retrieved 14 October 2021.
  8. ^ "East of England Region". Civic Heraldry of England. Retrieved 9 March 2021.
  9. ^ "Council Plan 2022–2027" (PDF). North Herts Council. Retrieved 22 November 2021.

External links

Coordinates: 52°00′N 0°12′W / 52.0°N 0.2°W / 52.0; -0.2

source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/North_Hertfordshire