Metropolitan Borough of Wigan
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Borough of Wigan | |
|---|---|
| |
| Geography | |
| Status: | Metropolitan Borough |
| Region: | North West England |
| Ceremonial County: | Greater Manchester |
| Area: - Total | Ranked 194th 188.19 km² |
| Admin. HQ: | Wigan |
| ONS code: | 00BW |
| Demographics | |
| Population: - Total (2005 est.) - Density | Ranked 14th 306,700 1,630 / km² |
| Ethnicity: | 98.7% White |
| Politics | |
| Wigan Metropolitan Borough Council http://www.wiganmbc.gov.uk | |
| Leadership: | Leader & Cabinet |
| Executive: | Labour |
| MPs: | Andrew Burnham, Barbara Keeley, Ian McCartney, Neil Turner |
The Metropolitan Borough of Wigan is a Metropolitan Borough of Greater Manchester, in the North West of England. It is named after its largest town, Wigan, and includes various other towns including Leigh, Ashton-in-Makerfield, Ince-in-Makerfield and Hindley.
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[edit] Environs
The borough is the most northwestern in Greater Manchester. Within Greater Manchester, it borders the Metropolitan Borough of Bolton to the north-east and east, and the City of Salford to the east. Outwith Greater Manchester, in the south it borders Warrington (a unitary authority in Cheshire); to the south-west it borders the Metropolitan Borough of St Helens in Merseyside. To the west it borders the West Lancashire district, and to the north it borders the Chorley borough, both in Lancashire.
[edit] History
The metropolitan borough was created on April 1, 1974 by the Local Government Act 1972. It was formed from the county borough of Wigan along with following existing local government units from the administrative county of Lancashire : <ref name=lga_1972> Local Government Act 1972. 1972 c. 60. HMSO.</ref><ref> Local Government (Successor Parishes) Order 1973. 1973/1110. HMSO.</ref>
- the Municipal Borough of Leigh
- the urban districts of Abram, Aspull, Atherton, Hindley, Ince-in-Makerfield, Orrell, Standish-with-Langtree and Tyldesley
- most of the Ashton-in-Makerfield urban district (except for the area which now forms the Seneley Green parish in St Helens)
- most of the Golborne urban district (except for the area which now forms the parish of Culcheth and Glazebury in Warrington)
- most of the Billinge-and-Winstanley urban district (except for the village of Billinge itself, which is now in the Metropolitan Borough of St Helens)
- the parishes of Haigh, Shevington and Worthington, from the Wigan Rural District.
Wigan's new coat of arms was based on various elements from the arms of the predecessor districts.
From 1974, local government was under a two-tier system, with Wigan Metropolitan Borough Council covering most functions, and the Greater Manchester County Council. The county council was abolished in 1986 by the Local Government Act 1985.
The population of the borough has stayed roughly static since the 1970s at around 300,000.<ref>Vision of Britain: Wigan District population.</ref>
[edit] Politics
[edit] Parliamentary
Four parliamentary constituencies cover the borough: Wigan, Makerfield, Leigh, and Worsley. Worsley also covers parts of Salford. New constituencies boundaries recommended by the Boundary Commission will see the link to Salford broken, and part of the borough (the Atherton ward) included in the Bolton West constituency.<ref>Greater Manchester: New Constituency Boundaries.</ref> All four seats are considered safe seats for the Labour Party, and they or predecessors have returned Labour members consistently since the Second World War.<ref>Safe Seats analysis. Electoral Reform Society (April 28, 2005).</ref>
[edit] Local government
The first elections to the borough council were held on May 10, 1973.<ref>"Three major parties find cause for satisfaction in local election results despite low poll", The Times, May 12, 1973.</ref> Each ward has three councillors, and elections are by third, with one councillor from each ward up for re-election in each election year.<ref name=lga_1972> The 2004 election was for all seats, as ward boundaries had changed. <ref>"Wigan council", BBC News, June 11, 2004.</ref> The next elections are planned for 2007. <ref> The Borough of Wigan (Electoral Changes) Order 2004. HMSO.</ref>
The borough council has a leader and cabinet system. The current leader is Peter Smith, who also sits in the House of Lords as a Labour Party life peer, under the title Lord Smith of Leigh. He first became leader in 1991.<ref>Constitution: Part 9. Wigan Metropolitan Borough Council.</ref>. The council rejected the idea of a directly-elected mayor following a consultation in 2001.<ref>Wigan Metropolitan Borough Council (June 15, 2001). Borough rejects elected mayor. Press release.</ref>
Wigan is traditionally a Labour stronghold - the council has been Labour Party-controlled since its creation. <ref name=2006_poll>"Local elections: Wigan", BBC News, May 4, 2006.</ref> The local elections in 1998 resulted in a council with only 2 non-Labour members.
Labour have a majority with 43 seats as of the 2006 election. The second largest party on the council is the local Community Action Party, also active in St Helens and Warrington, which had 15 seats. Community Action first contested Wigan elections in 2002, and won 18 seats in the 2004 election following the re-warding - their councillors are for wards in the middle of the borough, between Wigan and Leigh. The Conservative Party has nine seats, and the Liberal Democrats eight. <ref>"Labour licks wounds after polls", June 11, 2004.</ref><ref name=2006_poll />
The council uses Wigan Town Hall as its main headquarters.<ref>Wigan Town Hall. Wigan Metropolitan Borough Council.</ref> Leigh Town Hall is used as a secondary base. <ref> (June 13, 2006). Makeover for Leigh Town Hall. Press release.</ref>
[edit] Wards
The borough is divided into 25 electoral wards, each of which elect three councillors. The present wards were adopted in 2003, following a review by the Boundary Commission : the previous review took place in 1979. The borough was formerly divided in 24 wards.<ref> (September 2003) Final recommendations on the future electoral arrangements for Wigan. Boundary Committee.</ref> The wards are as follows:<ref>New Wigan Wards Map. Wigan Metropolitan Borough Council.</ref>
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The previous wards were
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[edit] Settlements and subdivisions
Towns and villages in the borough include Wigan itself, Abram, Ashton-in-Makerfield, Aspull, Astley, Atherton, Billinge with Winstanley (Billinge itself is in the Metropolitan Borough of St Helens, Bryn, Golborne, Haigh, Hindley, Ince-in-Makerfield, Leigh, Lowton, Orrell, Pemberton, Platt Bridge, Standish, Shevington, Tyldesley and Winstanley.
The ONS identify a Wigan Urban Area in the west of the district, including the areas of Abram, Ince-in-Makerfield, Orrell, Standish and Wigan itself, as well as Skelmersdale from the West Lancashire district; with a population of 166,840. It considers towns in the east of the borough (that is Atherton, Hindley, Leigh and Tyldesley) to be part of the Greater Manchester Urban Area.... Ashton-in-Makerfield, Aspull, Golborne and Shevington are identified as standalone urban areas.<ref>Table KS01 Usual Resident population. ONS.</ref>
[edit] Parishes
The borough has three civil parishes: Haigh, Shevington and Worthington, which came from Wigan Rural District. The rest of the borough is an unparished area. The Wigan Parishes are under the Diocese of Liverpool.
[edit] Townships
Wigan Council has divided the borough into ten areas by the name of townships, with a Township Manager and a Township Forum each. <ref>Townships. Wigan Metropolitan Borough Council.</ref>. The townships are as follows:
| Township | Wards |
|---|---|
| Ashton / Bryn | Ashton; Bryn |
| Atherton | Atherton |
| Hindley / Abram | Abram; Hindley; Hindley Green |
| Leigh | Atherleigh; Leigh North; Leigh South; Leigh West |
| Lowton / Golborne | Golborn and Lowton West; Lowton East |
| Orrell / Billinge (Higher End) / Winstanley | Orrell; Winstanley |
| Standish / Aspull / Shevington | Aspull New Springs Whelley; Shevington with Lower Ground; Standish with Langtree |
| Tyldesley / Astley | Astley Mossley Common; Tyldesley |
| Wigan North | Ince; Wigan Central; Wigan West |
| Wigan South | Douglas; Pemberton; Worsley Mesnes |
[edit] Demographics
With a population of around 300,000, Wigan is the second most populous borough of Greater Manchester, after Manchester itself. It also has one of the lowest non-white populations, with the 2001 census repoting 98.7% of the population as white. Unemployment is around average for England and Wales. 9.5% of the population is "permanently sick or disabled" compared to an average of 5.5%.<ref>Census 2001 - Profiles - Wigan. ONS.</ref>
[edit] Identity
According to an opinion poll, 26% of 299 residents surveyed felt they belonged "very strongly" or "fairly strongly" (4% very strongly) to Greater Manchester, 64% (28% very strongly) to the borough of Wigan, and 63% (31% very strongly) to Lancashire. <ref>MORI local government and identity opinion poll December 2003 - February 2004</ref>
[edit] Transport
Several railway lines meet at Wigan. The Wigan Wallgate railway station serves trains to Southport, Kirkby, Manchester Victoria and Rochdale. The Wigan North Western railway station is on the West Coast Main Line, and also runs trains to Liverpool Lime Street and Blackpool North.
Other stations are Atherton, Bryn, Gathurst, Hindley, Ince, Orrell, and Pemberton. Appley Bridge station, serving Appley Bridge, is just outside the borough boundary.
Leigh has no railway station. One station, on the Bolton and Leigh Railway, closed in 1954. The second, on a loop of the Manchester to Wigan Line was closed in 1969.<ref>Pennington Station. Sub Brit.</ref>
The Leeds and Liverpool Canal passes through the borough, as does the M6 motorway, which runs to the west of the town centre, and serves Ashton-in-Makerfield (junction 24), Bryn (25), Wigan/Orrell (26) and Standish (27). The M58 motorway, to northern Liverpool, terminates at junction 26 of the M6.
[edit] Twinning
Wigan was twinned with Angers in France in 1988.<ref>Town Twinning. Wigan Metropolitan Borough Council.</ref>
[edit] See also
- Coat of arms of Wigan
- Wigan Council election 1998
- Wigan Council election 2000
- Wigan Council election 2002
- Wigan Council election 2003
- Wigan Council election 2004
[edit] References
<references/>
| Districts of North West England | Image:Flag of England.svg |
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Allerdale | Barrow-in-Furness | Blackburn with Darwen | Blackpool | Bolton | Burnley | Bury | Carlisle | Chester | Chorley | Congleton | Copeland | Crewe and Nantwich | Eden | Ellesmere Port and Neston | Fylde | Halton | Hyndburn | Knowsley | Lancaster | Liverpool | Macclesfield | Manchester | Oldham | Pendle | Preston | Ribble Valley | Rochdale | Rossendale | St Helens | Salford | Sefton | South Lakeland | South Ribble | Stockport | Tameside | Trafford | Vale Royal | Warrington | West Lancashire | Wigan | Wirral | Wyre | |
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Counties with multiple districts: Cheshire, Cumbria, Greater Manchester, Lancashire, Merseyside |
