Tyne and Wear

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Tyne and Wear

Geography
Status	Ceremonial and Metropolitan county (no county council) <tr><th>Origin</th><td>1974</td></tr>
Region	North East England
Area - Total	Ranked 44th 540 km²
ONS code	2D
NUTS 3	UKC22/23
Demographics
Population - Total (2005 est.) - Density	Ranked 12th 1,095,200 2,028 / km²
Ethnicity	96.8% White 1.8% S. Asian
Politics
No county council
Members of Parliament	David Anderson, Nick Brown, Stephen Byers, Alan Campbell, David Clelland, Jim Cousins, Bill Etherington, Doug Henderson, Stephen Hepburn, Sharon Hodgson, Fraser Kemp, David Miliband, Chris Mullin
Districts
Gateshead Newcastle North Tyneside South Tyneside Sunderland Image:TyneWearpoll.PNG

Tyne and Wear is a metropolitan county in the North East of England around the mouths of the Rivers Tyne and Wear.

The county was created by the Local Government Act 1972 and borders the non-metropolitan counties of Durham and Northumberland. It is divided into the metropolitan boroughs of South Tyneside, North Tyneside, City of Newcastle upon Tyne, Gateshead and the City of Sunderland.

In 1986 the county council was abolished and most of its powers devolved to the metropolitan boroughs or joint boards. The county itself has not been abolished and still exists as a legal entity and a ceremonial county.

1 History
2 Administration
3 Identity
4 Politics
5 Towns and villages
6 Places of interest
7 References
8 External links

[edit] History

Newcastle upon Tyne, Gateshead, South Shields and Sunderland were all constituted as county boroughs under the Local Government Act 1888. These were joined by Tynemouth in 1904. Between the county boroughs various settlements were part of the administrative counties of Durham and Northumberland.

The need to reform local government on Tyneside was recognised as early as 1935, when a Royal Commission to Investigate the Conditions of Local Government on Tyneside was appointed.<ref>London Gazette, 10 May 1935</ref> The three commissioners were to "examine the system of local government in the areas of local government north and south of the river Tyne from the sea to the boundary of the Rural District of Castle Ward and Hexham in the County of Northumberland and to the Western boundary of the County of Durham, to consider what changes, if any, should be made in the existing arrrngements with a view to securing greater ecomnomy and efficiency, and to make recommendations."

The report of the Royal Commission was published in 1937.<ref>Local Government in the Tyneside Area (Cmd.5402)</ref> It recommended the establishment of a Regional Council for Northumberland and Tyneside (to be called the "Northumberland Regional Council") to administer services that needed to be exercised over a wide area, with a second tier of smaller units for other local government purposes. The second-tier units would be formed by amalgamating the various existing boroughs and districts. The county boroughs in the area would lose their status. Within this area, a single municipality would be formed covering the four county boroughs of Newcastle, Gateshead, Tynemouth, South Shields and other urban districts and boroughs.<ref>Government of Tyneside : a Regional Council. The Times. March 19, 1937.</ref>

A minority report proposed amalgamation of Newcastle, Gateshead, Wallsend, Jarrow, Felling, Gosforth, Hebburn and Newburn into a single "county borough of Newcastle-on-Tyneside". The 1937 report was not acted upon : local authorities were unable to agree on a scheme and the legislation of the time did not allow central government to compel one.<ref>Local Government on Tyneside. Sir K. Wood and Report of Commission. The Times. September 22, 1937.</ref>

Tyneside (excluding Sunderland) was a Special Review Area under the Local Government Act 1958. The Local Government Commission for England came back with a recommendation to create a new county of Tyneside based on the review area, divided into four separate boroughs. This was not implemented. The Redcliffe-Maud Report proposed a Tyneside unitary authority, again excluding Sunderland, which was to form a separate East Durham unitary authority.

The White Paper that led to the Local Government Act 1972 proposed as "area 2" a metropolitan county including Newcastle and Sunderland, extending as far south down the coast as Seaham and Easington, and bordering "area 4" (which would become Cleveland). The Bill as presented in November 1971 pruned back the southern edge of the area, and gave it the name 'Tyneside'. The name 'Tyneside' was controversial on Wearside, and the name changed to 'Tyne and Wear' by a government amendment upon the request of Sunderland County Borough Council.<ref>Hansard, 6 July 1972, column 909</ref>

[edit] Administration

Although the metropolitan county council was abolished in 1986, several joint bodies exist to run certain services on a county-wide basis. Most notable is the Tyne and Wear Passenger Transport Authority, which co-ordinates transport policy. Through its Passenger Transport Executive, known as Nexus, it owns and operates the Tyne and Wear Metro light rail system, and the Shields ferry service and the Tyne Tunnel, linking communities on either side of the River Tyne. Also through Nexus, the authority subsidises socially-necessary transport services (including taxis) and operates a concessionary fares scheme for the elderly and disabled.

The Passenger Transport Authority is a "precepting authority", raising funds by imposing a levy on the Council Tax of the five constituent authorities of Tyne and Wear.

Other joint bodies include the Tyne and Wear Museums and Archives Service and the Tyne and Wear Fire and Rescue Service. These joint bodies are administered by representatives of all five of the constituent councils. In addition the Northumbria Police force, which covers the whole of Northumberland and Tyne and Wear, is one of several joint forces in England spanning two or more counties. The force was created in 1974, and so is not a by-product of the abolition of the county council.

[edit] Identity

The metropolitan county crosses the traditional border between Northumberland, and County Durham: the River Tyne. Newcastle upon Tyne and North Tyneside are in north of it, and Gateshead, Sunderland and South Tyneside are in the south.

Some organisations do not use Tyne and Wear as a county, instead retaining the traditional boundary between Northumberland and County Durham. This includes particularly wildlife and biological recording groups, for whom the stability of recording boundaries is important for the maintenance of long-term records (see Watsonian vice-counties).

The River Tyne was used as the border in 1883 when Parliament created the Church of England Diocese of Newcastle out of the Diocese of Durham and remains so still.

Additionally, administrative convenience, demographics and loyalty mean that many sporting organisations also use the traditional boundary; For example, the Northumberland Football Association is based in Newcastle upon Tyne, as is the minor counties Northumberland County Cricket Club and its four regular grounds.

Some residents also prefer to use the traditional counties when referring to places in Tyne and Wear.

Others feel that the Tyne is linking factor, not a dividing line. Many inhabitants refer to themselves as Tynesiders or Geordies, regardless of which side of the river they are from. Despite a strong local rivalry, there are strong links between Newcastle and Gateshead, as well as the many bridges that link the two communities; one example being the (failed) joint bid for European Capital of Culture in 2008. In recent years, several plans have been put forth with various degrees of seriousness to unite Newcastle, Gateshead, North and South Tyneside and sometimes Sunderland as a single city.

Sunderland is somewhat separated from Tyneside, with its inhabitants calling themselves Wearsiders or Mackems. Affinity for the Wearside area extends beyond Sunderland - consultative referenda among communities in East Durham have shown majorities in favour of joining Sunderland and Tyne and Wear.^{[citation needed]}

[edit] Politics

The county is divided into 14 Parliamentary constituencies. In July 2005, all these constituencies were represented by Labour. Historically, the area has been a Labour stronghold: for example, South Shields is the only Parliamentary constituency that has not returned a Conservative Member of Parliament (MP) to the House of Commons since the Reform Act of 1832,

Research is being carried out into changing the number of parliamentary constituencies in Tyne and Wear, reducing them by one. If changes are made, it could see a constituency returning a Conservative MP as changes to constituencies in the City of Sunderland could lead to a 'Sunderland Central' constituency, encompassing the Conservative-held wards north and south of the River Wear. Sunderland North and Washington and Sunderland South and Houghton are the other potential new constituencies, although there has been criticism that Sunderland does not share the same cultural and historical links that Washington and Houghton-le-Spring do, which is currently reflected in the Houghton and Washington East constituency. The parts of the Gateshead East and Washington West constituency that lie within the City of Sunderland would be included in the Sunderland North and Washington constituency.

At the level of local government, three of the region's five unitary authorities were controlled by Labour in 2005, the exceptions being Newcastle City Council and North Tyneside Council. Since an upset result in the local elections of 2004, the former has been controlled by the Liberal Democrats. No one party has overall control of North Tyneside Council: while the Conservatives hold the greatest number of seats, they lack an overall majority.

[edit] Towns and villages

For a complete list of all villages, towns and cities see the list of places in Tyne and Wear.

Gateshead

Newcastle

[edit] Places of interest

Gateshead
Newcastle
- Discovery Museum (previously Museum of Science & Technology)
- Hadrian's Wall
- Hancock Museum
- Jesmond Dene public park
- Newcastle Castle Keep
- St James' Park
North Tyneside
- Segedunum Roman Fort & Museum, Wallsend
- St Mary's Island bird reserve
- Tynemouth Castle
South Tyneside
- Arbeia Roman Fort & Museum, South Shields
- Marsden Rock bird reserve
- Souter Point Lighthouse
Sunderland

[edit] References

[edit] External links

Metropolitan County of Tyne and Wear

City of Newcastle upon Tyne | City of Sunderland
Metropolitan Borough of Gateshead | Metropolitan Borough of North Tyneside | Metropolitan Borough of South Tyneside

Districts of North East England	Image:Flag of England.svg
Alnwick - Berwick-upon-Tweed - Blyth Valley - Castle Morpeth - Chester-le-Street - Darlington - Derwentside - Durham - Easington - Gateshead - Hartlepool - Middlesbrough - Newcastle upon Tyne - North Tyneside - Redcar and Cleveland - Sedgefield - South Tyneside - Stockton-on-Tees - Sunderland - Teesdale - Tynedale - Wansbeck - Wear Valley
Counties with multiple districts: County Durham - Northumberland - Tyne and Wear