Borough Of Burnley

The Borough of Burnley () is a local government district with the borough status in Lancashire, England. It has an area of and a population of (), and is named after its largest town, Burnley. Other notable settlements include Padiham, Hapton, Worsthorne, Briercliffe and Cliviger.

The borough is bounded by Hyndburn, Ribble Valley, Pendle, Rossendale – all in Lancashire – and the borough of Calderdale in West Yorkshire. It is governed by Burnley Borough Council, which is currently under no overall control following the 2019 local elections.

History

The district was formed on 1 April 1974, when the former county borough of Burnley merged with the urban district of Padiham and part of Burnley Rural District. The council is based at Burnley Town Hall.

1976 saw all of the district's councillors stand for re-election as all the borough's wards were abolished and replaced with 22 new ones with a total of 54 seats. Although the majority of the new wards elected three councillors, six (Briercliffe, Cliviger, Deerplay, Hapton, Simonstone Hill and Worsthorne) only elected a single councillor.

At this time the civil parishes of Simonstone and North Town (historically associated with Padiham) were included in the borough, with the two merging in 1983. However, after a successful public campaign to move Simonstone into the Borough of Ribble Valley and Boundary Commission review completed in 1985, the part of North Town south of the A6068 Padiham Bypass was added to Ightenhill. Another part was transferred to Pendle district's Higham with West Close Booth and small adjustments occurred to the boundaries with Hyndburn's Altham parish along the River Calder near Padiham. Also in 1983 a boundary change transferred a small part of Habergham Eaves into Dunnockshaw.

1991 again saw all of the district's councillors stand for re-election as the borough's wards were again abolished and replaced, this time with 16 new ones each electing three councillors, with a total of 48 seats. Among other changes Cliviger merged with Worsthorne, Coalclough with Deerplay, and Hapton with Park.

Along with much of Burnley, Padiham had initially formed part of an unparished area, a new civil parish was formed in late 2001, covering a similar area to the old urban district. A Town Council was instituted in 2002, holding its meetings at Padiham Town Hall. Also 2002 saw another full council election as the number of wards reduced to 15 with a total of 45 seats.

2004 saw more boundary changes effecting the civil parishes within the borough (all except Habergham Eaves and Dunnockshaw) along with the unparished area.

In 2007 a proposal to merge Burnley with neighbouring Pendle Borough Council to form a larger unitary authority was rejected by the government.

The creation of the Burnley Bondholders scheme, an initiative which brings together local firms to promote Burnley as a place for business saw Burnley awarded an Enterprising Britain award from the UK Government in 2013, for being the 'Most Enterprising Area in the UK'.

Governance

Burnley is a non-metropolitan district forming a lower-tier of local government under Lancashire County Council.

The borough comprises 15 wards electing a total of 45 councillors. Wards: Bank Hall, Briercliffe, Brunshaw, Coal Clough with Deerplay, Daneshouse with Stoneyholme, Gannow, Lanehead, Queensgate, Rosegrove with Lowerhouse, Rosehill with Burnley Wood, Trinity, and Whittlefield with Ightenhill, Cliviger with Worsthorne, Gawthorpe, and Hapton with Park.

Burnley Borough Council has had a predominantly Labour controlled history, the party returned to power in 2012, after a period of leadership by the Liberal Democrats. Following the delayed 2021 local election, Labour formed a coalition executive with the Lib Dems, with Labour's Afrasiab Anwar as council leader.

From 2002, a number of BNP councillors were elected in the borough, with the last councillor losing her seat in the Hapton with Park ward in 2012. UKIP won its first seat on the council, also in Hapton with Park in 2015, collecting all three seats in the ward after 2019 but lost representation when its three councillors joined the Conservative group in 2020. After the 2021 elections the Conservatives have nine councillors and are the second largest group on the council. In 2017 Brexit had also caused the fracture of the local Lib Dems and the formation of the Burnley and Padiham Independent Party. The Green Party won its first seat in Trinity ward in 2018 and as of the 2021 elections has five councillors representing three different wards.

The borough contains the civil parishes of Briercliffe, Cliviger, Dunnockshaw, Habergham Eaves, Hapton, Ightenhill, Padiham, and Worsthorne-with-Hurstwood.

The district is represented on Lancashire County Council in six divisions: Burnley Central East, Burnley Central West, Burnley North East, Burnley South West, Burnley Rural and Padiham & Burnley West.

The boundaries of the Burnley Parliamentary constituency as the same a those of the borough.

Mayor

Burnley has had an office of mayor since 1882. In the modern era the councillors elect from among themselves a new mayor each May. The role is a ceremonial position, described as a non-political symbol of the local authority. The mayor presides over meetings of the full council and has a function of interpreting the council's constitution. During ceremonial occasions the mayor has seniority over everyone within the borough, bar the Queen (who also holds the title of Duke of Lancaster) or her representative, the Lord Lieutenant of Lancashire. The office-holder, along with the mayoress or mayor's consort, are also expected to act as ambassadors for the area and support local community groups and charitable organisations. For 2021-22 the mayor is Mark Townsend ( Labour Party) who replaced Wajid Khan (also Labour).

Geography

The Borough of Burnley roughly covers the upper part of the catchment basin of the River Calder, a major tributary of the River Ribble. This includes the catchment of the River Brun, which meets the Calder in Burnley town centre, but not that of Pendle Water. The Calder has its source in the Cliviger gorge which cuts through the Pennines into Yorkshire, very close to that of the West Yorkshire river with the same name. The gorge is located in the south east of the district and separates the South Pennines to the east from the area known as the Forest of Rossendale to the south. After passing through Burnley, the Calder turns around Ighten Hill forming part of the northern boundary and exits the borough at the west once it has flowed through Padiham. The exceptions to this occur along the southern boundary. The River Irwell and its feeder Whitewell Brook both have their sources on Deerplay Moor in Cliviger. Another tributary, Limy Water begins in Dunnockshaw and supplies the Clowbridge Reservoir. All three flow south into Rossendale. Catlow Brook forms part of the northern boundary (from the Coldwell Reservoirs to Walverden Reservoir) before continuing as Walverden Water into Nelson in Pendle. The banks of the Calder on the western boundary lie approximately AOD, but the hilltops on the eastern side—also the border between Lancashire and West Yorkshire—exceed in serval places. Hameldon Hill () stands in the southwest corner, forming part of the boundary with Hyndburn.

The Burnley Way, a waymarked circular footpath, visits much of the district, also passing briefly into the Calderdale district of West Yorkshire. It is considered to start/end at the Weavers' Triangle Visitor Centre at Burnley Wharf on the Leeds and Liverpool Canal.

Media gallery

Image:Singing Ringing Tree Stitch.jpg, The Singing Ringing Tree, overlooking Burnley.
Image:Clowbridge Reservoir - geograph.org.uk - 24451.jpg, Clowbridge Reservoir, Dunnockshaw.
Image:View over Cliviger.jpg, The Cliviger gorge that cuts through the Pennines into Yorkshire.
Image:River Calder, Gawthorpe hall - geograph.org.uk - 1758317.jpg, River Calder near Gawthorpe Hall.
Image:Burnley Wier.jpg, The old weir on the River Brun near Bank Hall in Burnley.
Image:Burnley Way descending towards River Calder (geograph 4085488).jpg, On the Burnley Way in Ightenhill. The footpath circles the borough.
Image:Towneley Colliery 1.jpg, The former site of Towneley Colliery on the edge of Habergham Eaves.

Demography

The borough's population has fallen from a high of 130,339 in 1911 to an estimated 87,700 in 2005. Between 1991 and 2001, it fell by 2.6%. Its employment rate of 59.0% places it 261st out of 376 local authorities in England & Wales; just 12.6% of its workforce are graduates, placing it 325th out of 376 local authorities.

The 2001 census recorded the population as 89,542 and the average (mean) age of residents was 37.7 years. The area of , giving a population density of . The gender makeup of the population was 43,408 male and 46,134 female. 64.3% of residents aged 16 to 74 were classed as economically active, with 0.8% long-term unemployed, but 8.9% classified as long-term sick or disabled. The largest employment sectors were manufacturing 29.3%, wholesale and retail trade including motor vehicle repairs 18.2%, and health and social work 12.9%. The ethnic makeup of the district was 91.8% white and 7.2% Asian, with the other ethnic minorities and people of mixed heritage making up the remaining 1%.

A 2010 report commissioned by the BBC
...