West Suffolk District is a
local government district
The districts of England (also known as local authority districts or local government districts to distinguish from unofficial city districts) are a level of subnational division of England used for the purposes of local government. As the st ...
in
Suffolk,
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...
, which was established on 1 April 2019, following the merger of the existing
Forest Heath
Forest Heath was a local government district in Suffolk, England. Its council was based in Mildenhall. Other towns in the district included Newmarket. The population of the district at the 2011 Census was 59,748.
The district's name reflec ...
district with the borough of
St Edmundsbury. The two councils had already had a joint Chief Executive since 2011. At the 2011 census, the two districts had a combined population of 170,756. It is currently controlled by the
Conservative Party.
The main towns in the new district are
Bury St Edmunds,
Newmarket,
Brandon
Brandon may refer to:
Names and people
*Brandon (given name), a male given name
*Brandon (surname), a surname with several different origins
Places
Australia
*Brandon, a farm and 19th century homestead in Seaham, New South Wales
*Brandon, Q ...
,
Haverhill and
Mildenhall.
The district covers a smaller area compared to the former
administrative county
An administrative county was a first-level administrative division in England and Wales from 1888 to 1974, and in Ireland from 1899 until either 1973 (in Northern Ireland) or 2002 (in the Republic of Ireland). They are now abolished, although mos ...
of
West Suffolk, which was abolished by the
Local Government Act 1972.
Communities
The district council area is made up of 5 towns and 97 civil parishes, with the whole area being parished.
Towns
*
Brandon
Brandon may refer to:
Names and people
*Brandon (given name), a male given name
*Brandon (surname), a surname with several different origins
Places
Australia
*Brandon, a farm and 19th century homestead in Seaham, New South Wales
*Brandon, Q ...
*
Bury St Edmunds
*
Clare
*
Haverhill
*
Mildenhall
*
Newmarket
Civil parishes
Governance
As of 2021, the Conservative Party control West Suffolk Council. As of May 2021 the council consists of the following Parties:
The Conservatives won 43 of the 64 seats in the first election held on 2 May 2019. It was held concurrently with
other local elections across the United Kingdom.
Responsibilities
Since 1 April 2019 West Suffolk Council has been responsible for:
* culture and community development
* economic development
* housing
* licensing and environmental health
* planning and building control
* running elections
* waste and recycling
Councillors
As of March 2022 the council consists of the following Parties. The West Suffolk Independents and Green Party are part of the Independents Group
12 Councillors are also amongst the 14
Suffolk County Councillors elected from West Suffolk District. They marked with an * on the chart below.
The council area is divided up into 43 wards and represented by 64 councillors.
See also
*
2019 structural changes to local government in England
*
East Suffolk, another district that was created in Suffolk on 1 April 2019.
References
External links
*
{{Coord missing, Suffolk
Non-metropolitan districts of Suffolk