Badenoch and Strathspey was a

local government district Local may refer to: Geography and transportation * Local (train), a train serving local traffic demand * Local, Missouri, a community in the United States Arts, entertainment, and media * ''Local'' (comics), a limited series comic book by Bria ...

, created in 1975 as one of eight districts within the

Highland Highlands or uplands are areas of high elevation such as a mountainous region, elevated mountainous plateau or high hills. Generally, ''upland'' refers to a range of hills, typically from up to , while ''highland'' is usually reserved for range ...

region in

Scotland Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...

. The district was abolished in 1996 when Highland was made a single-tier

council area {{Unreferenced, date=May 2019, bot=noref (GreenC bot) A council area is one of the areas defined in Schedule 1 of the Local Government etc. (Scotland) Act 1994 and is under the control of one of the local authorities in Scotland created by that Ac ...

. Since then, the

Highland Council The Highland Council (' ) is the local authority for Highland, one of the 32 council areas of Scotland. The council is based at the Highland Council Headquarters in Inverness. History The Highland area had been created as an administrative a ...

has had a Badenoch and Strathspey

area committee Many large local government councils in the United Kingdom have a system of area committees or area boards, which involve local people and organisations in decisions affecting council spending within their area. They cover a geographical are ...

covering the area.

History

The district was created in 1975 under the

Local Government (Scotland) Act 1973 The Local Government (Scotland) Act 1973 (c. 65) is an Act of Parliament (UK), act of Parliament of the United Kingdom that altered local government of Scotland, local government in Scotland on 16 May 1975. The act followed and largely impleme ...

, which abolished Scotland's counties,

burgh A burgh ( ) is an Autonomy, autonomous municipal corporation in Scotland, usually a city, town, or toun in Scots language, Scots. This type of administrative division existed from the 12th century, when David I of Scotland, King David I created ...

s and

landward district ''Landward'' is a long-running Scottish television programme focusing on agricultural and rural issues, produced and broadcast by BBC Scotland. Overview BBC Scotland had first produced its own farming programme, ''Farm Forum'', in 1965. This was ...

s and replaced them with a two-tier system of regions and districts. The new district covered four previous districts, two from

Inverness-shire Inverness-shire () or the County of Inverness, is a Counties of Scotland, historic county in Scotland. It is named after Inverness, its largest settlement, which was also the county town. Covering much of the Scottish Highlands, Highlands and s ...

and two from

Moray Moray ( ; or ) is one of the 32 council areas of Scotland. It lies in the north-east of the country, with a coastline on the Moray Firth, and borders the council areas of Aberdeenshire and Highland. Its council is based in Elgin, the area' ...

: ''From Inverness-shire'' *

Badenoch Badenoch (; ) is a district of the Scottish Highlands centred on the upper reaches of the River Spey, above Strathspey. The name Badenoch means the drowned land, with most of the population living close to the River Spey or its tributaries ...

district A district is a type of administrative division that in some countries is managed by the local government. Across the world, areas known as "districts" vary greatly in size, spanning regions or county, counties, several municipality, municip ...

Kingussie Kingussie ( ; ) is a small town in the Badenoch and Strathspey ward of the Highland council area of Scotland. Counties of Scotland, Historically in Inverness-shire, it lies beside the A9 road (Great Britain), A9 road, although the old route of ...

''From Moray'' *

Cromdale Cromdale (, from ''crom'' 'crooked' and ''dal'' 'valley, dale') is a village in Strathspey, in the Highland council area of Scotland, and one of the ancient parishes which formed the combined ecclesiastical (later civil) parish of Cromdale, ...

district *

Grantown-on-Spey Grantown-on-Spey () is a town in the Highland Council Area, Counties of Scotland, historically within the county of Moray. It is located on a low plateau at Freuchie beside the river Spey at the northern edge of the Cairngorms, Cairngorm mounta ...

burgh Cromdale and Grantown-on-Spey had historically been part of Inverness-shire, but had been transferred to Moray (then called Elginshire) in 1870. The new district was named after Strathspey, the valley of the

River Spey The River Spey () is a river in the northeast of Scotland. At it is the ninth longest river in the United Kingdom and the third longest and fastest-flowing river in Scotland. It is an important location for the traditions of salmon fishing an ...

, and the historic

province A province is an administrative division within a country or sovereign state, state. The term derives from the ancient Roman , which was the major territorial and administrative unit of the Roman Empire, Roman Empire's territorial possessions ou ...

. Badenoch and Strathspey District Council was a district-level authority, with regional-level functions provided by the

Highland Regional Council The Highland Council (' ) is the local authority for Highland, one of the 32 council areas of Scotland. The council is based at the Highland Council Headquarters in Inverness. History The Highland area had been created as an administrative ar ...

, based in

Inverness Inverness (; ; from the , meaning "Mouth of the River Ness") is a city in the Scottish Highlands, having been granted city status in 2000. It is the administrative centre for The Highland Council and is regarded as the capital of the Highland ...

. The districts and regions created in 1975 were abolished in 1996, under the

Local Government etc. (Scotland) Act 1994 The Local Government etc. (Scotland) Act 1994 (c. 39) is an Act of parliament, Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom that created the current Local government in Scotland, local government structure of 32 Unitary authority, unitary authori ...

and replaced with single-tier

council areas For local government purposes, Scotland is divided into 32 areas designated as "council areas" (), which are all governed by single-tier authorities designated as "councils". They have the option under the Local Government (Gaelic Names) (Sc ...

. The Highland region became one of the new council areas. The

has a number of

s for debating local matters. One of the committees is called the Badenoch and Strathspey Committee, comprising the councillors who represent the Badenoch and Strathspey ward, which broadly corresponds to the pre-1996 district.

Political control

The first election to the district council was held in 1974, initially operating as a shadow authority alongside the outgoing authorities until the district and its council formally came into being on 16 May 1975. Throughout the council's existence a majority of the seats were held by independents:

Premises

Badenoch and Strathspey District Council met at the courthouse at 36 High Street in

, which had been built in 1865. The council had its main administrative offices in converted former railway buildings at

Kingussie railway station Kingussie railway station serves the town of Kingussie, Inverness-shire in the Highland Council Area of Scotland. The station is managed by ScotRail and is on the Highland Main Line, from , between Newtonmore and Aviemore. History The Invern ...

on Ruthven Road. There was also an area office at the Town House (also known as the courthouse) on The Square in

. The buildings passed to the Highland Council on local government reorganisation in 1996. In 2016 Highland Council renovated and extended Kingussie Courthouse to become its main offices in the town, closing the former offices at Kingussie railway station and another council building at 100 High Street. The Highland Council's Badenoch and Strathspey area committee meets at both Kingussie Courthouse and Grantown-on-Spey Town House.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Badenoch And Strathspey Politics of Highland (council area) 1996 disestablishments in Scotland 1975 establishments in Scotland States and territories established in 1975 States and territories disestablished in 1996

History

Political control

Premises

See also

References