Park () is a

community A community is a social unit (a group of people) with a shared socially-significant characteristic, such as place, set of norms, culture, religion, values, customs, or identity. Communities may share a sense of place situated in a given g ...

and

electoral ward A ward is a local authority area, typically used for electoral purposes. In some countries, wards are usually named after neighbourhoods, thoroughfares, parishes, landmarks, geographical features and in some cases historical figures connected t ...

of the county borough of

Merthyr Tydfil Merthyr Tydfil () is the main town in Merthyr Tydfil County Borough, Wales, administered by Merthyr Tydfil County Borough Council. It is about north of Cardiff. Often called just Merthyr, it is said to be named after Tydfil, daughter of K ...

, in

Wales Wales ( ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by the Irish Sea to the north and west, England to the England–Wales border, east, the Bristol Channel to the south, and the Celtic ...

Community

The community covers an area north of Merthyr Tydfil town centre, including Cyfarthfa Park and the residential areas of Abermorlais, Georgetown, Williamstown and The Quar. At the 2001 census, it had a population of 4307, increasing to 4,326 at the 2011 census. Park has several notable landmarks, but its most notable is

Cyfarthfa Castle Cyfarthfa Castle (; ) is a castellated mansion that was the home of the Crawshay family, ironmasters of Cyfarthfa Ironworks in Park, Merthyr Tydfil, Wales. The house commanded a view of the valley and the works, which ‘at night, offer a tru ...

, which dominates the community.

Electoral ward

Prior to April 1974 Park was an

to the pre-1974 Merthyr Tydfil County Borough Council. In May 1972

Plaid Cymru Plaid Cymru ( ; , ; officially Plaid Cymru – the Party of Wales, and often referred to simply as Plaid) is a centre-left, Welsh nationalist list of political parties in Wales, political party in Wales, committed to Welsh independence from th ...

Dafydd Wigley Dafydd Wynne Wigley, Baron Wigley, (born David Wigley; 1 April 1943) is a Welsh politician who served as the leader of Plaid Cymru from 1981 to 1984 and again from 1991 to 2000. He served as the Member of Parliament (MP) for Caernarfon from 19 ...

achieved a shock win in the ward, pushing the sitting Labour councillor into third place. From 1973 to 1996 Park was a ward to Merthyr Tydfil District Council. From 1989 till 1996 Park was an

Mid Glamorgan County Council Mid Glamorgan County Council () was the upper-tier authority for the Welsh county of Mid Glamorgan between its creation in 1974 and its abolition in 1996. History Local government in England and Wales was reorganised in 1974 under the Local Gove ...

, electing one county councillor. It also included neighbouring

Vaynor Vaynor (, ) is a village and community (formerly a parish) in Merthyr Tydfil County Borough in Wales, United Kingdom. The population of the community at the 2011 census was 3,551. Location It is about four miles north of the town of Merthyr ...

. Subsequently the Park county ward has been coterminous with the Park community and had elected three councillors to

Merthyr Tydfil County Borough Council Merthyr Tydfil County Borough Council () is the governing body for Merthyr Tydfil County Borough, one of the Principal Areas of Wales. History The parish of Merthyr Tydfil was governed by a local board from 1850 until 1894, when it was replace ...

. At the May 2017 elections the council leader and Labour Party representative, Brendan Toomey, who had represented Park for 18 years, lost his seat to an

Independent Independent or Independents may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Artist groups * Independents (artist group), a group of modernist painters based in Pennsylvania, United States * Independentes (English: Independents), a Portuguese artist ...

candidate, Tanya Skinner. The other two seats were retained by Labour's Chris Barry and Clive Jones, in what Toomey described as a safe Labour ward. Labour had previously held all three seats in the ward since 1995.Merthyr Tydfil County Borough Council Election Results 1995-2012
The Election Centre. Retrieved 2 November 2018.

References

{{Merthyr Tydfil Communities in Merthyr Tydfil County Borough Merthyr Tydfil Wards of Merthyr Tydfil County Borough Mid Glamorgan electoral wards