Three Rivers is 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 ...

in south-west

Hertfordshire Hertfordshire ( or ; often abbreviated Herts) is a ceremonial county in the East of England and one of the home counties. It borders Bedfordshire to the north-west, Cambridgeshire to the north-east, Essex to the east, Greater London to the ...

, England. Its council is based in

Rickmansworth Rickmansworth () is a town in south-west Hertfordshire, England, located approximately north-west of central London, south-west of Watford and inside the perimeter of the M25 motorway. The town is mainly to the north of the Grand Union Canal ( ...

. The district borders

Hertsmere Hertsmere is a local government district with borough status in Hertfordshire, England. Its council is based in Borehamwood. Other settlements in the borough include Bushey, Elstree, Radlett and Potters Bar. The borough contains several fi ...

Watford Watford () is a town and non-metropolitan district with Borough status in the United Kingdom, borough status in Hertfordshire, England, northwest of Central London, on the banks of the River Colne, Hertfordshire, River Colne. Initially a smal ...

St Albans St Albans () is a cathedral city in Hertfordshire, England, east of Hemel Hempstead and west of Hatfield, Hertfordshire, Hatfield, north-west of London, south-west of Welwyn Garden City and south-east of Luton. St Albans was the first major ...

Dacorum Dacorum is a Non-metropolitan district, local government district with borough status in the United Kingdom, borough status in Hertfordshire, England. The council is based in Hemel Hempstead. The borough also includes the towns of Berkhamsted ...

Buckinghamshire Buckinghamshire (, abbreviated ''Bucks'') is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England and one of the home counties. It is bordered by Northamptonshire to the north, Bedfordshire to the north-east, Hertfordshir ...

, and the

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

boroughs of

Hillingdon Hillingdon is an area of Uxbridge within the London Borough of Hillingdon, centred 14.2 miles (22.8 km) west of Charing Cross. It was an ancient parish in Middlesex that included the market town of Uxbridge. During the 1920s the civil pari ...

and

Harrow Harrow may refer to: Places * Harrow, Victoria, Australia * Harrow, Ontario, Canada * The Harrow, County Wexford, a village in Ireland * London Borough of Harrow, England * Harrow, London, a town in London * Harrow (UK Parliament constituency) * ...

History

Three Rivers District was created on 1 April 1974 under the

Local Government Act 1972 The Local Government Act 1972 (c. 70) is an act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom that reformed local government in England and Wales on 1 April 1974. It was one of the most significant acts of Parliament to be passed by the Heath Gov ...

, covering the whole area of two former districts and most of a third, which were all abolished at the same time: *

Chorleywood Chorleywood is a village and civil parish in the Three Rivers District, Hertfordshire, on the border with Buckinghamshire, approximately northwest of Charing Cross. The village is adjacent to the Chiltern Hills Area of Outstanding Natural Be ...

Urban District An urban district is a division generally managed by a local government. It may also refer to a city district, district, urban area or quarter Specific urban districts in some countries include: * Urban districts of Denmark * Districts of Germa ...

Urban District *

Watford Rural District Watford Rural District was a rural district in Hertfordshire from 1894 to 1974. It initially surrounded but did not include the town of Watford, which was a separate urban district. It gradually ceded territory to other districts, and by the ...

, except the parish of

Aldenham Aldenham is a village and Civil parishes in England, civil parish in the borough of Hertsmere in Hertfordshire, England. The parish includes Radlett and Letchmore Heath as well as Aldenham village itself. The village of Aldenham lies north-eas ...

, which went to Hertsmere, and the part within the designated area of

Hemel Hempstead Hemel Hempstead () is a town in the Dacorum district in Hertfordshire, England. It is located north-west of London; nearby towns and cities include Watford, St Albans and Berkhamsted. The population at the 2021 United Kingdom census, 2021 cens ...

New Town New or NEW may refer to: Music * New, singer of K-pop group The Boyz (South Korean band), The Boyz * New (album), ''New'' (album), by Paul McCartney, 2013 ** New (Paul McCartney song), "New" (Paul McCartney song), 2013 * New (EP), ''New'' (EP), ...

, which went to Dacorum. The new district was named "Three Rivers", referencing the rivers

Chess Chess is a board game for two players. It is an abstract strategy game that involves Perfect information, no hidden information and no elements of game of chance, chance. It is played on a square chessboard, board consisting of 64 squares arran ...

Colne Colne () is a market town and civil parishes in England, civil parish in the Borough of Pendle in Lancashire, England. The town is northeast of Nelson, Lancashire, Nelson, northeast of Burnley and east of Preston, Lancashire, Preston. The ...

, and

Gade Gade may refer to: * Gade - Gade people * Gade (surname) * Gadê County, in Qinghai, China * River Gade, in southern England *"Gade", a song by Croatian singer Severina Vučković * Gade language, a language of Nigeria See also * Gades (dis ...

which flow through the district and have their

confluence In geography, a confluence (also ''conflux'') occurs where two or more watercourses join to form a single channel (geography), channel. A confluence can occur in several configurations: at the point where a tributary joins a larger river (main ...

in Rickmansworth, the largest town in the district.

Governance

Hertfordshire has a two-tier structure of local government, with the ten district councils (including Three Rivers District Council) providing district-level services, and

Hertfordshire County Council Hertfordshire County Council is the upper-tier local authority for the non-metropolitan county of Hertfordshire, in England. The council was created in 1889. It is responsible for a wide range of public services in the county, including social c ...

providing county-level services. In some areas there is an additional third tier of

civil parish In England, a civil parish is a type of administrative parish used for local government. It is a territorial designation which is the lowest tier of local government. Civil parishes can trace their origin to the ancient system of parishes, w ...

es.

Responsibilities

Three Rivers District Council carries out a variety of district council functions including: *Benefits - Housing and Council Tax *Car Parking *Concessionary Travel *Council Tax - Administration and Collection *Elections and Electoral Registration *Environmental Health *Food Safety and Hygiene Complaints *Noise Pollution and Pest Control *Housing Administration *Licensing *Caravan Sites *Town Planning *Public Conveniences *Health and Leisure Centres *Refuse Collection *Recycling *Tourism and Visitor Information

Political control

The council has been under

no overall control In the context of local authorities in the United Kingdom no overall control (NOC; ) is a situation in which no single political group achieves a majority of seats, comparable to a hung parliament. Of the 248 councils who had members up for elec ...

since a by-election in August 2024, having previously been under

Liberal Democrat Several political parties from around the world have been called the Liberal Democratic Party, Democratic Liberal Party or Liberal Democrats. These parties have usually followed liberalism as ideology, although they can vary widely from very progr ...

majority control since 2018. The leaders of the council have been Liberal Democrats (or their predecessors, the

SDP–Liberal Alliance The SDP–Liberal Alliance was a centrist and social liberal political alliance, political and electoral alliance in the United Kingdom. Formed by the Social Democratic Party (UK), Social Democratic Party (SDP) and the Liberal Party (UK), Libera ...

) since 1986, including through some periods of minority administrations. The first election to Three Rivers District Council was held in 1973, initially acting as a shadow authority alongside the outgoing authorities until the new arrangements took effect on 1 April 1974. Political control since 1974 has been as follows: (Put "Three Rivers" in search box to see specific results.)

Leadership

The leaders of the council since 1986 have been:

Composition

Following the 2024 election and by-elections and changes of allegiance up to March 2025, the composition of the council was: The next election is due in May 2026.

Premises

The council's main offices are at Three Rivers House on Northway in the centre of Rickmansworth, which was purpose-built for the council in 1991. The site had been part of the grounds of Basing House, which had bought by the old Rickmansworth Urban District Council in 1930 to serve as its headquarters.

Elections

Since the last boundary changes in 2014 the council has comprised 39

councillor A councillor, alternatively councilman, councilwoman, councilperson, or council member, is someone who sits on, votes in, or is a member of, a council. This is typically an elected representative of an electoral district in a municipal or re ...

s representing 13 wards, each of which elects three councillors. Elections are held three years out of every four, electing one councillor from each ward each time. Elections to Hertfordshire County Council are held in the fourth year of the cycle when there are no district council elections.

Wards

The wards of the district are: * Abbots Langley and Bedmond *

Carpenders Park Carpenders Park is a suburb of Watford in the Watford Rural parish of the Three Rivers (district), Three Rivers district of Hertfordshire, England. It is located in the south western corner of Hertfordshire and close to the boundary with Greate ...

* Chorleywood North and Sarratt * Chorleywood South and Maple Cross * Dickinsons * Durrants * Gade Valley * Leavesden *

Moor Park and Eastbury Moor Park and Eastbury is a Wards of the United Kingdom, ward in Three Rivers (district), Three Rivers, in England. It is located in south-west Hertfordshire, in the East of England Regions of England, region. The ward includes the eponymous t ...

* Oxhey Hall and Hayling * Penn and Mill End * Rickmansworth Town *

South Oxhey South Oxhey is an estate in the Watford Rural parish of the Three Rivers (district), Three Rivers district of Hertfordshire, England. It is located in the south western corner of Hertfordshire and close to the boundary with Greater London. At th ...

Wider politics

County council

For elections to

, the district is divided into six divisions, three of which are held by the Conservatives, and three by the Liberal Democrats:

Parliament

For

parliamentary In modern politics and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: Representation (politics), representing the Election#Suffrage, electorate, making laws, and overseeing ...

elections, the entire district has been part of the South West Hertfordshire constituency since the

2024 general election This is a list of elections that were held in 2024. The National Democratic Institute also maintains a calendar of elections around the world. * 2024 United Nations Security Council election * 2024 national electoral calendar * 2024 local electo ...

. The constituency is not quite coterminous with the district, however, as it also contains the ward of

Kings Langley Kings Langley is a village, former manor and civil parish in Hertfordshire, England, north-west of London and to the south of the Chiltern Hills. It now forms part of the London commuter belt. The village is divided between two local governme ...

from the

district. The current MP is

Gagan Mohindra Gagan Mohindra (born 7 April 1978) is a British politician who has been the Member of Parliament (MP) for South West Hertfordshire since 2019. A member of the Conservative Party, he has been Opposition Deputy Chief Whip in the House of Com ...

of the Conservative Party.

Rail

Train services are provided by

Chiltern Railways Chiltern Railways (legal name The Chiltern Railway Company Limited) is a British train operating company that has operated the Chiltern Railways franchise since July 1996. Since 2009, it has been a subsidiary of Arriva UK Trains. Chiltern Rail ...

and the

Metropolitan line The Metropolitan line, colloquially known as the Met, is a London Underground line between in the City of London and and in Buckinghamshire, with branches to in Hertfordshire and in London Borough of Hillingdon, Hillingdon. Printed in mage ...

of the

London Underground The London Underground (also known simply as the Underground or as the Tube) is a rapid transit system serving Greater London and some parts of the adjacent home counties of Buckinghamshire, Essex and Hertfordshire in England. The Undergro ...

. London Underground stations: *

* Croxley *

* Moor Park Chiltern Railways stations: *

A special fare structure exists as the stations are outside the

Greater London Greater London is an administrative area in England, coterminous with the London region, containing most of the continuous urban area of London. It contains 33 local government districts: the 32 London boroughs, which form a Ceremonial count ...

boundary. London Overground stations: *

West Coast Main Line stations: *

Settlements

Abbots Langley Abbots Langley () is a large village and civil parish in the English county of Hertfordshire. It is an old settlement and is mentioned (under the name of Langelai) in the Domesday Book. Economically the village is closely linked to Watford and w ...

Croxley Green Croxley Green is both a village and a suburb of Rickmansworth in Hertfordshire, England. It is also a civil parish. Located on the A412 between Watford to the north-east and Rickmansworth to the south-west, it is approximately north-west of ...

* Loudwater *

Maple Cross Maple Cross is a village in Hertfordshire, England, which up until the Second World War consisted of an inn, a blacksmith's shop and a few cottages. Today there are around 800 postwar council houses. Some of these have been sold into private ow ...

* Moor Park *

Sarratt Sarratt is both a village and a civil parish in Three Rivers District, Hertfordshire, England. It is situated north of Rickmansworth on high ground near the county boundary with Buckinghamshire. The chalk stream, the River Chess, rising just n ...

Civil parishes

Three Rivers is partially parished. There are six

es in the district: *

Batchworth Batchworth was once a hamlet and is now a civil parish and part of Rickmansworth in Hertfordshire. The parish of Batchworth was created on 1 April 2017 consisting of two Three Rivers District Council wards: Rickmansworth Town, and Moor Park an ...

Watford Rural Watford Rural is a civil parish in the Three Rivers District of Hertfordshire, England. Located approximately northwest of central London and adjacent to the Greater London boundary, it is an urbanised parish characterised by suburban residenti ...

There are also two

unparished area In England, an unparished area is an area that is not covered by a civil parish (the lowest level of local government, not to be confused with an ecclesiastical parish). Most urbanised districts of England are either entirely or partly unparis ...

s in the district, both comprising parts of the former Rickmansworth Urban District which have not subsequently been added to a parish: one larger area including Maple Cross and

Mill End, Rickmansworth Mill End is a suburb of Rickmansworth in Hertfordshire, England. Most of it is an unparished area, not being within a civil parish, although part of the built-up area comes under Chorleywood Parish Council. All of Mill End forms part of Three Ri ...

; and a smaller area including part of Loudwater.

Footnotes

External links

{{Authority control Districts of Hertfordshire 1974 establishments in England