Town () is the name of a local government

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 ...

in the town 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

Merthyr Tydfil County Borough Merthyr Tydfil County Borough () is a Principal areas of Wales, county borough in the South East Wales, south-east of Wales. In , it had an estimated population of , making it the smallest local authority in Wales by population. It is located 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 ...

Description

The Town community covers

town centre east of the

River Taff The River Taff () is a river in Wales. It rises in the Brecon Beacons as two rivers, the Taf Fechan ("little Taff") and the Taf Fawr ("great Taff") before becoming one just north of Merthyr Tydfil. At Cardiff, it empties into the Bristol Chan ...

, stretching as far as Merthyr Common and the border with

Caerphilly County Borough Caerphilly County Borough () is a county borough in the south-east of Wales. It is governed by Caerphilly County Borough Council. Its main and largest town is Caerphilly. Other towns in the county borough are, Risca, Ystrad Mynach, Newbrid ...

. It includes the residential areas of Cae-draw, Penyard, Penyrheol, Thomastown, Twynyrodyn and Ysgubor Newydd. The community of

Troed-y-rhiw Troed-y-rhiw (, ) is a village and community (Wales), community in the county borough of Merthyr Tydfil County Borough, Merthyr Tydfil, Wales. Its population at the United Kingdom Census 2011, 2011 census was 5,296. It features the Troed-y-rhi ...

borders to the south,

Cyfarthfa Cyfarthfa is a community and electoral ward in the west of the town of Merthyr Tydfil in Merthyr Tydfil County Borough, Wales. Community Cyfarthfa mainly consists of the settlements of Gellideg and Heolgerrig and Rhyd-y-car area just west of M ...

to the west,

Park A park is an area of natural, semi-natural or planted space set aside for human enjoyment and recreation or for the protection of wildlife or natural habitats. Urban parks are urban green space, green spaces set aside for recreation inside t ...

Penydarren : ''For Trevithick's Pen-y-darren locomotive, see Richard Trevithick#"Pen-y-Darren" locomotive, Richard Trevithick.'' Penydarren is a Community (Wales), community and electoral ward in Merthyr Tydfil County Borough in Wales. Description The area ...

and

Dowlais Dowlais () is a village and Community (Wales), community of the county borough of Merthyr Tydfil County Borough, Merthyr Tydfil, in Wales. At the United Kingdom Census 2011, 2011 census the electoral ward had a population of 6,926, The populati ...

to the north and the Caerphilly community of

Darran Valley Darran Valley () is a community (Wales), community in the Caerphilly (county borough), County Borough of Caerphilly, Wales. The Darran Valley consists of the valley of the Bargod Rhymni and contains the villages of Deri, Caerphilly, Deri, Pentwyn ...

to the east. According to the

2011 UK Census A census of the population of the United Kingdom is taken every ten years. The 2011 census was held in all countries of the UK on 27 March 2011. It was the first UK census which could be completed online via the Internet. The Office for National ...

the population of the community/ward was 7,671. As well as the High Street and town centre the community includes

Merthyr Tydfil railway station Merthyr Tydfil railway station serves the town of Merthyr Tydfil in Wales. It is the northern terminus of the Merthyr branch of the Merthyr Line. Passenger services are provided by Transport for Wales. The station has one platform and is situ ...

and

Merthyr Tydfil bus station Merthyr Tydfil bus station is the bus station that serves the town of Merthyr Tydfil, South Wales. There are 14 stands and the main operator at the station is Stagecoach South Wales. The former bus station closed and was demolished for develop ...

. Merthyr Tydfil's main

Church in Wales The Church in Wales () is an Anglican church in Wales, composed of six dioceses. The Archbishop of Wales does not have a fixed archiepiscopal see, but serves concurrently as one of the six diocesan bishops. The position is currently held b ...

church, St Tydfil's, is located at the bottom of the High Street. There are a number of schools in the community, including

Cyfarthfa High School Cyfarthfa High School is a comprehensive school, based in Merthyr Tydfil County Borough, Wales, that was established in 1970. Cyfarthfa means "Place of the barking (dog)" in Welsh and the school crest reflects this. Origins The school was ...

Governance

Town is an

which elects four 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 Town elected three

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 ...

councillors (John Thomas, Kevin O'Neill, Andrew Barry) topped the poll, with the fourth councillor from the Labour Party (Dai Jones). Town has elected a broad political spectrum of councillors since 1995. Between 1995 and 1999 and 2012–2017 the ward elected four Labour councillors. Between 1999 and 2004 the ward was represented by

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 ...

. Between 2004 and 2008 three of the councillors were elected under the People Before Politics (PBP) banner. Between 2008 and 2012 the ward was represented by the Liberal Democrats.Merthyr Tydfil County Borough Council Election Results 1995-2012
The Election Centre. Retrieved 4 November 2018. By-elections took place in the ward on 23 October 2008 and 7 May 2015, both won by Labour.

References

{{Merthyr Tydfil, state=collapsed Communities in Merthyr Tydfil County Borough Merthyr Tydfil Wards of Merthyr Tydfil County Borough