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Borough of Wyre

Coordinates: 53°54′00″N 2°48′32″W / 53.900°N 2.809°W / 53.900; -2.809
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This article is about the district in Lancashire. For the district in Worcestershire, see Wyre Forest District.

Wyre
Borough and non-metropolitan district
Wyre shown within Lancashire and England
Wyre shown within Lancashire and England
Sovereign stateUnited Kingdom
Constituent countryEngland
RegionNorth West England
Ceremonial countyLancashire
Founded1974
Admin. HQPoulton-le-Fylde
Government
 • TypeWyre Borough Council
 • MPs:Lorraine Beavers, Cat Smith
Area
[1]
 • Total
109 sq mi (282 km2)
 • Rank125th
Population
 (2022)[2]
 • Total
114,809
 • Rank210th
 • Density1,100/sq mi (410/km2)
Ethnicity (2021)
[3]
 • Ethnic groups
List
Religion (2021)
[3]
 • Religion
List
Time zoneUTC+0 (Greenwich Mean Time)
 • Summer (DST)UTC+1 (British Summer Time)
ONS code30UQ (ONS)
E07000128 (GSS)

Wyre is a local government district with borough status on the coast of Lancashire, England. The council is based in Poulton-le-Fylde and the borough also contains the towns of Cleveleys, Fleetwood, Garstang, Preesall and Thornton, along with numerous villages and surrounding rural areas. Some of the borough's built-up areas form part of the wider Blackpool urban area. Eastern parts of the borough lie within the Forest of Bowland, a designated Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty.

The borough is named after the River Wyre, which runs through the area and meets the sea at Fleetwood. There are no road or rail connections between the parts of the borough either side of the Wyre estuary, and it is necessary to cross the neighbouring Fylde district in order to travel between the two parts of Wyre, or else use the Wyre Estuary Ferry between Fleetwood and Knott End.

The neighbouring districts are Blackpool, Fylde, Preston, Ribble Valley and Lancaster.

History

[edit]

The district was created on 1 April 1974 under the Local Government Act 1972, as a non-metropolitan district covering the territory of five former districts, which were abolished at the same time:[4]

The new district was named Wyre after the River Wyre.[5] The new district was awarded borough status from its creation, allowing the chair of the council to take the title of mayor.[6]

Governance

[edit]
Wyre Borough Council
Logo
Type
Type
Leadership
Jane Preston,
Conservative
since 16 May 2024[7]
Michael Vincent,
Conservative
since 1 December 2022
Rebecca Huddleston
since 1 April 2023[8]
Structure
Seats50 councillors
Political groups
Administration (29)
  Conservative (29)
Other parties (21)
  Labour (17)
  Independent (3)
  Reform UK (1)
Elections
Plurality block voting
Last election
4 May 2023
Next election
6 May 2027
Meeting place
Civic Centre, Breck Road, Poulton-le-Fylde, FY6 7PU
Website
www.wyre.gov.uk

Wyre Borough Council, which styles itself "Wyre Council", provides district-level services. County-level services are provided by Lancashire County Council. Much of the borough is covered by civil parishes, which form a third tier of local government.[9][10]

Political control

[edit]

The council has been under Conservative majority control since 1999.

The first election to the council was held in 1973, initially operating as a shadow authority alongside the outgoing authorities until coming into its powers on 1 April 1974. Since 1974 political control of the council has been as follows:[11][12]

Party in control Years
Conservative 1974–1995
Labour 1995–1999
Conservative 1999–present

Leadership

[edit]

The role of mayor is largely ceremonial in Wyre. Political leadership is instead provided by the leader of the council. The leaders since 2010 have been:[13]

Councillor Party From To
Russ Forsyth Conservative 2010
Peter Gibson[14] Conservative 2010 28 Sep 2017
David Henderson Conservative 7 Dec 2017 30 Nov 2022
Michael Vincent[15] Conservative 1 Dec 2022

Composition

[edit]

Following the 2023 election and a change of allegiance in June 2024, the composition of the council was:[16][17]

Party Councillors
Conservative 29
Labour 17
Independent 3
Reform UK 1
Total 50

The next election is due in 2027.

Elections

[edit]
See also: Wyre Borough Council elections

Since the last boundary changes in 2015 the council has comprised 50 councillors representing 24 wards, with each ward electing one, two or three councillors. Elections are held every four years.[18]

Wyre straddles three parliamentary constituencies: Wyre and Preston North, Lancaster and Fleetwood and Blackpool North and Cleveleys.[10]

Premises

[edit]

The council is based at the Civic Centre on Breck Road in Poulton-le-Fylde. The building was originally a large house called Woodlands, later serving as a convalescent hospital and teacher training college before becoming the council's headquarters in 1988.[19]

Towns and parishes

[edit]

Much of the borough is covered by civil parishes. The parish councils for Fleetwood, Garstang and Preesall have declared their parishes to be towns, allowing them to take the style "town council".[20] The former urban districts of Poulton-le-Fylde and Thornton-Cleveleys form an unparished area.[10]

Civil parishes in the Borough of Wyre
  1. Barnacre-with-Bonds
  2. Bleasdale
  3. Cabus
  4. Catterall
  5. Claughton
  6. Fleetwood (town)
  7. Forton
  8. Garstang (town)
  9. Great Eccleston
  10. Hambleton
  11. Inskip-with-Sowerby
  12. Kirkland
  13. Myerscough and Bilsborrow
  14. Nateby
  15. Nether Wyresdale
  16. Out Rawcliffe
  17. Pilling
  18. Preesall (town)
  19. Stalmine-with-Staynall
  20. Upper Rawcliffe with Tarnacre
  21. Winmarleigh
class=notpageimage|
Towns, villages and hills in the Borough of Wyre          Forest of Bowland AONB

Freedom of the Borough

[edit]

The following people and military units have received the Freedom of the Borough of Wyre.

[edit]

References

[edit]
  1. ^ "Mid-Year Population Estimates, UK, June 2022". Office for National Statistics. 26 March 2024. Retrieved 3 May 2024.
  2. ^ "Mid-Year Population Estimates, UK, June 2022". Office for National Statistics. 26 March 2024. Retrieved 3 May 2024.
  3. ^ a b UK Census (2021). "2021 Census Area Profile – Wyre Local Authority (E07000128)". Nomis. Office for National Statistics. Retrieved 5 January 2024.
  4. ^ "The English Non-metropolitan Districts (Definition) Order 1972", legislation.gov.uk, The National Archives, SI 1972/2039, retrieved 22 August 2022
  5. ^ "The English Non-metropolitan Districts (Names) Order 1973", legislation.gov.uk, The National Archives, SI 1973/551, retrieved 22 August 2022
  6. ^ "District Councils and Boroughs". Parliamentary Debates (Hansard). 28 March 1974. Retrieved 16 January 2012.
  7. ^ Hunt, Richard (18 May 2024). "New Mayor of Wyre takes up chain of office after mayor-making ceremony". Blackpool Gazette. Retrieved 11 July 2024.
  8. ^ Hunt, Richard (28 December 2022). "New Year brings in new start for Wyre Council's incoming chief executive Rebecca Huddleston". Blackpool Gazette. Retrieved 20 October 2023.
  9. ^ "Local Government Act 1972", legislation.gov.uk, The National Archives, 1972 c. 70, retrieved 31 May 2023
  10. ^ a b c "Election Maps". Ordnance Survey. Retrieved 17 October 2023.
  11. ^ "Compositions calculator". The Elections Centre. 4 March 2016. Retrieved 20 August 2022.
  12. ^ "Wyre". BBC News Online. Retrieved 23 October 2009.
  13. ^ "Council minutes". Wyre Council. Retrieved 23 August 2022.
  14. ^ "Peter Gibson former Wyre Council leader". Blackpool Gazette. 1 November 2018. Retrieved 23 August 2022.
  15. ^ "Councillor details - Michael Vincent". wyre.moderngov.co.uk. 3 April 2023. Retrieved 3 April 2023.
  16. ^ "Local elections 2023: live council results for England". The Guardian.
  17. ^ "Wyre". Local Councils. Thorncliffe. Retrieved 11 July 2024.
  18. ^ "The Wyre (Electoral Changes) Order 2014", legislation.gov.uk, The National Archives, SI 2014/1187, retrieved 21 October 2023
  19. ^ Storey, Christine (2012). Poulton-le-Fylde Through Time. Stroud: Amberley Publishing. p. 51. ISBN 978-1445630380. Retrieved 23 August 2022.
  20. ^ "Parish and Town Council clerks". Wyre Council. Retrieved 21 October 2023.
  21. ^ "Mother of Fleetwood: Doreen Lofthouse's death leaves a community in mourning". April 2021.
  22. ^ "The lozenge which took over the world".
  23. ^ "Calls for statue to honour Doreen Lofthouse".
  24. ^ "Soldiers are set to march through the streets of this Wyre town".
  25. ^ "Duke of Lancaster's Regiment: Freedom of Entry to the Borough" (PDF). Wyre Council website. 21 August 2018.

53°54′00″N 2°48′32″W / 53.900°N 2.809°W / 53.900; -2.809

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