Borough of Erewash
Template:Short description Template:Use British English Template:Use dmy dates Template:Infobox settlement Erewash (Template:IPAc-en) is a local government district with borough status in Derbyshire, England. The borough is named after the River Erewash. The council has offices in both the borough's towns of Ilkeston and Long Eaton. The borough also includes several villages and surrounding rural areas. Some of the built-up areas in the east of the borough form part of the Nottingham Urban Area.
Erewash Borough has military affiliations with 814 Naval Air Squadron Fleet Air Arm based at Royal Naval Air Station (RNAS) Culdrose and the Mercian Regiment of the British Army, as the successors to the local infantry regiment the Sherwood Foresters.
The neighbouring districts are South Derbyshire, Derby, Amber Valley, Broxtowe, Rushcliffe and North West Leicestershire.
History
The district was formed on 1 April 1974 under the Local Government Act 1972 as one of nine districts within Derbyshire. The new district covered the whole area of two former districts and part of a third, which were all abolished at the same time:<ref>Template:Cite legislation UK</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
- Ilkeston Municipal Borough
- Long Eaton Urban District
- South East Derbyshire Rural District (part north of the River Derwent, the rest went to South Derbyshire)
The new district was named after the River Erewash, which forms the district's eastern boundary.<ref>Template:Cite legislation UK</ref> On 28 June 1974 the district was awarded borough status, allowing the chair of the council to take the title of mayor.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
Governance
Template:Infobox legislature Erewash Borough Council provides district-level services. County-level services are provided by Derbyshire County Council. Parts of the borough are also covered by civil parishes, which form a third tier of local government.<ref>Template:Cite legislation UK</ref>
Political control
The council has been under Labour majority control since the 2023 election.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
The first election to the council was held in 1973, initially operating as a shadow authority alongside the outgoing authorities until the new arrangements came into effect on 1 April 1974. Political control of the council since 1974 has been as follows:<ref name=compositions>Template:Cite web (Put "Erewash" in search box to see specific results.)</ref><ref name=gain>Template:Cite news</ref>
| Party in control | Years | |
|---|---|---|
| Template:Party name with colour | 1974–1976 | |
| Template:Party name with colour | 1976–1991 | |
| Template:Party name with colour | 1991–2003 | |
| Template:Party name with colour | 2003–2023 | |
| Template:Party name with colour | 2023–present | |
Leadership
The role of mayor is largely ceremonial in Erewash. Political leadership is instead provided by the leader of the council. The leaders since 1974 have been:
| Councillor | Party | From | To | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| John Barnes<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> | Template:Party name with colour | 1 Apr 1974 | May 1976 | |
| Robert Parkinson<ref name=Parkinson/> | Template:Party name with colour | May 1976 | 1990 | |
| Henry Shaw<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref name=DET8May1991/> | Template:Party name with colour | 1990 | May 1991 | |
| Peter Jeffrey<ref name=DET8May1991>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> | Template:Party name with colour | May 1991 | May 1995 | |
| Eric Goacher<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref name=DET22Oct1996>Template:Cite news</ref> | Template:Party name with colour | May 1995 | Oct 1996 | |
| Roland Hosker<ref name=DET22Oct1996/><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> | Template:Party name with colour | Oct 1996 | May 1997 | |
| John Kirby<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref name=LEA7May1998/> | Template:Party name with colour | May 1997 | May 1998 | |
| Cyril Stevens<ref name=LEA7May1998>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> | Template:Party name with colour | May 1998 | Mar 2003 | |
| Robert Parkinson<ref name=Parkinson>Template:Cite web</ref> | Template:Party name with colour | 2003 | 2007 | |
| Chris Corbett<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> | Template:Party name with colour | 24 May 2007 | May 2017 | |
| Carol Hart<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> | Template:Party name with colour | 18 May 2017 | May 2023 | |
| James Dawson<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> | Template:Party name with colour | 25 May 2023 | ||
Composition
Following the 2023 election,<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref> and subsequent by-elections and changes of allegiance up to May 2025, the composition of the council was:<ref name=Thorncliffe>Template:Cite web</ref>
| Party | Councillors | |
|---|---|---|
| Template:Party name with colour | 26 | |
| Template:Party name with colour | 18 | |
| Template:Party name with colour | 1 | |
| Template:Party name with colour | 1 | |
| Template:Party name with colour | 1 | |
| Total | 47 | |
The next election is due in 2027.<ref name=Thorncliffe/>
Elections
Template:Also Since the last boundary changes in 2015, the council has comprised 47 councillors, elected from 19 wards, with each ward electing two or three councillors. Elections are held every four years.<ref name=2015order>Template:Cite legislation UK</ref>
Premises
When the council was created, it inherited three sets of offices from the predecessor district councils. The South East Derbyshire council offices on St Mary's Gate in Derby were sold shortly after the new council's creation. There was some discussion about building a central headquarters for the council, with possibilities examined at Ilkeston, Long Eaton and Sandiacre, but it was decided in 1976 that the cost of a single new building or a large enough extension to existing buildings was prohibitive.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Instead the council built more modest extensions to the buildings it had inherited from the old Ilkeston and Long Eaton councils, notably in 1981 to Ilkeston Town Hall,<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> and in 1991 to The Hall in Long Eaton, renaming the enlarged building Long Eaton Town Hall.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> The council continues to use both town halls for its offices and meetings.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
Parishes
The towns of Ilkeston and Long Eaton are both unparished areas.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> The rest of the borough is divided into 13 civil parishes. None of the parish councils are styled as town councils.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Template:Div col
- Breadsall
- Breaston
- Dale Abbey
- Draycott and Church Wilne
- Little Eaton
- Morley
- Ockbrook and Borrowash
- Risley
- Sandiacre
- Sawley
- Stanley and Stanley Common
- Stanton-by-Dale
- West Hallam
Education
The borough has fourteen state secondary schools and 41 primary schools. It is also home to the public (fee-paying) school of Trent College, with its junior/preparatory school, The Elms School.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
Broomfield Hall of Derby College is located in Morley.<ref name=DerbyJapanese>"ダービー日本人補習校 （Derby Japanese School） Template:Webarchive."Derby Japanese School. Retrieved on 14 February 2015." c/o Derby College"</ref>
Derby Japanese School (ダービー日本人補習校 Dābī Nihonjin Hoshūkō), a Japanese weekend school, holds its classes in Broomfield Hall.<ref name=DerbyJapanese/>
Media
In terms of television, the area is served by BBC East Midlands and ITV Central broadcast from the Waltham TV transmitter.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
Radio stations for the area are:
- BBC Radio Derby
- BBC Radio Nottingham
- Capital East Midlands
- Smooth East Midlands
- Greatest Hits Radio Midlands
- Erewash Sound, the borough's community based radio station which broadcast from its studios in Ilkeston.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
The local newspapers that cover the area are:
- Ilkeston Advertiser<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
- Derbyshire Times
- Nottingham Post
- Nottingham Journal