North Hertfordshire

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Template:Short description Template:For Template:Use dmy dates Template:Use British English Template:Infobox settlement North Hertfordshire is one of ten local government districts in the county of Hertfordshire, England. Its council is based in Letchworth Garden City and the largest town is Hitchin. The district also includes the towns of Baldock and Royston and numerous villages and surrounding rural areas. Part of the district lies within the Chiltern Hills, a designated Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty.

The neighbouring districts are East Hertfordshire, Stevenage, Welwyn Hatfield, St Albans, Luton, Central Bedfordshire, South Cambridgeshire and Uttlesford.

History

North Hertfordshire was created on 1 April 1974 under the Local Government Act 1972, covering the area of five former districts, which were all abolished at the same time:<ref>Template:Cite legislation UK</ref>

The new district was named North Hertfordshire, reflecting its position within the wider county.<ref>Template:Cite legislation UK</ref>

Governance

Template:Infobox legislature

North Hertfordshire District Council provides district-level services. County-level services are provided by Hertfordshire County Council. Much of the district is covered by civil parishes, which form a third tier of local government for their areas.<ref>Template:Cite legislation UK</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Political control

The council has been under no overall control since the 2019 election. Following the 2024 election the council is being run by a Labour minority administration.<ref name=Fitzpatrick/>

The first election to North Hertfordshire District Council was held in 1973, initially operating as a shadow authority alongside the outgoing authorities until the new system came into force on 1 April 1974. Political control since 1974 has been as follows:<ref name=compositions>Template:Cite web (Put "North Hertfordshire" in search box to see specific results.)</ref>

Party in control Years
Template:Party name with colour 1974–1976
Template:Party name with colour 1976–1994
Template:Party name with colour 1994–1996
Template:Party name with colour 1996–1999
Template:Party name with colour 1999–2019
Template:Party name with colour 2019–present

Leadership

The leaders of the council since 1974 have been:

Councillor Party From To
Bob Flatman<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Template:Party name with colour 1 Apr 1974 May 1992
Geoff Woods<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Template:Party name with colour 19 May 1992 May 1995
David Kearns<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref name=Mercury/> Template:Party name with colour May 1995 May 1999
F. John Smith<ref name=Mercury>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Template:Party name with colour May 1999 May 2010
Lynda Needham<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Template:Party name with colour 20 May 2010 May 2019
Martin Stears-Handscomb<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Template:Party name with colour 21 May 2019 May 2021
Elizabeth Dennis<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref name=Fitzpatrick>Template:Cite news</ref> Template:Party name with colour 26 May 2021 May 2024
Daniel Allen<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Template:Party name with colour 23 May 2024

Composition

Following the 2024 election and subsequent changes of allegiance up to May 2025, the composition of the council was:<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Party Councillors
Template:Party name with colour 23
Template:Party name with colour 20
Template:Party name with colour 7
Template:Party name with colour 1
Total 51

The next election is due in 2028.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Elections

Template:Also Since the last boundary changes in 2024, the council has comprised 51 councillors representing 25 wards, with each ward elected one, two or three councillors. Elections are held every four years.<ref>Template:Cite legislation UK</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Premises

When the council was created in 1974, it inherited five sets of offices from the five former authorities, spread across the four towns of Hitchin, Letchworth, Baldock and Royston. Initially the new council used the former Hitchin Rural District Council's offices (later called Centenary House) on Grammar School Walk in Hitchin as its headquarters, with the other offices providing additional accommodation. In 1975, the year after the new council's creation, it consolidated most of its functions into a new six-storey building called Council Offices on Gernon Road in Letchworth, designed by Tony Walker of architects Damond Lock, Grabowski and Partners. The building was formally opened on 22 July 1975 by Prince Richard, Duke of Gloucester.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref> The council rented the building until 2013, when it purchased it for £3.6 million.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

Towns and parishes

North Hertfordshire contains four towns, being Baldock, Hitchin, Letchworth, and Royston. The district also borders the northern, western and southern edges of Stevenage, and some parts of the latter's urban area lie within North Hertfordshire rather than the borough of Stevenage, notably including much of the Great Ashby area. Knebworth is a post town, but its parish council has not formally declared it a town.

North Hertfordshire contains 35 civil parishes. Six of the smaller parishes do not have parish councils, having instead a parish meeting, being those marked with asterisks(*) below.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> In addition, the three towns of Baldock, Hitchin, and Letchworth are unparished areas, as no successor parishes were created for those three former urban districts on their abolition in 1974. A Letchworth Garden City Parish was subsequently created in 2005, but was abolished in 2013.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Template:Clear Template:Div col

Template:Div col end Template:Notelist

Arms

Template:Infobox COA wide

File:North Hertfordshire District Council.svg
Former logo used c. 1990Template:Ndash2021.

In 2021 the council adopted a new logo of four hearts (shown in the infobox above) and the style "North Herts Council" instead of its full formal name of "North Hertfordshire District Council". Prior to this, the council had used a logo of the initials "NHDC" in a green and purple square for approximately thirty years.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Media

In terms of television, North Hertfordshire is served by BBC East and ITV Anglia with television signals received from the Sandy Heath TV transmitter.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Radio stations that broadcast to the area are:

Local newspapers for the area are:

References

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Template:Hertfordshire Template:East of England Template:Civil parishes of Hertfordshire

Template:Commons category

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