West Devon

West Devon District
Non-metropolitan district

West Devon shown within Devon
Sovereign state United Kingdom
Constituent country England
Region South West England
Non-metropolitan county Devon
Status Non-metropolitan district
Admin HQ Tavistock
Incorporated 1 April 1974
Government
  Type Non-metropolitan district council
  Body West Devon District Council
  Leadership Alternative - Sec.31 (Conservative)
  MPs Geoffrey Cox
Gary Streeter
Area
  Total 448.3 sq mi (1,161.1 km2)
Area rank 21st (of 326)
Population (mid-2014 est.)
  Total 54,260
  Rank 316th (of 326)
  Density 120/sq mi (47/km2)
  Ethnicity 99.1% White
Time zone GMT (UTC0)
  Summer (DST) BST (UTC+1)
ONS code 18UL (ONS)
E07000047 (GSS)
OS grid reference SX5150683684
Website www.westdevon.gov.uk

West Devon is a local government district and borough in Devon, England. Towns in the district include Chagford, Okehampton, Princetown, and Tavistock, where the council is based.

The district was formed on 1 April 1974, under the Local Government Act 1972, as a merger of the previous municipal borough of Okehampton, Okehampton Rural District, and Tavistock Rural District. West Devon contains most of Dartmoor.

Governance

The administrative area of the West Devon Borough Council was formed on 1 April 1974 from the merger of pre-existing areas in Devon when the Local Government Act 1972 came into force.[1] The council main office is in Tavistock, and the council can be contacted by telephone, online, by email, in writing or in person.[2]

In 2013, the Local Government Boundary Commission for England initiated a review of West Devon with the aim of delivering electoral equality amongst voters at local elections, with each councillor representing a similar number of voters and with ward boundaries reflecting the interests and identities of local communities.[3] After a consultation period, the commission recommended that West Devon should continue to be represented by 31 councillors and that certain changes should be made to the wards; they proposed moving from a two-member Dartmoor ward to two single-member wards called Dartmoor and Mary Tavy; and from a two-member Tamarside ward to two single-member wards, Tamarside and Milton Ford.[4]

In the EU referendum of 2016, the majority of voters in West Devon voted to leave the European Union (18,937 to 16,658). The turnout was 81.25%.[5]

Services

Services provided by West Devon Borough Council to the local community include the administration of council tax and local benefits, transportation services, road maintenance, the provision of car parking services, the collection of refuse and the recycling of waste, planning and building control, housing services, the provision of sport and leisure facilities, libraries, schools and colleges, social care and health, environmental services, business-related services and contingency planning.[6]

References

  1. Wikisource link to The English Non-metropolitan Districts (Definition) Order 1972. Wikisource.
  2. "Contact us". West Devon Borough Council. Retrieved 14 August 2016.
  3. "West Devon". Local Government Boundary Commission for England. Retrieved 14 August 2016.
  4. "Local electoral arrangements finalised for West Devon Borough Council". Local Government Boundary Commission for England. 14 October 2014. Retrieved 14 August 2016.
  5. "EU Referendum Results 2016". West Devon Borough Council. Retrieved 14 August 2016.
  6. "West Devon Borough Council". West Devon Borough Council. Retrieved 14 August 2016.

See also

Coordinates: 50°38′N 4°06′W / 50.633°N 4.100°W / 50.633; -4.100

This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the 9/19/2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.