Darlington (borough)

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Borough of Darlington
Geography
Status:	Unitary, Borough
Region:	North East England
Ceremonial County:	Durham
Area: - Total	Ranked 189th 197.47 km²
Admin. HQ:	Darlington
ONS code:	00EH
Demographics
Population: - Total (2005 est.) - Density	Ranked 223rd 99,200 502 / km²
Ethnicity:	97.9% White
Politics
Darlington Borough Council http://www.darlington.gov.uk/
Leadership:	Leader & Cabinet
Executive:	Labour
MPs:	Tony Blair, Alan Milburn

Darlington is a local government district and borough in North East England. In 2003 it had a resident population of 98,210. It borders County Durham to the north and west, North Yorkshire to the south along the line of the River Tees, and Stockton-on-Tees to the east.

Traditionally part of County Durham, the current borough boundaries were formed on 1 April 1974 by the creation of a new non-metropolitan district of Darlington by the Local Government Act 1972, covering the previous municipal borough of Darlington along with nearly all of Darlington Rural District (the Newton Aycliffe parts of which went to Sedgefield). It remained part of County Durham until gaining "independence" as a unitary authority on 1 April 1997. For ceremonial purposes it remains part of County Durham with whom it continues to share certain local services such as Fire and Rescue and Police. It is included within the Tees Valley area for both cultural and regional government administration.

It is made up of 24 council wards, twenty within the town of Darlington itself, which are also covered by the Darlington parliamentary constituency and four rural wards of Heighington & Coniscliffe, Hurworth, Middleton St George and Sadberge & Whessoe (part of the Sedgefield parliamentary constituency.

As well as Darlington itself the borough includes the surrounding villages of:

• Archdeacon Newton
• Barmpton
• Beaumont Hill
• Bishopton
• Blackwell
• Brafferton
• Coatham Mundeville
• Denton
• Great Burdon
• Great Stainton
• Heighington
• High Coniscliffe
• Houghton Bank
• Houghton-le-Side
• Hurworth-on-Tees
• Hurworth Place
• Killerby
• Little Stainton
• Low Dinsdale
• Middleton One Row
• Middleton St George
• Neasham
• Oak Tree
• Piercebridge
• Redworth
• Sadberge
• Summerhouse
• Walworth Gate
• Walworth

It is also home to Durham Tees Valley Airport, of which the borough council shares joint ownership with the other four Tees Valley councils and Peel Holdings.

The Council currently operates a Leader and Cabinet model of political leadership although a group of local residents is aiming to force a referendum on moving to a system with directly-elected executive Mayor[1].

The political composition of the council (as at 22nd October 2006) is Labour 34; Conservative 14; LibDem 3 and Independent 2.

[edit] Economy

This is a chart of trend of regional gross value added of Darlington at current basic prices published (pp.240-253) by Office for National Statistics with figures in millions of British Pounds Sterling.

Year	Regional Gross Value Added4	Agriculture1	Industry2	Services3
1995	1,115	8	377	729
2000	1,192	6	417	768
2003	1,538	6	561	971

Note 1: includes hunting and forestry

Note 2: includes energy and construction

Note 3: includes financial intermediation services indirectly measured

Note 4: Components may not sum to totals due to rounding

[edit] External links

• Darlington Borough Council
• Darlington Tourist Information
• Darlington Railway Centre & Museum
• Darlington Arts Centre & Civic Theatre

Districts of North East England
Alnwick - Berwick-upon-Tweed - Blyth Valley - Castle Morpeth - Chester-le-Street - Darlington - Derwentside - Durham - Easington - Gateshead - Hartlepool - Middlesbrough - Newcastle upon Tyne - North Tyneside - Redcar and Cleveland - Sedgefield - South Tyneside - Stockton-on-Tees - Sunderland - Teesdale - Tynedale - Wansbeck - Wear Valley
Counties with multiple districts: County Durham - Northumberland - Tyne and Wear