London Borough of Richmond upon Thames

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

London Borough of Richmond upon Thames
Richmond
Shown within Greater London
Geography
Status London borough
Area
— Total
Ranked 290th
57.41 km² (22.2 sq mi)
ONS code 00BD
Admin HQ
Demographics
Population
— Total (2006 est.)
Density
Ranked 82nd (of 354)
179,500
3,127 /km² (8,099 /sq mi)
Ethnicity
White British
White Irish
Other White
White & Black Caribbean
White & Black African
White & Asian
Other Mixed
Indian
Pakistani
Bangladeshi
Other Asian
Black Caribbean
Black African
Other Black
Chinese
Other
(2005 estimates)[1]
75.7%
2.6%
10.6%
0.5%
0.3%
1.0%
0.7%
2.8%
0.7%
0.4%
0.8%
0.8%
0.7%
0.2%
0.9%
1.3%
Politics
Richmond London Borough Council
Logo of Richmond London Borough Council
Leadership Leader & Cabinet Cllr Serge Lourie
Mayor Cllr Marc Cranfield-Adams
Executive Liberal Democrat
MPs Vincent Cable
Susan Kramer
London Assembly
— Member
South West
Tony Arbour
Coat of Arms
Coat of arms of Richmond London Borough Council
Official website http://www.richmond.gov.uk/

The London Borough of Richmond upon Thames (pronunciation ) is a London borough in south west London, England, which forms part of Outer London.

Contents

[edit] Settlement

It can been seen from a map that the borough is not entirely urbanised. There are some large areas of open space within the borough boundaries. The main suburban developments are Hampton and Teddington in the south, Twickenham, St Margarets and Whitton in the central area west of the River Thames and the Richmond-Kew-Mortlake-Barnes corridor across the loop of the river. It is the only London borough to straddle the Thames with districts on both sides of the river.

[edit] List of districts

[edit] Attractions, parks and open spaces

Hampton Court Palace
Hampton Court Palace
A view from Richmond Hill over the Terraced Gardens.
A view from Richmond Hill over the Terraced Gardens.

Parks take up a great deal of the borough and include Richmond Park, Bushy Park, Kew Gardens, and Hampton Court Park. There are over 100 parks and open spaces within its boundary and 21 miles of river frontage - five times more green and open space than any other London borough.

The borough is also home to the National Physical Laboratory and the attractions of Hampton Court Palace, Twickenham Stadium and the WWT London Wetlands Centre draw both domestic and international tourism.

In December 2006, Sport England published a survey which revealed that residents of the Richmond upon Thames were the 2nd most active in England in sports and other fitness activities. 29.8% of the population participate at least 3 times a week for 30 minutes.[1]

[edit] History

The borough was formed in 1965 by the merger of the Municipal Borough of Twickenham from Middlesex with the Municipal Borough of Richmond and the Municipal Borough of Barnes from Surrey; council offices were centred at York House in Twickenham. The name 'Richmond upon Thames' was coined at that time; it is now commonly but inaccurately used to refer to Richmond only.

The borough is twinned with Konstanz in Germany, Fontainebleau in France and Richmond, Virginia, USA.

[edit] Politics

Overall control Conservative Lib Dem Labour Others
2006 Liberal Democrat 19 35 - -
2002 Conservative 39 15 - -
1998 Liberal Democrat 14 34 4 -
1994 Liberal Democrat 7 43 2 -
1990 Liberal Democrat 4 48 - -
1986 Liberal/SDP Alliance 3 49 - -
1982 Conservative (minority) 26 26 - -
1978 Conservative 34 18 - -
1974 Conservative 36 10 8 -
1971 Conservative 37 3 14 -
1968 Conservative 54 - - -
1964 Conservative 41 - 12 1

[edit] Transport

The borough is connected to central London by the National Rail services of South West Trains. The London Underground, District Line, serves Richmond and Kew Gardens stations: both are also served by Overground trains on the North London Line.

[edit] List of stations

The other stations are:

[edit] Education

Richmond upon Thames is the local education authority for the borough, and has responsibility for 52 schools.

[edit] University

[edit] Sister cities

Richmond has three sister cities, as designated by the Sister Cities International, Inc.:[2]

[edit] References

  1. ^ Data Management and Analysis Group, Greater London Authority, Demography Update October 2007, (2007)
  2. ^ Sister Cities information obtained from the Sister Cities International, Inc. (SCI)." Retrieved on June 28, 2007.

[edit] External links

Coordinates: 51°25′N, 0°20′W