| Borough of Dacorum | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| — Borough, Non-metropolitan district — | |||
| A street in Hemel Hempstead, a town in Dacorum | |||
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| Dacorum shown within Hertfordshire | |||
| Sovereign state | United Kingdom | ||
| Constituent country | England | ||
| Region | East of England | ||
| Administrative county | Hertfordshire | ||
| Founded | 1974 | ||
| Admin. HQ | Hemel Hempstead | ||
| Government | |||
| • Type | Non-metropolitan district | ||
| • Leadership: | Leader & Cabinet | ||
| • Mayor | Gillian Chapman | ||
| • Leader | Andrew Williams | ||
| • MPs: | David Gauke Mike Penning |
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| Area | |||
| • Total | 82 sq mi (212.5 km2) | ||
| Area rank | 162nd | ||
| Population (2010 est.) | |||
| • Total | 142,900 | ||
| • Rank | Ranked 133rd | ||
| • Density | 1,741.7/sq mi (672.5/km2) | ||
| Time zone | Greenwich Mean Time (UTC+0) | ||
| • Summer (DST) | British Summer Time (UTC+1) | ||
| Postcode | HP | ||
| ISO 3166-2 | |||
| ONS code | 26UC | ||
| OS grid reference | |||
| NUTS 3 | |||
| Ethnicity | 93.1% White 3.2% South Asian 1.4% Black 1.5% Mixed |
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| Website | dacorum.gov.uk | ||
The Borough of Dacorum is a local government district in Hertfordshire, England that includes the towns of Hemel Hempstead, Berkhamsted, Tring and Kings Langley. The district, which was formed in 1974, had a population of 137,799 in 2001.[1] Its name was taken from the old hundred of Dacorum which covered approximately the same area.
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The hundred of Dacorum was first recorded in 1196 although its existence dates from the 9th and 10th century when it lay on the margins of the southern boundary of Danelaw and the River Lea. Its name in Latin means "of the Danes" [2]. In the 11th century, the Domesday Book records that the hundreds of Tring and Danais overlapped areas of the hundred of Dacorum.
In 1974, the modern district of Dacorum was formed under the Local Government Act 1972. Major components were the municipal borough of Hemel Hempstead, the urban districts of Berkhamsted and Tring, the rural districts of Berkhamsted and Hemel Hempstead and those parts of the rural districts of St Albans and Watford which were within the designated area of Hemel Hempstead new town.
The district was granted borough status in 1984. Hemel Hempstead had maintained Charter Trustees from 1974 to 1984. The amalgamation of the former local authorities was symbolised in the seven oak leaves which surround a tudor rose on the Dacorum coat of arms. [3]
The main towns and villages of the borough are:
Aldbury, Bovingdon, Berkhamsted, Bourne End, Bulbourne, Chipperfield, Cow Roast, Flamstead, Flaunden, Frithsden, Gaddesden Row, Great Gaddesden, Hemel Hempstead, Kings Langley, Little Gaddesden, Little Tring, Long Marston, Markyate, Nettleden, New Mill, Northchurch, Potten End, Ringshall, Tring, Tringford, Water End and Wigginton.
The borough is entirely parished, apart from Hemel Hempstead.
Dacorum Borough Council consists of 51 elected members, representing twenty-five electoral wards. 14 of the wards elect two councillors each. Six, denoted below, elect three councillors each. Five, also denoted below, elect one.
The council is currently controlled by the Conservatives, who hold 43 of the 51 seats. The Liberal Democrats hold 6, making them the second-largest group and Labour hold 2.
| Party | Councillors | Change (on 2010) |
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|---|---|---|---|
| Conservative | 43 | +1 | |
| Liberal Democrat | 6 | 0 | |
| Labour | 2 | -1 | |
| Total | 51 | ||
| Source: DBC | |||
Dacorum consists of twenty-five wards. Wards electing three members are denoted with asterisks (*). Those electing one member are denoted an obelisk (†).
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| Party in control | Years | |
|---|---|---|
| Labour | 1973–1976 | |
| Conservative | 1976–1995 | |
| Labour | 1995–1999 | |
| No overall control | 1999–2003 | |
| Conservative | 2003–present | |
Two of the civil parishes in the borough also maintain their own separate twinning arrangements:
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