Metropolitan Borough of St Helens

The Metropolitan Borough of St Helens is a metropolitan borough of Merseyside, in North West England. It is named after its largest town St Helens, and covers an area which includes the settlements of Newton-le-Willows, Earlestown, Haydock, Rainhill, Eccleston, Clock Face, Billinge and Rainford.

Ward profiles are maintained by the Metropolitan Borough Council.^[1]

History

The Metropolitan Borough was formed on 1 April 1974 as a merger of the former County Borough of St Helens, along with the urban districts of Haydock, Newton-le-Willows and Rainford, and parts of Billinge-and-Winstanley and Ashton-in-Makerfield urban districts, along with part of Whiston Rural District, all from the administrative county of Lancashire.

Between 1974 and 1986 the borough council shared functions with Merseyside County Council. The functions of this body were in part devolved to the boroughs and in part transferred to ad hoc agencies.

Governance

On 17 May 2006, following local elections held on 4 May, the political control of the Council changed from the Labour Party to a coalition formed by the Liberal Democrats and the Conservative Party. Labour had been in power since 1 April 1974 following the first elections to the shadow council in 1973.

After local elections in 2008 St Helens was a hung council with no party having overall control, as a result The Liberal Democrats and the Conservative coalition continued their governance of the council. Labour were the largest party represented followed by the Liberal Democrats and then the Conservatives.

After local elections in 2010 the Labour Party retook overall control of St Helens council with a majority of 8 after increasing its tally by 5 at the expense of the Liberal Democrats and the Conservatives. This brought to an end the Lib/Con coalition which had governed the council since 2006. Labour continue to be the largest party represented followed by the Liberal Democrats and then the Conservatives.

Following the United Kingdom local elections, 2011, in which one third of the seats in St Helens Council were up for election, Labour increased their majority by 7, as a result of the collapse of the Liberal Democrat vote, with them losing all but one of the seats they were defending while the Conservatives also lost one seat to Labour.

Parliamentary constituencies

• St Helens North
• St Helens South and Whiston

Geography

The borough borders the borough of Knowsley, within Merseyside, in the south-west, the Lancashire district of West Lancashire in the north, the Greater Manchester Borough of Wigan in the north-east, and to the south the boroughs of Warrington and Halton in Cheshire.

The St Helens Borough covers roughly 30 km² over an area of soft rolling hills used primarily for agricultural purposes, mainly arable. The highest point in the Metropolitan Borough of St Helens, and the whole of Merseyside is Billinge Hill, 4.5 miles (7.2 km) north from the town centre. The town is landlocked with a stream running through, Mill Brook/Windle Brook running through Eccleston and connecting with the (disused) St. Helens Branch/Section of the Sankey Canal in the town centre. St Helens is around 160 feet (50 m) above sea level.

From the top of Billinge Hill the cities of Manchester and Liverpool are visible on a clear day as well as the towns of Wigan, Bolton and Warrington.

Carr Mill Dam is Merseyside's largest body of inland water, offering picturesque lakeside trails and walks as well as national competitive powerboating and angling events.

The Burgies are two tailings on the site of the old Rushy Park coal mine. They were created by the dumping of toxic chemical waste from the manufacture of glass, they have since been covered with tall grass and woodland.

Demography

Education

Coat of arms

References

External links

• St. Helens Metropolitan Borough Council
• Earlestown Historical Website
• Newton-le-Willows Historical Website