Dacorum
Dacorum
Borough of Dacorum | |
---|---|
![]() Hemel Hempstead town centre | |
![]() Dacorum shown within Hertfordshire | |
Sovereign state | United Kingdom |
Constituent country | England |
Region | East of England |
Administrative county | Hertfordshire |
Founded | 1 April 1974 |
Admin. HQ | Hemel Hempstead |
Government | |
• Type | Non-metropolitan district |
• Body | Dacorum Borough Council |
• Leadership: | Leader & Cabinet |
• MPs: | David Taylor (L) Victoria Collins (LD) Gagan Mohindra (C) |
Area | |
• Total | 82 sq mi (212 km2) |
• Rank | 141st |
Population (2022) | |
• Total | 156,123 |
• Rank | Ranked 134th |
• Density | 1,900/sq mi (740/km2) |
Ethnicity (2021) | |
• Ethnic groups | |
Religion (2021) | |
• Religion | List
|
Time zone | UTC+0 (Greenwich Mean Time) |
• Summer (DST) | UTC+1 (British Summer Time) |
Postcode | |
ONS code | 26UC (ONS) E07000096 (GSS) |
Dacorum is a local government district with borough status in Hertfordshire, England. The council is based in Hemel Hempstead. The borough also includes the towns of Berkhamsted and Tring and surrounding villages. The borough had a population of 155,081 in 2021.[2] Dacorum was created in 1974 and is named after the ancient hundred of Dacorum which had covered a similar area. The borough of Dacorum is the westernmost of Hertfordshire's ten districts. It borders St Albans, Three Rivers, Buckinghamshire and Central Bedfordshire.
History
[edit]Dacorum means "of the Dacians" in medieval Latin.[a][3] The name appears to reference a period in Saxon times when the area formed part of the Danelaw which covered much of what is now eastern England, although the duration and extent of Danish occupation in this area is unclear and continues to be debated by historians. In 1086, the Domesday Book records a hundred called Danais (also meaning "of the Danes") and a neighbouring hundred called Tring; the two had merged into a single hundred by about 1200 which was thereafter called Dacorum.[4] From the seventeenth century onwards, hundreds gradually declined in importance as administrative divisions, with their functions passing to other bodies such as the county courts. The final administrative functions of hundreds were extinguished in 1886.[5]
The modern local government district of Dacorum was created on 1 April 1974 under the Local Government Act 1972, covering the whole area of five former districts and parts of another two, which were all abolished at the same time:[6]
- Berkhamsted Rural District
- Berkhamsted Urban District
- Hemel Hempstead Municipal Borough
- Hemel Hempstead Rural District
- St Albans Rural District (part within designated area of Hemel Hempstead New Town only)
- Tring Urban District
- Watford Rural District (part within designated area of Hemel Hempstead New Town only)
The new district was named Dacorum after the medieval hundred, which had covered a similar area.[7]
The district was granted borough status in 1984, allowing the chair of the council to take the title of mayor. 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, issued in 1992.[8]
Governance
[edit]Dacorum Borough Council | |
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![]() | |
Type | |
Type | |
Leadership | |
Claire Hamilton since October 2020[10] | |
Structure | |
Seats | 51 Councillors |
![]() | |
Political groups |
|
Elections | |
Plurality voting system | |
Last election | 4 May 2023 |
Next election | 6 May 2027 |
Meeting place | |
![]() | |
The Forum, Marlowes, Hemel Hempstead, HP1 1DN | |
Website | |
www |
Hertfordshire has a two-tier structure of local government, with the ten district councils (including Dacorum Borough Council) providing district-level services, and Hertfordshire County Council providing county-level services. In some areas there is an additional third tier of civil parishes.[11]
Political control
[edit]The Liberal Democrats won a majority of the seats on the council at the 2023 election. Prior to 2023 the Conservatives had held a majority of the seats since 2003.
The first election to the council was held in 1973, initially operating as a shadow authority alongside the outgoing authorities until the new arrangements came into effect on 1 April 1974. Political control of the council since 1974 has been as follows:[12][13]
Party in control | Years | |
---|---|---|
Labour | 1974–1976 | |
Conservative | 1976–1995 | |
Labour | 1995–1999 | |
No overall control | 1999–2003 | |
Conservative | 2003–2023 | |
Liberal Democrats | 2023–present |
Leadership
[edit]The role of mayor is largely ceremonial in Dacorum. Political leadership is instead provided by the leader of the council. The leaders since 1995 have been:
Councillor | Party | From | To | |
---|---|---|---|---|
Julia Coleman[14] | Labour | 1995 | 1999 | |
Andrew Williams | Conservative | 1999 | 17 May 2023 | |
Ron Tindall | Liberal Democrats | 17 May 2023 | 15 May 2024 | |
Adrian England | Liberal Democrats | 15 May 2024 |
Composition
[edit]Following the 2023 election and a subsequent change of allegiance in March 2024, the composition of the council was:[15][16]
Party | Councillors | |
---|---|---|
Liberal Democrats | 28 | |
Conservative | 17 | |
Labour | 3 | |
Independent | 3 | |
Total | 51 |
The next election is due in 2027.
Premises
[edit]The council is based at The Forum on Marlowes in Hemel Hempstead. From the council's creation in 1974 until 2017, the council was based at Dacorum Civic Centre, also on Marlowes in Hemel Hempstead. That building had previously been called Hemel Hempstead Town Hall, having been built for Hemel Hempstead Borough Council in 1966 to replace the Old Town Hall on High Street. On 16 January 2017 the council opened its new headquarters at The Forum, on the corner of Marlowes and Combe Street, immediately south of the Civic Centre, which was demolished shortly afterwards.[17]
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/0/0e/Hemel_Hempstead_Civic_Centre_%28geograph_7392439%29.jpg/220px-Hemel_Hempstead_Civic_Centre_%28geograph_7392439%29.jpg)
Elections
[edit]Since the last boundary changes in 2007 the council has comprised 51 councillors, representing 25 wards, with each ward electing one, two or three councillors. The whole council is elected together every four years.[18]
Wards
[edit]The borough's wards are:[18]
- Adeyfield East
- Adeyfield West
- Aldbury and Wigginton
- Apsley and Corner Hall
- Ashridge
- Bennetts End
- Berkhamsted Castle
- Berkhamsted East
- Berkhamsted West
- Bovingdon, Flaunden and Chipperfield
- Boxmoor
- Chaulden and Warners End
- Gadebridge
- Grovehill
- Hemel Hempstead Town
- Highfield
- Kings Langley
- Leverstock Green
- Nash Mills
- Northchurch
- Tring Central
- Tring East
- Tring West and Rural
- Watling
- Woodhall Farm
Parishes
[edit]Hemel Hempstead is an unparished area. The rest of the borough is divided into 16 civil parishes, with Berkhamsted and Tring parish councils taking the style "town council". The civil parishes are:[19]
Arms
[edit]![]() |
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Media
[edit]In terms of television, Dacorum is served by BBC London and ITV London with television signals received from the Crystal Palace transmitter [21] and the Hemel Hempstead relay transmitter.[22] However, Tring receives regional overlaps of both Sandy Heath (BBC East/ITV Anglia) [23] and Oxford (BBC South/ITV Meridian) transmitters. [24]
Radio stations for the area are:
- BBC Three Counties Radio
- Heart Hertfordshire
- Greatest Hits Radio Bucks, Beds and Herts (covering Tring)
- Mix 92.6
- Community-based radio stations: Radio Dacorum [25] and Tring Radio [26]
Local newspapers are Hemel Hempstead Gazette and St Albans Observer.
Town twinning
[edit]- The Borough of Dacorum is twinned with:
Neu-Isenburg, Germany
Two of the civil parishes in the borough also maintain their own separate twinning arrangements:
- Berkhamsted Town Council is twinned with:
Beaune (France)
- Kings Langley Parish Council with:
See also
[edit]References
[edit]- ^ a b UK Census (2021). "2021 Census Area Profile – Dacorum Local Authority (E07000096)". Nomis. Office for National Statistics. Retrieved 5 January 2024.
- ^ "Census 2021 Data".
- ^ Latin Dictionary, accessed 10 August 2022
- ^ Williamson, Tom (2010). The Origins of Hertfordshire. Hatfield: Hertfordshire Publications. pp. 106, 226. ISBN 978-1-905313-95-2.
- ^ Riot (Damages) Act 1886 (49 & 50 Vict. c. 38), s.2
- ^ "The English Non-metropolitan Districts (Definition) Order 1972", legislation.gov.uk, The National Archives, SI 1972/2039, retrieved 12 May 2023
- ^ "The English Non-metropolitan Districts (Names) Order 1973", legislation.gov.uk, The National Archives, SI 1973/551, retrieved 12 May 2023
- ^ "About Dacorum". Archived from the original on 18 December 2008. Retrieved 13 April 2009.
- ^ "Council meeting, 15 May 2024". Dacorum Borough Council. Retrieved 16 May 2024.
- ^ Patel, Holly (6 August 2020). "Dacorum Borough Council appoints new chief executive". Hemel Today. Retrieved 16 May 2023.
- ^ "Local Government Act 1972", legislation.gov.uk, The National Archives, 1972 c. 70, retrieved 3 March 2023
- ^ "Compositions calculator". The Elections Centre. 4 March 2016. Retrieved 14 May 2023.
- ^ "Dacorum". BBC Online. Retrieved 24 February 2010.
- ^ "Tributes paid to former Hemel Hempstead Mayor Les Taber". Hemel Today. 12 April 2017. Retrieved 15 May 2023.
Julia Coleman was the leader of Dacorum Borough Council from 1995 to 1999...
- ^ "Local elections 2023: live council results for England". The Guardian.
- ^ Boothroyd, David (29 March 2024). "Somerset turns another Page". Local Councils. Thorncliffe. Retrieved 11 May 2024.
- ^ "New £15m home for Dacorum Borough Council and library officially opens in Hemel Hempstead". Hemel Today. 16 January 2017. Retrieved 25 December 2021.
- ^ a b "The Borough of Dacorum (Electoral Changes) Order 2007", legislation.gov.uk, The National Archives, SI 2007/139, retrieved 17 May 2023
- ^ "Community connections". Dacorum Borough Council. Retrieved 17 May 2023.
- ^ "East of England Region". Civic Heraldry of England. Retrieved 8 March 2021.
- ^ "Full Freeview on the Crystal Palace (Greater London, England) transmitter". May 2004.
- ^ "Hemel Hempstead (Hertfordshire, England) Full Freeview transmitter". May 2004.
- ^ "Full Freeview on the Sandy Heath (Central Bedfordshire, England) transmitter". UK Free TV. 1 May 2004. Retrieved 21 April 2024.
- ^ "Full Freeview on the Oxford (Oxfordshire, England) transmitter". UK Free TV. 1 May 2004. Retrieved 21 April 2024.
- ^ "Radio Dacorum". Retrieved 21 April 2024.
- ^ "Tring Radio". Retrieved 21 April 2024.
Sources
[edit]- The Dacorum Heritage Trust The Trust is the museum organisation for the Borough of Dacorum.
- Hertfordshire Museums More local museums.