Borough of Amber Valley | |
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![]() Ripley, the administrative centre of Amber Valley and the second largest settlement in the borough | |
![]() Shown within Derbyshire | |
Sovereign state | United Kingdom |
Constituent country | England |
Region | East Midlands |
Ceremonial county | Derbyshire |
Admin. HQ | Ripley |
Government | |
• Type | Amber Valley Borough Council |
• Leadership: | Leader & Cabinet |
• MPs: | Nigel Mills, Pauline Latham, Sarah Dines |
Area | |
• Total | 102 sq mi (265 km2) |
• Rank | 132nd |
Population (2022) | |
• Total | 126,944 |
• Rank | Ranked 187th |
• Density | 1,200/sq mi (480/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 | 17UB (ONS) E07000032 (GSS) |
Ethnicity | 97.8% White 0.9% S.Asian[2] |
Amber Valley is a local government district with borough status in the east of Derbyshire, England, taking its name from the River Amber. Its council is based in Ripley. The district covers a semi-rural area lying to the north of the city of Derby. The district contains four main towns whose economy was based on coal mining and remains to some extent influenced by engineering, distribution and manufacturing, holding for instance the headquarters and production site of Thorntons confectionery.
The seat in the House of Commons of Amber Valley is of smaller scope.
The village of Crich and other parts of the district were the setting for ITV drama series Peak Practice.
History
[edit]The district was formed on 1 April 1974 under the Local Government Act 1972 as one of nine districts within Derbyshire. The new district covered the area of five former districts, which were all abolished at the same time:[3]
- Alfreton Urban District
- Belper Rural District
- Belper Urban District
- Heanor Urban District
- Ripley Urban District
The new district was named Amber Valley, after the River Amber.[4] Amber Valley was granted borough status in 1989, allowing the chair of the council to take the title of mayor.[5]
Governance
[edit]Amber Valley Borough Council | |
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![]() | |
Type | |
Type | |
Leadership | |
Simon Gladwin since December 2023[6] | |
Structure | |
Seats | 42 |
![]() | |
Political groups |
|
Elections | |
Last election | 4 May 2023 |
Next election | 6 May 2027 |
Meeting place | |
![]() | |
Town Hall, Market Place, Ripley, DE5 3BT | |
Website | |
www |
Amber Valley Borough Council provides district-level services. County-level services are provided by Derbyshire County Council. Most of the district is also covered by civil parishes, which form a third tier of local government.[7]
Political control
[edit]Labour won a majority on the council at the 2023 election, taking control from the Conservatives.[8]
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:[9][10]
Party in control | Years | |
---|---|---|
Labour | 1974–1976 | |
No overall control | 1976–1980 | |
Labour | 1980–1987 | |
No overall control | 1987–1988 | |
Conservative | 1988–1991 | |
Labour | 1991–2000 | |
Conservative | 2000–2014 | |
Labour | 2014–2015 | |
Conservative | 2015–2019 | |
Labour | 2019–2021 | |
Conservative | 2021–2023 | |
Labour | 2023–present |
Leadership
[edit]The role of mayor is largely ceremonial in Amber Valley. Political leadership is instead provided by the leader of the council. The leaders since 2003 have been:[11]
Councillor | Party | From | To | |
---|---|---|---|---|
Alan Cox | Conservative | pre-2003 | 17 Dec 2007 | |
Stuart Bradford | Conservative | 17 Dec 2007 | 11 Jun 2014 | |
Paul Jones | Labour | 11 Jun 2014 | 20 May 2015 | |
Alan Cox | Conservative | 20 May 2015 | 8 May 2016 | |
Kevin Buttery | Conservative | 25 May 2016 | 22 May 2019 | |
Chris Emmas-Williams | Labour | 22 May 2019 | 9 May 2021 | |
Kevin Buttery | Conservative | 19 May 2021 | 24 May 2023 | |
Chris Emmas-Williams | Labour | 24 May 2023 |
Composition
[edit]Following the 2023 election and changes of allegiance and a by-election up to May 2024, the composition of the council was:[12][13]
Party | Councillors | |
---|---|---|
Labour | 26 | |
Conservative | 8 | |
Green | 5 | |
Belper Independents | 2 | |
Liberal Democrats | 1 | |
Total | 42 |
The next election is due in 2027.
Premises
[edit]The council is based at Ripley Town Hall, which had been built in 1881 as a market hall and converted to a town hall for the former Ripley Urban District Council in 1907. A modern extension to the west of the building was added in the 1990s.[14]
Elections
[edit]Since the last boundary changes in 2023 the council has comprised 42 councillors elected from 18 wards, with each ward electing two or three councillors. Elections are held every four years.[15]
![](Https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/1/11/Chesterfield_Road%2C_Alfreton_-_geograph.org.uk_-_2117853.jpg/220px-Chesterfield_Road%2C_Alfreton_-_geograph.org.uk_-_2117853.jpg)
![](Https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/f/f8/St_Lawrence%27s_Church_in_Heanor_-_geograph.org.uk_-_3058768.jpg/220px-St_Lawrence%27s_Church_in_Heanor_-_geograph.org.uk_-_3058768.jpg)
![](Https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/2/25/Crich_Stand.jpg/220px-Crich_Stand.jpg)
Towns of Amber Valley
[edit]Main villages of Amber Valley
[edit]- Ambergate
- Codnor
- Crich
- Denby
- Duffield
- Heage
- Holbrook
- Horsley
- Horsley Woodhouse
- Kedleston
- Kilburn
- Langley Mill
- Lea & Holloway
- Mackworth
- Milford
- Quarndon
- Riddings
- Smalley
- Somercotes
- Swanwick
- Whatstandwell
Parishes
[edit]![](Https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/8/84/UK_Amber_Valley_District_2024_Map.svg/458px-UK_Amber_Valley_District_2024_Map.svg.png)
There are 35 civil parishes in the borough, covering almost the whole area. The exception is Riddings, which is an unparished area, being the only part of the former Alfreton Urban District not to have been subsequently added to a parish.[16]
- Aldercar and Langley Mill
- Alderwasley
- Alfreton
- Ashleyhay
- Belper
- Codnor
- Crich
- Denby
- Dethick, Lea and Holloway
- Duffield
- Hazelwood
- Heanor and Loscoe
- Holbrook
- Horsley
- Horsley Woodhouse
- Idridgehay and Alton
- Ironville
- Kedleston
- Kilburn
- Kirk Langley
- Mackworth
- Mapperley
- Pentrich
- Quarndon
- Ravensdale Park
- Ripley
- Shipley
- Shottle and Postern
- Smalley
- Somercotes
- South Wingfield
- Swanwick
- Turnditch
- Weston Underwood
- Windley
Arms
[edit]
|
Media
[edit]In terms of television, the Amber Valley is served by BBC East Midlands and ITV Central broadcasting from the Waltham transmitter. Some north eastern parts of the district around Alfreton receive better television signals from the Emley Moor transmitter that broadcasts BBC Yorkshire and ITV Yorkshire programmes.
Radio stations that broadcast to the area are:
- BBC Radio Derby on 104.5 FM
- Smooth East Midlands on 101.4 FM
- Capital Midlands on 102.8 FM
- Greatest Hits Radio Midlands on 106 FM
- Greatest Hits Radio Yorkshire (formerly Peak FM) on 102.0 FM
- Amber Sound FM, a community station that broadcasts from its studios in Ripley. The station broadcasts on 107.2 FM in the Amber Valley and online.
The local newspapers are the Ripley & Heanor News,[18] Belper News[19] and Derbyshire Times.
See also
[edit]References
[edit]- ^ a b UK Census (2021). "2021 Census Area Profile – Amber Valley Local Authority (E07000032)". Nomis. Office for National Statistics. Retrieved 5 January 2024.
- ^ Lead View Table
- ^ "The English Non-metropolitan Districts (Definition) Order 1972", legislation.gov.uk, The National Archives, SI 1972/2039, retrieved 31 May 2023
- ^ "The English Non-metropolitan Districts (Names) Order 1973", legislation.gov.uk, The National Archives, SI 1973/551, retrieved 31 May 2023
- ^ "Bulletin of Changes of Local Authority Status, Names and Areas 1st April 1988–31st March 1989" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 13 December 2011. Retrieved 15 January 2012.
- ^ "Council minutes, 13 December 2023". Amber Valley Borough Council. Retrieved 4 May 2024.
- ^ "Local Government Act 1972", legislation.gov.uk, The National Archives, 1972 c. 70, retrieved 31 May 2023
- ^ Torr, George; Roberts, Georgia (5 May 2023). "Local Elections 2023: Labour big winners across Derbyshire". BBC News. Retrieved 1 June 2023.
- ^ "Compositions calculator". The Elections Centre. Retrieved 14 May 2023.
- ^ "Amber Valley". BBC News Online. 19 April 2008. Retrieved 25 March 2010.
- ^ "Council minutes". Amber Valley Borough Council. Retrieved 21 August 2022.
- ^ "Local elections 2023: live council results for England". The Guardian.
- ^ Bisknell, Eddie (13 March 2024). "Amber Valley councillor quits Green Party for Conservatives over opposition to solar farm and in-fighting". Derbyshire Live. Retrieved 4 May 2024.
- ^ "Historic Monument Record: Town Hall, Market Place, Ripley". Derbyshire County Council. Retrieved 23 January 2021.
- ^ "The Amber Valley (Electoral Changes) Order 2022", legislation.gov.uk, The National Archives, SI 2022/810, retrieved 1 June 2023
- ^ "Election Maps". Ordnance Survey. Retrieved 1 June 2023.
- ^ "East Midlands Region". Civic Heraldry of England. Retrieved 5 March 2021.
- ^ "Ripley & Heanor News". British Papers. 27 May 2014. Retrieved 17 April 2024.
- ^ "Belper News". British Papers. 19 February 2014. Retrieved 19 April 2024.