Ards and North Down | |
---|---|
District | |
Sovereign state | United Kingdom |
Constituent country | Northern Ireland |
Status | District |
Admin HQ | Bangor |
Incorporated | 1 April 2015 |
Government | |
• Type | District council |
• Body | Ards and North Down Borough Council |
Area | |
• Total | 177.9 sq mi (460.8 km2) |
Population (2021) | |
• Total | 160,864 |
• Density | 900/sq mi (350/km2) |
Time zone | UTC0 (GMT) |
• Summer (DST) | UTC+1 (BST) |
Ethnicity | 97.7% White [2] |
Website | http://www.ardsandnorthdown.gov.uk/ |
Ards and North Down is a local government district in Northern Ireland. It was created on 1 April 2015 by merging the Borough of Ards and the Borough of North Down. The local authority is Ards and North Down Borough Council.
The new district is in the East of Northern Ireland, covering the Ards Peninsula, most of Strangford Lough and the southern shore of Belfast Lough. It has an estimated population of 160,864. [3] The original name of the new district was recommended on 17 September 2008. [4]
Ards and North Down Borough Council replaces Ards Borough Council and North Down Borough Council. The first election for the new district council was originally due to take place in May 2009, but on April 25, 2008, Shaun Woodward, Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, announced that the scheduled 2009 district council elections were to be postponed until 2011. [5] The first elections took place on 22 May 2014 and the council acted as a shadow authority until 1 April 2015.
At a meeting of the shadow authority on 15 December 2014, councillors voted in favour of changing the council's name to East Coast Borough Council, and to submit an application to the Department of the Environment to change the name with effect as of 1 April 2015. [6] However, the council's website launched on 1 April 2015 refers to the new council as "Ards and North Down Borough Council", and this name has continued in use.
The following have received the Freedom of the Borough of Ards and North Down.
Newtownards is a town in County Down, Northern Ireland. It lies at the most northern tip of Strangford Lough, 10 miles (16 km) east of Belfast, on the Ards Peninsula. It is in the civil parish of Newtownards and the historic baronies of Ards Lower and Castlereagh Lower. Newtownards is in the Ards and North Down Borough. The population was 28,050 in the 2011 Census.
County Down is one of the six counties of Northern Ireland, one of the nine counties of Ulster and one of the traditional thirty-two counties of Ireland. It covers an area of 961 sq mi (2,490 km2) and has a population of 531,665. It borders County Antrim to the north, the Irish Sea to the east, County Armagh to the west, and County Louth across Carlingford Lough to the southwest.
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North Down Borough Council was a Local Council in County Down in Northern Ireland. It merged with Ards Borough Council in May 2015 under local government reorganisation in Northern Ireland to become North Down and Ards District Council.
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Borough status is granted by royal charter to local government districts in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. The status is purely honorary, and does not give any additional powers to the council or inhabitants of the district. In Scotland, similarly chartered communities were known as royal burghs, although the status is no longer granted.
Ards and North Down Borough Council is a local authority in Northern Ireland that was established on 1 April 2015. It replaced Ards Borough Council and North Down Borough Council. The first elections to the authority were on 22 May 2014 and it acted as a shadow authority, prior to the creation of the Ards and North Down district on 1 April 2015.
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Mid and East Antrim is a local government district in Northern Ireland. The district was created on 1 April 2015 by merging the Borough of Ballymena, the Borough of Larne and the Borough of Carrickfergus. The local authority is Mid and East Antrim Borough Council.
Causeway Coast and Glens is a local government district covering most of the northern part of Northern Ireland. It was created on 1 April 2015 by merging the Borough of Ballymoney, the Borough of Coleraine, the Borough of Limavady and the District of Moyle. The local authority is Causeway Coast and Glens Borough Council.
Newry, Mourne and Down is a local government district in Northern Ireland that was created on 1 April 2015 by merging Newry and Mourne District and Down District. It covers most of the southeastern part of Northern Ireland. The local authority is Newry, Mourne and Down District Council. The principle population centres are Newry in the south of the district, and Downpatrick in the north; both these urban areas were seats of previous council areas.
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The first election to North Down and Ards District Council, part of the Northern Ireland local elections on 22 May 2014, returned 40 members to the newly formed council via Single Transferable Vote. The Democratic Unionist Party won a plurality of first-preference votes and seats.