Macclesfield (borough)

Template:Short description Template:For multi Template:Use dmy dates Template:Infobox historic subdivision

Macclesfield was, from 1974 to 2009, a local government district with borough status in Cheshire, England. It included the towns of Bollington, Knutsford, Macclesfield and Wilmslow and within its wider area the villages and hamlets of Adlington, Disley, Gawsworth, Kerridge, Pott Shrigley, Poynton, Prestbury, Rainow, Styal, Sutton and Tytherington.

HistoryEdit

The district was formed on 1 April 1974 under the Local Government Act 1972. It was a merger of Macclesfield municipal borough, Alderley Edge, Bollington, Knutsford and Wilmslow urban districts, along with the single parish Disley Rural District, Macclesfield Rural District and part of Bucklow Rural District. The new district was awarded borough status from its creation, allowing the chairman of the council to take the title of mayor.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

In 2006 the Department for Communities and Local Government considered reorganising Cheshire's administrative structure as part of the 2009 structural changes to local government in England. The decision to merge the boroughs of Macclesfield, Congleton and Crewe and Nantwich to create a single unitary authority was announced on 25 July 2007, following a consultation period in which a proposal to create a single Cheshire unitary authority was rejected.<ref>BBC News, 25 July 2007 – County split into two authorities. Retrieval Date: 25 July 2007.</ref>

The Borough of Macclesfield was abolished on 1 April 2009, when the new Cheshire East unitary authority was formed.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

Civil parishesEdit

The borough contained 52 civil parishes and 2 discrete unparished areas (namely, the towns of Macclesfield and Wilmslow). Of the 52 civil parishes, five (Agden, Little Bollington, Macclesfield Forest and Wildboarclough, Tatton, and Wincle) held parish meetings rather than elect a parish council.<ref name=parishclerks>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Of the remaining 47 civil parishes, two contained towns (Bollington and Knutsford) and so had town councils rather than parish councils administering them.<ref name=parishclerks /> A number of adjacent or abutting civil parishes were grouped together under a single parish council: Ollerton with Marthall, Plumley with Toft and Bexton, and Tabley (for the parishes of Tabley Inferior and Tabley Superior) The remaining 37 civil parishes had their own parish council.<ref name=parishclerks />

The following civil parishes were included in the borough: Template:Div col

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Political controlEdit

The town of Macclesfield had been a municipal borough from 1836 to 1974 with a borough council.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> The first elections to the new Macclesfield Borough created under the Local Government Act 1972 were held in 1973, initially operating as a shadow authority until the new arrangements came into effect on 1 April 1974. Political control of the council from 1974 until its abolition in 2009 was held by the following parties:<ref name=electionscentre>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

Party in control		Years
Template:Party name with colour	1974–1976
Template:Party name with colour	1976–2009

LeadershipEdit

The leaders of the council from 1983 were:

Councillor	Party		From
Margaret Duddy<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>	Template:Party name with colour	1983	2001
Peter Burns<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>	Template:Party name with colour	2001	May 2004
Sue Kipling<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>	Template:Party name with colour	2004	23 Sep 2004
Wesley Fitzgerald	Template:Party name with colour	2004	31 Mar 2009

Wesley Fitzgerald went on to become the first leader of Cheshire East Council.

CompositionEdit

The political composition of the council at its abolition in 2009 was:

Party		Councillors
style="color:inherit;background:Template:Party color"\|	Conservative	38
style="color:inherit;background:Template:Party color"\|	Liberal Democrat	12
style="color:inherit;background:Template:Party color"\|	Labour	6
	Handforth Ratepayer	2
	Independent	2