26-587: Pilning is a village in South Gloucestershire , England, close to Redwick and Severn Beach . Pilning is close to the M4 , M49 and A403 roads, and has the South Wales Main Line railway running through it, with a minor station . The civil parish is Pilning and Severn Beach . The population at the 2011 census was 3,647. An electoral ward exists in the same name. Because of
52-564: A jazz evening on the first Sunday of every month. Pilning Cricket Club was established in 1883. The parish church of St Peter was completed in 1855 (consecrated 9 August), the principal architect was Thomas Henry Wyatt with H. Crisp. It also has a late 20th-century south extension in same style. It is a grade II listed building . The village also contains the St Mary's Indian Orthodox Church. Pilning had an annual Carnival, and an amateur dramatic society, "The Village Players". At Christmas 2015
78-776: A slightly higher status and the right to appoint a mayor . Urban districts in the outer London area were absorbed into London Boroughs in 1965 as a consequence of the London Government Act 1963 . All remaining urban districts in England and Wales were abolished in 1974 by the Local Government Act 1972 , and replaced with a uniform system of larger districts – see Districts of England and Districts of Wales – which often covered both urban and rural areas. Many parish councils in England were created for towns previously covered by urban districts and, as
104-534: Is a unitary authority area in the ceremonial county of Gloucestershire , South West England . Towns in the area include Yate , Chipping Sodbury , Kingswood , Thornbury , Filton , Patchway and Bradley Stoke . The southern part of its area falls within the Greater Bristol urban area surrounding the city of Bristol . South Gloucestershire was created in 1996 to replace the Northavon district of
130-438: Is a rural area, Borough is an urban area. Urban district (Great Britain and Ireland) In England and Wales , an urban district was a type of local government district that covered an urbanised area. Urban districts had an elected urban district council ( UDC ), which shared local government responsibilities with a county council . In England and Wales , urban districts and rural districts were created in 1894 by
156-598: Is the national average. In 2005, the then Chancellor of the Exchequer recognised the City of Bristol's ties to science and technology by naming it one of six "science cities", and promising funding for further development of science in the city, with a £300 million science park planned at Emersons Green , in South Gloucestershire. The area is served by BBC West and ITV West Country broadcasting from
182-620: The A38 and M32 ) and to Bath , as well as westward to South Wales and Cardiff via the two Severn bridges . The M5 and M4 motorways provide access to Gloucester and London. Bristol's northern and eastern ring road, the A4174 , passes through South Gloucestershire. The Metrobus express bus network extends from Bristol into South Gloucestershire, and is supported by the district council. The area also has an important and well used railway network, with many direct routes to towns and cities across
208-600: The Local Government Act 1894 ( 56 & 57 Vict. c. 73) as subdivisions of administrative counties . A similar model of urban and rural districts was also established in Ireland in 1899, which continued separately in Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland after 1921. They replaced the earlier system of urban and rural sanitary districts (based on poor law unions ) whose functions were taken over by
234-505: The Local Government Act 1929 saw a net decrease of 159 between 1932 and 1938. In many instances smaller urban districts were merged with their surrounding rural districts, with the result that new districts emerged covering rural as well as urban parishes. At the same time, a number of larger urban districts became municipal boroughs (as already created, in 1835 under the Municipal Corporations Act 1835 ): these had
260-465: The Mendip TV transmitter. Radio stations for the area are: The River Severn forms the north-western edge of the area, with a wide coastal plain terminated by an escarpment. East of this is the wide River Frome Valley drainage area. Further east is another escarpment running roughly north–south, passing between Yate and Chipping Sodbury and west of Pucklechurch. The Cotswolds Escarpment forms
286-618: The county of Avon , forming the districts of Kingswood and Northavon . In 1996, the county of Avon was abolished, and South Gloucestershire was created as a unitary authority area comprising the former districts of Kingswood and Northavon. The area borders the city and county of Bristol , the Bath and North East Somerset unitary authority area, and the shire counties of Gloucestershire and Wiltshire. The geographic area currently known as South Gloucestershire should not be confused with Southern Gloucestershire. Nor should organisations or bodies in
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#1732787582374312-552: The "Players" put on a pantomime production of " Mother Goose ". Pilning railway station is located 1 mile (1.6 km) east of the village. As of 2023, only two eastbound trains a week serve the station due to the removal of the footbridge during Great Western Main Line electrification works . Pilning is served hourly by bus route 12, operated by Stagecoach West , between Stoke Gifford (for Bristol Parkway ) and Severn Beach . South Gloucestershire South Gloucestershire
338-437: The 1894 Act came into force on 31 December 1894 there had been 753 urban districts, of which 692 had previously been local government districts , 30 had been improvement commissioners districts and 31 were places newly given urban powers in 1894. The number of urban districts initially increased after 1894 as more places sought urban powers, but implementation of the recommendations of a series of county reviews as established by
364-667: The M4/M5 Almondsbury Interchange . Employers with sites in this area include EE and the RAC . South Gloucestershire is home to 99 primary schools, 16 secondary schools, and post-16 colleges and centres. There is one university, the University of the West of England , which was a former polytechnic. In 2008, DCSF figures revealed that there was a 6.6% overall absence in the district's secondary schools, whilst 7.4%
390-589: The UK to return to a Committee System , abolishing the single party Cabinet, as allowed under the Localism Act . This was later reverted to a leader and cabinet system in 2017 during the Conservative majority. For Westminster elections, the area is covered by three constituencies , all lying within the authority boundary. These are: County/Borough is a legal term denoting the type of constituency. County
416-641: The UK. This includes eastward to London and westward through the Severn Tunnel to Cardiff and the rest of South Wales. There are also routes to the South-West counties and north to England's second city, Birmingham . Many routes cross in Stoke Gifford at Bristol Parkway station . There are six stations within the district, mainly located near the border with Bristol in the west of the district. The Conservatives held an overall majority on
442-641: The abolished county of Avon . It is separate from Gloucestershire County Council , but is part of the ceremonial county and shares Gloucestershire's Lord Lieutenant (the Sovereign's representative to the county). Because of its history as part of the county of Avon, South Gloucestershire works closely with the other unitary authorities that took over when that county was abolished, including shared services such as Avon Fire and Rescue Service and Avon and Somerset Police , together with co-operation in planning strategy for transport, roads and housing. Prior to
468-660: The close proximity of the River Severn and the English Stones section of the river bed, Pilning has found itself the ideal place to make both a substantial railway tunnel and motorway bridge. The Severn Tunnel opened in 1885 and the Second Severn Crossing opened in 1996. The village is home to St Peters Primary School and a number of other amenities including a shop, a doctor's surgery, and several pubs such as The King's Arms. The Plough Inn hosts
494-548: The council from 2015 until 2023; previously no party had overall control, except for 1999–2003 when the Liberal Democrats had a majority. After the 2023 elections, Labour and the Liberal Democrats formed a coalition which took control of the council, this being Labour's first time in control and the Liberal Democrats for the first time in twenty years. In 2012, it became one of the first authorities in
520-526: The district councils. The district councils also had wider powers over local matters such as parks, cemeteries and local planning. An urban district usually contained a single parish , while a rural district might contain many. Urban districts were considered to have more problems with public health than rural areas, and so urban district councils had more funding and greater powers than comparable rural districts. Urban districts normally covered smaller towns, usually with populations of fewer than 30,000. When
546-571: The eastern edge of South Gloucestershire, while the western half is mainly urbanised. A small part of the Cotswolds and the National Trust site of Dyrham Park are also in the district. South of the motorways are suburbs of Bristol while areas north are rural. Some of the inner green belts have been taken away by developments like the new town of Bradley Stoke. Many areas of South Gloucestershire have easy commuting access to Bristol (via
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#1732787582374572-639: The heavily developed area between the northern edge of Bristol and the M5 motorway , an area sometimes described as the North Fringe of Bristol . This includes the Cribbs Causeway shopping centre , comprising The Mall regional shopping centre and the surrounding retail parks. East of Patchway are the Aztec West and Almondsbury business parks either side of the A38 , extending to Bradley Stoke and
598-468: The implementation of the Local Government Act 1972 on 1 April 1974, the area that now forms South Gloucestershire formed part of the shire county of Gloucestershire , comprising the urban districts of Kingswood and Mangotsfield and the Rural Districts of Warmley , Sodbury and Thornbury . However, under the terms of that act, the area was removed from Gloucestershire, and became part of
624-661: The local authority with 9,500 people and the Ministry of Defence Headquarters for Defence Procurement and the Naval Support Command with 7,000 employees. Other key employers include Airbus , Rolls-Royce and the Royal Mail , which dominates the Filton - Patchway area of South Gloucestershire. Friends Provident and Hewlett-Packard also have major offices in nearby Stoke Gifford . Many employers operate in
650-421: The past titled 'South Gloucestershire' (meaning Southern Gloucestershire) be confused with the area covered by the unitary authority. At the 2001 census , the population of South Gloucestershire was 245,641. At the 2011 census, the population had increased to 262,767. At the 2021 census , the population estimate for South Gloucestershire is 290,400. According to the 2001 census estimates, 97.6 percent of
676-510: The population was described as white, 0.8 percent as dual heritage, 0.7 percent as Asian or Asian British, 0.4 percent as Black or Black British and 0.5 percent as Chinese or other. Much of the population is in towns that form the 'suburbs' to the north and east of Bristol. There are also the large towns of Yate and its neighbour Chipping Sodbury , Thornbury , the large villages of Winterbourne and Frampton Cotterell , Wickwar , Alveston , Olveston and Tockington . The main employers are
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