26-593: Test Valley is a local government district with borough status in Hampshire , England, named after the valley of the River Test . The council is based in the borough's largest town of Andover . The borough also contains the town of Romsey and numerous villages and surrounding rural areas. A small part of the borough at its southern end lies within the New Forest National Park , and part of
52-461: A mayor and refer to itself as a borough council. Some shire counties now have no sub divisions so are a single Non-metropolitan district such as Cornwall. Typically a district will consist of a market town and its more rural hinterland. However districts are diverse with some being mostly urban such as Dartford, and others more polycentric such as Thurrock. Non-metropolitan districts are subdivisions of English non-metropolitan counties which have
78-632: A great work of art or music". Stockbridge is home of the Houghton Fishing Club, an exclusive fishing club founded in 1822, which meets in the Grosvenor Hotel. In December 2006, Sport England published a survey which revealed that residents of Test Valley were the 8th most active in England in sports and other fitness activities. 26.9% of the population participate at least 3 times a week for 30 minutes. In March 2012 Test Valley
104-473: A shadow authority alongside the outgoing authorities until the new arrangements took effect on 1 April 1974. Political control since 1974 has been as follows: The role of mayor is largely ceremonial in Test Valley. Political leadership is instead provided by the leader of the council . The leaders since 1980 have been: Following the 2023 election , the composition of the council was: The next election
130-599: A third tier of local government. In the part of the borough within the New Forest National Park, town planning is the responsibility of the New Forest National Park Authority . The borough council appoints one of its councillors to serve on the 22-person National Park Authority. The council has been under Conservative majority control since 1999. The first election to the council was held in 1973, initially acting as
156-461: A two-tier structure of local government. Two-tier non-metropolitan counties have a county council and several districts, each with a borough or district council. In these cases local government functions are divided between county and district councils, to the level where they can be practised most efficiently: Many districts have borough status , which means the local council is called a borough council instead of district council and gives them
182-472: A unitary authority or those that transferred from one county to another, including those that changed name. Nor does it include unitary authorities that have been abolished ( Bournemouth and Poole ). National Rivers Authority The National Rivers Authority ( NRA ) was one of the forerunners of the Environment Agency of England and Wales , existing between 1989 and 1996. Before 1989
208-555: Is due in 2027. Since the last boundary changes in 2019 the council has comprised 43 councillors representing 20 wards , with each ward electing one, two or three councillors. Elections are held every four years. The council has its main offices at Beech Hurst in Andover. The site had previously been a large house built in the 1850s, which had been purchased in 1947 by the old Andover Borough Council to use as its headquarters. The house continued to serve as offices for Test Valley after
234-604: The District Councils' Network , special interest group which sits within the Local Government Association . The network's purpose is to "act as an informed and representative advocate for districts to government and other national bodies, based on their unique position to deliver for local people." This is a list of two-tier non-metropolitan counties and their districts. All unitary authorities are also non-metropolitan districts, which, with
260-544: The NRA then had to pay to have such waters released into rivers. In circumstances where reservoirs had been built to control river flow and thus independently support drinking water abstractions, this could entail the NRA paying out more to have the water released than it had charged for its abstraction. It also meant that some releases of water from reservoirs, which in the past had been made principally for ecological or recreational interests, were now made with economic interests as
286-411: The NRA. However, all the assets relating to water supply reservoirs were transferred to the newly created private water companies, even in those cases where there were strong recreational and fisheries interests in the reservoirs. Complex charging arrangements were also put in place whereby the newly created companies paid abstraction charges to the NRA for water removed from surface and ground waters but
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#1732780929873312-493: The area are: 51°08′22″N 1°29′28″W / 51.1394°N 1.491°W / 51.1394; -1.491 Non-metropolitan district Non-metropolitan districts , or colloquially " shire districts ", are a type of local government district in England. As created, they are sub-divisions of non-metropolitan counties (colloquially shire counties ) in a two-tier arrangement. Non-metropolitan districts with borough status are known as boroughs , able to appoint
338-454: The areas for Wales and England had been enacted separately and there were no Welsh metropolitan areas, the term 'non-metropolitan district' does not apply to Wales. A similar system existed in Scotland , which in 1975 was divided into regions and districts, this was also abolished in 1996 and replaced with a fully unitary system . In England most of the district councils are represented by
364-557: The borough north of Andover lies within the North Wessex Downs , a designated Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty . The neighbouring districts are Basingstoke and Deane , Winchester , Eastleigh , Southampton , New Forest , Wiltshire and West Berkshire . The district was created on 1 April 1974 under the Local Government Act 1972 , covering the area of four former districts which were all abolished at
390-487: The exception of those of Berkshire , are coterminous with non-metropolitan counties. For a full list of districts of all types including unitary authorities, metropolitan districts and London boroughs , see Districts of England . This is a list of former two-tier districts in England which have been abolished, by local government reorganisations such as the 2009 structural changes to local government in England . It does not include districts that still exist after becoming
416-599: The new council's creation in 1974 until 1990 when it was demolished and replaced by a modern building on the same site, retaining the Beech Hurst name. The council also maintains a smaller office at the former Magistrates' Court on Church Street in Romsey. Full council meetings are held alternately at Andover Guildhall and at Crosfield Hall in Romsey. Test Valley covers some 250 square miles (650 km) of western Hampshire , stretching from boundaries with Southampton in
442-533: The passing of the Water Act 1989 , the ten water authorities in England and Wales were privatised by flotation on the stock market . They took the water supply, sewerage and sewage disposal activities into the privatised companies. The remaining duties remained with the newly created National Rivers Authority. The assets and the staff of the RWAs were divided up at privatisation between the new water companies and
468-421: The principal driver. The logo of the NRA was a stylised image of a salmon in a circle of water, sometimes frivolously referred to by the staff of the NRA as the washing machine . The chair of the NRA throughout its existence was Lord Crickhowell . In 1996, the NRA ceased to exist when it was subsumed into the Environment Agency , together with HMIP Her Majesty's Inspectorate of Pollution (HMIP) and
494-456: The regulation of the aquatic environment had largely been carried out by the ten regional water authorities (RWAs). The RWAs were responsible for the supply and distribution of drinking water, sewerage and sewage disposal , land drainage and flood risk management , fisheries , water quality management, pollution prevention, water resource management and many aspects of the management of aquatic ecology and some aspects of recreation . With
520-565: The right to appoint a mayor . Borough status is granted by royal charter and, in many cases, continues a style enjoyed by a predecessor authority, which can date back centuries. Some districts such as Oxford or Exeter have city status , granted by letters patent , but this does not give the local council any extra powers other than the right to call itself a city council . By 1899, England had been divided at district level into rural districts , urban districts , municipal boroughs , county boroughs and metropolitan boroughs . This system
546-488: The same time: The new district was named Test Valley after the River Test which flows through the area. The district was awarded borough status on 22 October 1976, allowing the chair of the council to take the title of mayor. Test Valley Borough Council provides district-level services. County-level services are provided by Hampshire County Council . The whole district is also covered by civil parishes , which form
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#1732780929873572-578: The south to near Newbury in the north. Test Valley is a predominantly rural area. It includes part of the North Wessex Downs Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty . The River Test is the centrepiece of the Test Valley; the river is a chalk stream of particular beauty known for its fishing , salmon and trout , which Lord Crickhowell (onetime chairman of the National Rivers Authority ) said "should be treated as
598-440: The style "town council". Whilst Stockbridge is a post town it has a parish council rather than a town council. Some of the smaller parishes have a parish meeting rather than a parish council. The parishes of Frenchmoor and West Tytherley share a grouped parish council. The area is served by BBC South and ITV Meridian with television signals received from either Rowridge or Hannington TV transmitters. Radio stations for
624-526: The two-tier structure, but reforms in the 1990s and 2009 reduced their number to 192. A further 55 non-metropolitan districts are now unitary authorities, which combine the functions of county and borough/district councils. In Wales , an almost identical two-tier system of local government existed between 1974 and 1996 (see Districts of Wales ). In 1996, this was abolished and replaced with an entirely unitary system of local government, with one level of local government responsible for all local services. Since
650-620: Was abolished by the London Government Act 1963 and the Local Government Act 1972 . Non-metropolitan districts were created by this act in 1974 when England outside Greater London was divided into metropolitan counties and non-metropolitan counties. Metropolitan counties were sub-divided into metropolitan districts and the non-metropolitan counties were sub-divided into non-metropolitan districts. The metropolitan districts had more powers than their non-metropolitan counterparts. Initially, there were 296 non-metropolitan districts in
676-543: Was ranked 14th best rural area to live out of 119 local authority areas in Great Britain by the Halifax . This was based on factors including employment and income levels, the weather, health and life expectancy, education, crime, broadband access and other things. The whole borough is covered by civil parishes . The parish councils for Andover and Romsey have declared their parishes to be towns, allowing them to take
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