Wyre
Borough and non-metropolitan district
Wyre shown within Lancashire and England
Wyre shown within Lancashire and England
Sovereign stateUnited Kingdom
Constituent countryEngland
RegionNorth West England
Ceremonial countyLancashire
Founded1974
Admin. HQPoulton-le-Fylde
Government
 • TypeWyre Borough Council
 • MPs:Paul Maynard, Cat Smith, Ben Wallace
Area
[1]
 • Total109.0 sq mi (282.2 km2)
 • Rank125th
Population
 (2021)[2]
 • Total112,457
 • Rank213th
 • Density1,000/sq mi (400/km2)
Time zoneUTC+0 (Greenwich Mean Time)
 • Summer (DST)UTC+1 (British Summer Time)
ONS code30UQ (ONS)
E07000128 (GSS)
Ethnicity98.2% White
0.9% S.Asian[3]

Wyre is a local government district with borough status on the coast of Lancashire, England. The council is based in Poulton-le-Fylde and the borough also contains the towns of Cleveleys, Fleetwood, Garstang, Preesall and Thornton, along with numerous villages and surrounding rural areas. Some of the borough's built-up areas form part of the wider Blackpool urban area. Eastern parts of the borough lie within the Forest of Bowland, a designated Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty.

The borough is named after the River Wyre, which runs through the area and meets the sea at Fleetwood. There are no road or rail connections between the parts of the borough either side of the Wyre estuary, and it is necessary to cross the neighbouring Fylde district in order to travel between the two parts of Wyre, or else use the Wyre Estuary Ferry between Fleetwood and Knott End.

The neighbouring districts are Blackpool, Fylde, Preston, Ribble Valley and Lancaster.

History

The district was created on 1 April 1974 under the Local Government Act 1972, as a non-metropolitan district covering the territory of five former districts, which were abolished at the same time:[4]

The new district was named Wyre after the river.[5] The new district was awarded borough status from its creation, allowing the chair of the council to take the title of mayor.[6]

Governance

Wyre Borough Council
Logo
Type
Type
Leadership
Julie Robinson,
Conservative
since 12 May 2022[7][8]
Michael Vincent,
Conservative
since 1 December 2022
Rebecca Huddleston
since 1 April 2023[9]
Structure
Seats50 councillors
Political groups
Administration (30)
  Conservative (30)
Other parties (20)
  Labour (17)
  Independent (3)
Elections
Plurality block voting
Last election
4 May 2023
Next election
6 May 2027
Meeting place
Civic Centre, Breck Road, Poulton-le-Fylde, FY6 7PU
Website
www.wyre.gov.uk

Wyre Borough Council, which styles itself "Wyre Council", provides district-level services. County-level services are provided by Lancashire County Council. Much of the borough is covered by civil parishes, which form a third tier of local government.[10][11]

Political control

The council has been under Conservative majority control since 1999.

The first election to the council was held in 1973, initially operating as a shadow authority alongside the outgoing authorities until coming into its powers on 1 April 1974. Since 1974 political control of the council has been as follows:[12][13]

Party in controlYears
Conservative1974–1995
Labour1995–1999
Conservative1999–present

Leadership

The role of mayor is largely ceremonial in Wyre. Political leadership is instead provided by the leader of the council. The leaders since 2010 have been:[14]

CouncillorPartyFromTo
Russ Forsyth Conservative2010
Peter Gibson[15] Conservative201028 Sep 2017
David Henderson Conservative7 Dec 201730 Nov 2022
Michael Vincent[16] Conservative1 Dec 2022

Composition

Following the 2023 election the composition of the council was:[17]

Party Councillors
Conservative 30
Labour 17
Independent 3
Total 50

The next election is due in 2027.

Elections

Since the last boundary changes in 2015 the council has comprised 50 councillors representing 24 wards, with each ward electing one, two or three councillors. Elections are held every four years.[18]

Wyre straddles three parliamentary constituencies: Wyre and Preston North, Lancaster and Fleetwood and Blackpool North and Cleveleys.[11]

Premises

The council is based at the Civic Centre on Breck Road in Poulton-le-Fylde. The building was originally a large house called Woodlands, later serving as a convalescent hospital and teacher training college before becoming the council's headquarters in 1988.[19]

Towns and parishes

Much of the borough is covered by civil parishes. The parish councils for Fleetwood, Garstang and Preesall have declared their parishes to be towns, allowing them to take the style "town council".[20] The former urban districts of Poulton-le-Fylde and Thornton-Cleveleys form an unparished area.[11]

Civil parishes in the Borough of Wyre
  1. Barnacre-with-Bonds
  2. Bleasdale
  3. Cabus
  4. Catterall
  5. Claughton
  6. Fleetwood (town)
  7. Forton
  8. Garstang (town)
  9. Great Eccleston
  10. Hambleton
  11. Inskip-with-Sowerby
  12. Kirkland
  13. Myerscough and Bilsborrow
  14. Nateby
  15. Nether Wyresdale
  16. Out Rawcliffe
  17. Pilling
  18. Preesall (town)
  19. Stalmine-with-Staynall
  20. Upper Rawcliffe with Tarnacre
  21. Winmarleigh

Freedom of the Borough

The following people and military units have received the Freedom of the Borough of Wyre.

References

  1. ↑ "Mid-Year Population Estimates, UK, June 2021". Office for National Statistics. 21 December 2022. Retrieved 18 October 2023.
  2. ↑ "Mid-Year Population Estimates, UK, June 2021". Office for National Statistics. 21 December 2022. Retrieved 18 October 2023.
  3. ↑ UK Census (2011). "Local Area Report – Wyre Local Authority (E07000128)". Nomis. Office for National Statistics. Retrieved 26 March 2021.
  4. ↑ "The English Non-metropolitan Districts (Definition) Order 1972", legislation.gov.uk, The National Archives, SI 1972/2039, retrieved 22 August 2022
  5. ↑ "The English Non-metropolitan Districts (Names) Order 1973", legislation.gov.uk, The National Archives, SI 1973/551, retrieved 22 August 2022
  6. ↑ "District Councils and Boroughs". Parliamentary Debates (Hansard). 28 March 1974. Retrieved 16 January 2012.
  7. ↑ "Council minutes, 12 May 2022". Wyre Council. Retrieved 20 October 2023.
  8. ↑ "Council minutes, 18 May 2023". Wyre Council. Retrieved 20 October 2023.
  9. ↑ Hunt, Richard (28 December 2022). "New Year brings in new start for Wyre Council's incoming chief executive Rebecca Huddleston". Blackpool Gazette. Retrieved 20 October 2023.
  10. ↑ "Local Government Act 1972", legislation.gov.uk, The National Archives, 1972 c. 70, retrieved 31 May 2023
  11. 1 2 3 "Election Maps". Ordnance Survey. Retrieved 17 October 2023.
  12. ↑ "Compositions calculator". The Elections Centre. Retrieved 20 August 2022.
  13. ↑ "Wyre". BBC News Online. Retrieved 23 October 2009.
  14. ↑ "Council minutes". Wyre Council. Retrieved 23 August 2022.
  15. ↑ "Peter Gibson former Wyre Council leader". Blackpool Gazette. 1 November 2018. Retrieved 23 August 2022.
  16. ↑ "Councillor details - Michael Vincent". wyre.moderngov.co.uk. 3 April 2023. Retrieved 3 April 2023.
  17. ↑ "Local elections 2023: live council results for England". The Guardian.
  18. ↑ "The Wyre (Electoral Changes) Order 2014", legislation.gov.uk, The National Archives, SI 2014/1187, retrieved 21 October 2023
  19. ↑ Storey, Christine (2012). Poulton-le-Fylde Through Time. Stroud: Amberley Publishing. p. 51. ISBN 978-1445630380. Retrieved 23 August 2022.
  20. ↑ "Parish and Town Council clerks". Wyre Council. Retrieved 21 October 2023.
  21. ↑ "Mother of Fleetwood: Doreen Lofthouse's death leaves a community in mourning". April 2021.
  22. ↑ "The lozenge which took over the world".
  23. ↑ "Calls for statue to honour Doreen Lofthouse".
  24. ↑ "Soldiers are set to march through the streets of this Wyre town".
  25. ↑ "Duke of Lancaster's Regiment: Freedom of Entry to the Borough" (PDF). Wyre Council website. 21 August 2018.

53°54′00″N 2°48′32″W / 53.900°N 2.809°W / 53.900; -2.809

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