Pendle (borough)

Borough of Pendle
Borough
Pendle Hill
Shown within Lancashire and England
Sovereign state	United Kingdom
Constituent country	England
Region	North West England
Ceremonial county	Lancashire
Admin. HQ	Nelson
Government
• Type	Pendle Borough Council
• Leadership:	Leader & Cabinet
• MPs:	Andrew Stephenson
Area
• Total	65.4 sq mi (169.4 km2)
• Rank	155th
Population  (2021)
• Total	95,789
• Rank	Ranked 249th
• Density	1,500/sq mi (570/km2)
Time zone	UTC+0 (Greenwich Mean Time)
• Summer (DST)	UTC+1 (British Summer Time)
ONS code	30UJ (ONS) E07000122 (GSS)
NUTS 3	UKD46
Ethnicity	84.3% White 82.8% White British 0.9% White Other 0.6% White Irish 14.1% S.Asian 13.1% Pakistani 0.4% Indian 0.4% Other S.Asian 0.2% Bangladeshi 0.9% Mixed Race 0.5% Asian & White 0.2% Black Caribbean & White 0.2% Other Mixed 0.1% Black African & White 0.4% E.Asian and Other 0.2% Chinese 0.1% Other E.Asian 0.1% Other 0.3% Black 0.2% Black African 0.1% Black Caribbean 0.0% Other Black

Pendle is a local government district with borough status in Lancashire, England. The council is based in Nelson, the borough's largest town. The borough also includes the towns of Barnoldswick, Brierfield, Colne and Earby along with the surrounding villages and rural areas. Part of the borough lies within the Forest of Bowland Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty.

The neighbouring districts are Burnley, Ribble Valley, North Yorkshire, Bradford and Calderdale.

Etymology

The name Pendle comes from "Penhill", combining the Cumbric "pen" meaning hill and the Saxon "hill", also meaning hill. The name was used for Pendle Hill (literally "hill hill hill"), a prominent outlier of the Pennines. The name was then also used for the ancient Forest of Pendle around the hill, and for Pendle Water, a river which rises on the hill and flows into the River Calder.^[1] The name also became associated with the Pendle witches, tried for witchcraft in 1612, as the accused were all from the area.^[2]

History

The modern local government district of Pendle was created on 1 April 1974 under the Local Government Act 1972. It covered the whole area of seven former districts and parts of another two, all of which were abolished at the same time:^[3]

• Barnoldswick Urban District
• Barrowford Urban District
• Brierfield
• Burnley Rural District (part)
• Colne Municipal Borough
• Earby Urban District
• Nelson Municipal Borough
• Skipton Rural District (part)
• Trawden Urban District

The Barnoldswick, Earby and Skipton parts were in the West Riding of Yorkshire prior to 1974. The term West Craven is sometimes used for this area transferred from Yorkshire to Lancashire in 1974. The new district was named Pendle after the hill, forest and river.^[4] The district was awarded borough status on 15 September 1976, allowing the chair of the council to take the title of mayor.^[5]

Governance

Pendle Borough Council
Type
Type	Non-metropolitan district
History
Founded	1 April 1974
Leadership
Mayor	Brian Newman, Liberal Democrat since 18 May 2023
Leader	Asjad Mahmood, Labour since 18 May 2023
Chief Executive	Rose Rouse since 2021[6]
Structure
Seats	33 councillors
Political groups	Administration (16)   Labour (9)   Liberal Democrat (7) Other parties (17)   Conservative (14)   Independent (3)
Elections
Voting system	First past the post
Last election	4 May 2023
Next election	2024
Meeting place
Town Hall, Market Street, Nelson, BB9 7LG
Website
www.pendle.gov.uk

Pendle Borough Council provides district-level services. County-level services are provided by Lancashire County Council.^[7] The whole borough is also covered by civil parishes, which form a third tier of local government.^[8]

Brian Cookson retired in March 2013 from his position as executive director for Regeneration, a post he had held for nine years, in parallel (after 2007) with that of President of British Cycling.^[9] Subsequently, becoming the President of the Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI), the world governing body for sports cycling.

In June 2017, a Conservative councilor, Rosemary Carroll,^[10] was suspended after sending a racist post on social media comparing Asians to dogs. This controversy expanded after the local elections in 2018, when the councilor was readmitted into the Conservative Party, allowing the Conservative party to gain a majority on the council. The Pendle Labour party accused the Pendle Conservative Party of condoning racism after the reinstatement. The Shadow Minister for Women and Equalities, Dawn Butler, called upon the Conservative Party Chairman, Brandon Lewis, to issue a statement saying that the councilor in question would not be part of the Conservative group on the council. This followed a statement from Lewis congratulating the Pendle Conservatives on winning a majority on the council.^[11][12]

Political control

Since the 2023 election the council has been under no overall control, being led by a Labour and Liberal Democrat coalition.^[13]

The first election to the council was held in 1973, initially operating as a shadow authority alongside the outgoing authorities until the new arrangements came into effect on 1 April 1974. Political control of the council since 1974 has been as follows:^[14][15]

Leadership

The role of mayor is largely ceremonial in Pendle. Political leadership is instead provided by the leader of the council. The leaders since 2015 have been:^[16]

Composition

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

The next election is due in 2024.

Premises

The council meets at Nelson Town Hall on Market Street in the centre of Nelson. It has its main administrative offices in a modern building at 1 Market Street, opposite the town hall.^[18]

Elections

Since the last full review of boundaries took effect in 2021 the council has comprised 33 councillors representing 12 wards, with each ward electing one, two or three councillors. Elections are held three years out of every four, with roughly a third of the council being elected each time for a four-year term. Lancashire County Council elections are held in the fourth year of the cycle when there are no borough council elections.^[19]

Councillors

Following the 2023 election, the councillors were:^[20]

Wider politics

The Pendle constituency is represented in Parliament by the Conservative Member of Parliament, Andrew Stephenson, since 2010. The constituency covers the same area as the borough.

Economy

The three main employers in the borough are Rolls-Royce plc, Silentnight and the Daisy Group.^{[citation needed]}

Places in Pendle

The borough is entirely covered by civil parishes. The parish councils for Barnoldswick, Brierfield, Colne, Earby and Nelson take the style "town council".^[21]

    Barnoldswick

Colne

Nelson

Barley

Barrowford

Blacko

Brierfield

Bracewell

Brogden

  Cottontree

Earby

Fence

Foulridge

Higham

Higherford

Kelbrook

Laneshaw Bridge

Newchurch in Pendle

Reedley

Roughlee

Salterforth

Sough

Trawden

Wheatley Lane

Winewall

Wycoller

Boulsworth Hill

Noyna Hill

Pendle Hill

Weets Hill

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Places in the Borough of Pendle          Forest of Bowland AONB

Freedom of the Borough

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

Individuals

• Steven Burke: 3 August 2012.^[22][23][24]

Military Units

• The Queen's Lancashire Regiment: 2001.
• The Duke of Lancaster's Regiment: 1 July 2006.

^[25]

References

53°52′08″N 2°09′50″W / 53.869°N 2.164°W / 53.869; -2.164