56°01′N4°38′W / 56.01°N 4.63°W /56.01; -4.63
| Dumbarton | |
|---|---|
| District | |
 Council's headquarters: Crosslet House, Dumbarton | |
 Dumbarton district within Scotland | |
| Population | |
| • 1994 | 77,222 |
| History | |
| • Created | 16 May 1975 |
| • Abolished | 31 March 1996 |
| • Succeeded by | (Part of)West Dunbartonshire (Part of)Argyll and Bute |
| Government | Dumbarton District Council |
| • HQ | Dumbarton |
Dumbarton (Scottish Gaelic:Dùn Breatainn) was, from 1975 to 1996, one of nineteenlocal governmentdistricts in theStrathclyderegion ofScotland, covering the town ofDumbarton and surrounding areas to the north-west ofGlasgow.[1]
The district was created in 1975 under theLocal Government (Scotland) Act 1973, which established a two-tier structure of local government across mainland Scotland comprising upper-tier regions and lower-tier districts. Dumbarton was one of nineteen districts created within the region ofStrathclyde. The district covered the whole area of five former districts and part of a sixth from thehistoric county ofDunbartonshire, which were all abolished at the same time:[2]
The main urban areas were Dumbarton and the Vale of Leven settlements just to its north, and the town of Helensburgh and neighbouring coastal villages on theFirth of Clyde. Further west, the terrain was increasingly mountainous and sparsely populated (much lying beyond theHighland Boundary Fault). The middle ofLoch Long was the western boundary and the middle ofLoch Lomond the eastern boundary, excepting everything south of theEndrick Water which belonged wholly to Dumbarton. Much of the rest of the eastern border was withStirling district inCentral region, while the smallerClydebank district was to the south-east. A boundary change in 1983 transferred the village ofCroftamie from Dumbarton district toStirling district.[3]
Dumbarton district was abolished in 1996 under theLocal Government etc. (Scotland) Act 1994 which replaced regions and districts withunitary council areas. In the lead-up to the reforms a referendum was held in which the more rural west of the district, including Helensburgh, voted to joinArgyll and Bute rather than stay with Dumbarton.[4] The part transferred to Argyll and Bute covered the area west of a line drawn fromCameron House at Loch Lomond to the Firth of Clyde just west of theCastlehill area of Dumbarton. The rest of Dumbarton district merged with neighbouringClydebank district to become theWest Dunbartonshire council area. The 1994 act originally named the new district "Dumbarton and Clydebank", but the shadow authority elected in 1995 requested a change of name to "West Dunbartonshire", which was agreed by the government before the new council area came into force.[5][6]
The first election to the district council was held in 1974, initially operating as a shadow authority alongside the outgoing authorities until it came into its powers on 16 May 1975. Political control of the council from 1975 was as follows:[7]
| Party in control | Years | |
|---|---|---|
| Labour | 1975–1977 | |
| No overall control | 1977–1980 | |
| Labour | 1980–1988 | |
| No overall control | 1988–1996 | |
Elections were held as follows:[7]
| Year | Seats | Labour | Conservative | SNP | Alliance | Independent / Other | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1974 | 15 | 9 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 4 | |
| 1977 | 15 | 3 | 5 | 4 | 0 | 3 | |
| 1980 | 15 | 9 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | |
| 1984 | 16 | 11 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 2 | |
| 1988 | 16 | 7 | 4 | 3 | 0 | 2 | |
| 1992 | 16 | 8 | 5 | 2 | 0 | 1 | |
The council established its main offices at Crosslet House, a large Victorian house on Argyll Avenue in Dumbarton.[8][9] The council also inherited theMunicipal Buildings at the junction of Church Street and Glasgow Road in the centre of Dumbarton from the abolished Dumbarton Town Council. The Municipal Buildings had been built in 1903, and the district council used the council chamber there as its meeting place and other parts of the building as additional office space.[10] Both buildings passed to the successorWest Dunbartonshire Council in 1996. Crosslet House was subsequently demolished in 2015.[11]
Local government areas ofScotland, in use 1975 to 1996 | ||
|---|---|---|
| Borders |  | |
| Central | ||
| Dumfries and Galloway | ||
| Fife | ||
| Grampian | ||
| Highland | ||
| Lothian | ||
| Strathclyde | ||
| Tayside | ||
| Island areas1 | ||