Borough of Brentwood | |
|---|---|
 High Street inBrentwood, the largest town in the borough | |
 Brentwood shown within Essex | |
| Sovereign state | United Kingdom |
| Constituent country | England |
| Region | East of England |
| Non-metropolitan county | Essex |
| Status | Non-metropolitan district,Borough |
| Admin HQ | Brentwood |
| Incorporated | 1 April 1974 |
| Government | |
| • Type | Non-metropolitan district council |
| • Body | Brentwood Borough Council |
| • Leadership | Alternative - Sec. 31 (No overall control) |
| • MPs | Alex Burghart |
| Area | |
• Total | 59.12 sq mi (153.12 km2) |
| • Rank | 165th(of 296) |
| Population (2024) | |
• Total | 79,326 |
| • Rank | 282nd(of 296) |
| • Density | 1,341.8/sq mi (518.06/km2) |
| Ethnicity(2021) | |
| • Ethnic groups | |
| Religion(2021) | |
| • Religion | List
|
| Time zone | UTC0 (GMT) |
| • Summer (DST) | UTC+1 (BST) |
| ONS code | 22UD (ONS) E07000068 (GSS) |
| OS grid reference | TQ595938 |
TheBorough of Brentwood is alocal government district withborough status inEssex, England. The borough is named after its main town ofBrentwood, where the council is based; it includes several villages and the surrounding rural area.
The neighbouring districts areEpping Forest,Chelmsford,Basildon,Thurrock and theLondon Borough of Havering.
The formerBrentwood Urban District had been created in 1899.[2]Urban districts were abolished in 1974 under theLocal Government Act 1972. A newnon-metropolitan district was created on 1 April 1974 covering the whole of the former Brentwood Urban District plus parts of another two districts, which were all abolished at the same time:[3]
The new district was named Brentwood after its main town.[4]The district was awarded borough status on 10 March 1993, allowing the chair of the council to take the title of mayor.[5]
Brentwood Borough Council | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Type | |
| Type | |
| Leadership | |
Jonathan Stephenson since 2019[7] | |
| Structure | |
| Seats | 39[8] |
 | |
Political groups | Administration (20)
Other parties (19)
|
| Elections | |
Last election | 2 May 2024 |
Next election | 7 May 2026 |
| Meeting place | |
 | |
| Town Hall, Ingrave Road, Brentwood, CM15 8AY | |
| Website | |
| www | |
Brentwood Borough Council providesdistrict-level services.County-level services are provided byEssex County Council. Parts of the borough are also covered bycivil parishes, which form a third tier of local government.[9]
The council went underno overall control at the2023 Brentwood Borough Council election. ALiberal Democrat andLabour coalition subsequently formed an administration.[10]
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:[11][12][13]
| Party in control | Years | |
|---|---|---|
| Conservative | 1974–1990 | |
| No overall control | 1990–1991 | |
| Liberal Democrats | 1991–2003 | |
| No overall control | 2003–2004 | |
| Conservative | 2004–2014 | |
| No overall control | 2014–2015 | |
| Conservative | 2015–2023 | |
| No overall control | 2023–present | |
The role of mayor is largely ceremonial in Brentwood. Political leadership is instead provided by theleader of the council. The leaders since 1991 have been:
| Councillor | Party | From | To | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chris Dale[14] | Liberal Democrats | May 1991 | Oct 1995 | |
| David Gottesmann[15] | Liberal Democrats | Oct 1995 | May 2002 | |
| Vicky Cook[16] | Liberal Democrats | 22 May 2002 | Jun 2004 | |
| Brandon Lewis[17][18] | Conservative | 23 Jun 2004 | 18 Mar 2009 | |
| Louise McKinlay[19][20] | Conservative | 13 May 2009 | May 2014 | |
| Barry Aspinell[21] | Liberal Democrats | 11 Jun 2014 | May 2015 | |
| Louise McKinlay[22][23] | Conservative | 20 May 2015 | 15 May 2019 | |
| Chris Hossack[24][25] | Conservative | 15 May 2019 | 7 May 2023 | |
| Barry Aspinell[26] | Liberal Democrats | 17 May 2023 | ||
Following the2024 election,[27] and subsequent changes of allegiance in April 2025, the composition of the council was:[28]
| Party | Councillors | |
|---|---|---|
| Conservative | 19 | |
| Liberal Democrats | 17 | |
| Labour | 3 | |
| Total | 39 | |
The next election is due in May 2026.[28]
The council is based atBrentwood Town Hall on Ingrave Road, which had been built in 1957 for the former Brentwood Urban District Council.[29]
Since the last boundary changes in 2002, the council has comprised 37councillors representing 15wards; each ward elects 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. In the fourth year of the cycle, when there are no elections for the borough council, elections forEssex County Council are held instead.[30]
There are still large areas of woodland including Shenfield Common, Hartswood (named after its last private owner, a Mr. Hart),Weald Country Park, and Thorndon Country Park.
The main transport links run through the borough in a south-west to north-east direction, with other important links running west to east.
Railway stations atShenfield andIngatestone facilitate services along theGreat Eastern Main Line toColchester,Clacton,Ipswich andLondon Liverpool Street; these are operated byGreater Anglia.[31]
Brentwood and Shenfield stations are served by Greater Anglia trains between Liverpool Street,Billericay,Southend Airport andSouthend Victoria; some peak hour services run toSouthminster.[31]Elizabeth line stopping trains run betweenLondon Paddington, Brentwood and Shenfield; this route is operated byMTR.[32]
Also within the borough isWest Horndon station, on theLondon, Tilbury & Southend line;c2c provides direct trains toLondon Fenchurch Street,Basildon,Southend Central andShoeburyness.[33]
A major trunk road running through the borough is theA12 dual-carriageway, running fromEast London toChelmsford,Colchester, the ports ofHarwich andFelixstowe,Ipswich andLowestoft. The old Roman road (A1023) passes through the centre of Brentwood and joins the A12, which by-passes the town. Within different parts of Brentwood, the A1023 is called (from west to east) Brook Street, London Road, High Street, Shenfield Road, and Chelmsford Road.
The other main road in the borough is theA127Southend Arterial Road, which separates from the A12 nearRomford and then proceeds easterly toSouthend-on-Sea.
The borough is served by a dedicated community radio stations,Phoenix FM.
There are ninecivil parishes in the borough. The former Brentwood Urban District is anunparished area, directly administered by Brentwood Borough Council.[34][35]
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Brentwood is twinned withRoth bei Nürnberg inGermany andMontbazon inFrance.
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