North Hertfordshire District | |
|---|---|
 St Mary's Church from Market Place inHitchin, the district's largest town | |
 North Hertfordshire shown within Hertfordshire | |
| Sovereign state | United Kingdom |
| Constituent country | England |
| Region | East of England |
| Non-metropolitan county | Hertfordshire |
| Status | Non-metropolitan district |
| Admin HQ | Letchworth |
| Established | 1 April 1974 |
| Government | |
| • Type | Non-metropolitan district council |
| • Body | North Hertfordshire District Council |
| • MPs | Kevin Bonavia(L) Chris Hinchliff(L) Alistair Strathern(L) |
| Area | |
• Total | 375.4 km2 (144.9 sq mi) |
| • Rank | 91st(of 296) |
| Population (2024) | |
• Total | 137,201 |
| • Rank | 179th(of 296) |
| • Density | 365.5/km2 (946.6/sq mi) |
| Ethnicity(2021) | |
| • Ethnic groups | |
| Religion(2021) | |
| • Religion | List
|
| Time zone | UTC0 (GMT) |
| • Summer (DST) | UTC+1 (BST) |
| ONS code | 26UF (ONS) E07000099 (GSS) |
| OS grid reference | TL2355435083 |
North Hertfordshire is one of tenlocal government districts in thecounty ofHertfordshire,England. Its council is based inLetchworth Garden City and the largest town isHitchin. The district also includes the towns ofBaldock andRoyston and numerous villages and surrounding rural areas. Part of the district lies within theChiltern Hills, a designatedArea of Outstanding Natural Beauty.
The neighbouring districts areEast Hertfordshire,Stevenage,Welwyn Hatfield,St Albans,Luton,Central Bedfordshire,South Cambridgeshire andUttlesford.
North Hertfordshire was created on 1 April 1974 under theLocal Government Act 1972, covering the area of five former districts, which were all abolished at the same time:[2]
The new district was named North Hertfordshire, reflecting its position within the wider county.[3]
North Hertfordshire District Council | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Type | |
| Type | |
| Leadership | |
| Structure | |
| Seats | 51 councillors |
Political groups |
|
| Elections | |
Last election | 2 May 2024 |
Next election | 4 May 2028 |
| Meeting place | |
 Council Offices, Gernon Road, Letchworth Garden City, SG6 3JF | |
| Website | |
| www | |
North Hertfordshire District Council providesdistrict-level services.County-level services are provided byHertfordshire County Council. Much of the district is covered bycivil parishes, which form a third tier of local government for their areas.[7][8]
The council has been underno overall control since the2019 election. Following the2024 election the council is being run by aLabour minority administration.[9]
The first election to North Hertfordshire District Council was held in 1973, initially operating as a shadow authority alongside the outgoing authorities until the new system came into force on 1 April 1974. Political control since 1974 has been as follows:[10]
| Party in control | Years | |
|---|---|---|
| No overall control | 1974–1976 | |
| Conservative | 1976–1994 | |
| No overall control | 1994–1996 | |
| Labour | 1996–1999 | |
| Conservative | 1999–2019 | |
| No overall control | 2019–present | |
Theleaders of the council since 1974 have been:
| Councillor | Party | From | To | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bob Flatman[11] | Conservative | 1 Apr 1974 | May 1992 | |
| Geoff Woods[12][13] | Conservative | 19 May 1992 | May 1995 | |
| David Kearns[14][15] | Labour | May 1995 | May 1999 | |
| F. John Smith[15][16] | Conservative | May 1999 | May 2010 | |
| Lynda Needham[17][18] | Conservative | 20 May 2010 | May 2019 | |
| Martin Stears-Handscomb[19][20] | Labour | 21 May 2019 | May 2021 | |
| Elizabeth Dennis[21][9] | Labour | 26 May 2021 | May 2024 | |
| Daniel Allen[22] | Labour | 23 May 2024 | ||
Following the2024 election and subsequent changes of allegiance up to May 2025, the composition of the council was:[23][24][25]
| Party | Councillors | |
|---|---|---|
| Labour | 23 | |
| Liberal Democrats | 20 | |
| Conservative | 7 | |
| Independent | 1 | |
| Total | 51 | |
The next election is due in 2028.[26]
Since the last boundary changes in 2024, the council has comprised 51councillors representing 25wards, with each ward elected one, two or three councillors. Elections are held every four years.[27][28]
When the council was created in 1974, it inherited five sets of offices from the five former authorities, spread across the four towns ofHitchin,Letchworth,Baldock andRoyston. Initially the new council used the formerHitchin Rural District Council's offices (later called Centenary House) on Grammar School Walk in Hitchin as its headquarters, with the other offices providing additional accommodation. In 1975, the year after the new council's creation, it consolidated most of its functions into a new six-storey building called Council Offices on Gernon Road in Letchworth, designed by Tony Walker of architects Damond Lock, Grabowski and Partners. The building was formally opened on 22 July 1975 byPrince Richard, Duke of Gloucester.[29][30] The council rented the building until 2013, when it purchased it for £3.6 million.[31]
North Hertfordshire contains four towns, being Baldock, Hitchin, Letchworth, and Royston. The district also borders the northern, western and southern edges ofStevenage, and some parts of the latter's urban area lie within North Hertfordshire rather than the borough of Stevenage, notably including much of theGreat Ashby area. Knebworth is apost town, but its parish council has not formally declared it a town.
North Hertfordshire contains 35civil parishes. Six of the smaller parishes do not haveparish councils, having instead aparish meeting, being those marked with asterisks(*) below.[32] In addition, the three towns of Baldock, Hitchin, and Letchworth areunparished areas, as nosuccessor parishes were created for those three former urban districts on their abolition in 1974. A Letchworth Garden City Parish was subsequently created in 2005, but was abolished in 2013.[33]
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In 2021 the council adopted a new logo of four hearts (shown in the infobox above) and the style "North Herts Council" instead of its full formal name of "North Hertfordshire District Council". Prior to this, the council had used a logo of the initials "NHDC" in a green and purple square for approximately thirty years.[35]
In terms of television, North Hertfordshire is served byBBC East andITV Anglia with television signals received from theSandy Heath TV transmitter.[36]
Radio stations that broadcast to the area are:
Local newspapers for the area are:
52°00′N0°12′W / 52.0°N 0.2°W /52.0; -0.2
