Torridge District

50.893°N 4.265°W / 50.893; -4.265

Torridge Torridge District
Non-metropolitan district
Torridge shown within Devon
Sovereign state	United Kingdom
Constituent country	England
Region	South West England
Non-metropolitan county	Devon
Status	Non-metropolitan district
Admin HQ	Bideford
Incorporated	1 April 1974
Government
• Type	Non-metropolitan district council
• Body	Torridge District Council
• MPs	Geoffrey Cox
Area
• Total	380.4 sq mi (985.3 km2)
• Rank	26th (of 296)
Population  (2022)
• Total	68,635
• Rank	286th (of 296)
• Density	180/sq mi (70/km2)
• Ethnicity	99.0% White
Time zone	UTC0 (GMT)
• Summer (DST)	UTC+1 (BST)
ONS code	18UK (ONS) E07000046 (GSS)
OS grid reference	SS4072412895

Torridge is a local government district in north-west Devon, England. Its council is based in the town of Bideford. The district also includes the towns of Great Torrington, Holsworthy and Northam, along with numerous villages and surrounding rural areas. The island of Lundy forms part of the district. The district is named after the River Torridge.

The district's coast is recognised for its natural beauty, forming part of the North Devon Coast, an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. The South West Coast Path runs through the area.

The neighbouring districts are North Devon, Mid Devon, West Devon and Cornwall.

History

The district was formed on 1 April 1974 under the Local Government Act 1972. The new district covered the area of six former districts, which were all abolished at the same time, plus Lundy Island:^[1]

• Bideford Municipal Borough
• Bideford Rural District
• Great Torrington Municipal Borough
• Holsworthy Rural District
• Lundy Island
• Northam Urban District
• Torrington Rural District

The new district was named after the River Torridge which flows through the area.^[2]

Governance

Torridge District Council
Type
Type	Non-metropolitan district
History
Founded	1 April 1974
Leadership
Chair	Doug Bushby, Independent since 26 April 2021[3][4]
Leader	Ken James, Independent since 9 December 2019
Chief Executive	Steve Hearse since April 2020[5]
Structure
Seats	36 councillors
Political groups	Independents (16)   Liberal Democrat (9)   Conservative (6)   Green Party (3)   Labour (2)
Elections
Voting system	First past the post
Last election	4 May 2023
Next election	6 May 2027
Meeting place
Town Hall, Bridge Street, Bideford, EX39 2HS
Website
torridge.gov.uk

Torridge District Council provides district-level services. County-level services are provided by Devon County Council.^[6] Most of the district is also covered by civil parishes, which form a third tier of local government.^[7]

Political control

The council has been under no overall control since the 2023 election.

The first election to the council was held in 1973, initially operating as a shadow authority alongside the outgoing authorities until the new arrangements took effect on 1 April 1974. Political control of the council since 1974 has been as follows:^[8][9]

Party in control		Years
	Independent	1974–1995
	No overall control	1995–1999
	Independent	1999–2007
	No overall control	2007–2015
	Conservative	2015–2017
	No overall control	2017–2022
	Independent	2022–2023
	No overall control	2023–present

Leadership

The leaders of the council since 2004 have been:^[10]

Councillor	Party		From	To
Pat Ferguson		Independent	pre-2004	6 May 2007
James Morrish		Conservative	21 May 2007	8 May 2011
Barry Parsons		Conservative	23 May 2011	20 May 2013
Philip Collins		Independent	20 May 2013	10 May 2015
Jane Whittaker		Conservative	18 May 2015	5 May 2019
Anna Dart[11]		Independent	13 May 2019	Dec 2019
Ken James		Independent	9 Dec 2019

Composition

Following the 2023 election and a by-election in May 2024, the composition of the council was:^[12][13]

Party		Councillors
	Independent	16
	Liberal Democrats	9
	Conservative	6
	Green	3
	Labour	2
Total		36

Of the sixteen independent councillors, twelve form the "Independent Group", two sit with the Greens as the "Green Independents", and the other two do not belong to a group.^[14][15] The next election is due in 2027.

Premises

Riverbank House, Chanters Road, Bideford: Council's main offices

Council meetings are usually held at Bideford Town Hall, which had been built in 1851 for the old Bideford Corporation.^[16] The council's main offices are at Riverbank House in Bideford, which had been built c. 1982 as the headquarters of the Western Counties Building Society, before being bought by Torridge District Council in 1988.^[17][18]

Elections

See also: Torridge District Council elections

Since the last boundary changes in 2019, the council has comprised 36 councillors representing 16 wards, with each ward electing one, two or three councillors. Elections are held every four years.^[19]

Towns and parishes

See also: List of civil parishes in Devon

Most of Torridge is covered by civil parishes. The exception is Lundy, which is an unparished area. Some of the smaller parishes have a parish meeting rather than a parish council. The parish councils for Bideford, Great Torrington, Holsworthy and Northam take the style "town council".^[20]

Torridge CVS

Torridge CVS is a charitable organisation providing vulnerable people across the Torridge district with day-to-day living assistance. It provides advice, befriending schemes, support for carers, help to older people and help with charitable fund-raising, liaising with voluntary and community groups where necessary. It offers placements for individuals who want to get more involved in their local communities and relies on local volunteers, with over 2000 volunteers registered. It has been in operation since 1988 and is a member of NAVCA, the National Association for Voluntary and Community Action, being largely funded by Devon County Council and Torridge District Council.^[21]

See also

• North Devon Coast – AONB
• Grade I listed buildings in Torridge
• Grade II* listed buildings in Torridge

References

1. "The English Non-metropolitan Districts (Definition) Order 1972", legislation.gov.uk, The National Archives, SI 1972/2039, retrieved 2 August 2023
2. "The English Non-metropolitan Districts (Names) Order 1973", legislation.gov.uk, The National Archives, SI 1973/551, retrieved 31 May 2023
3. "Council minutes, 26 April 2021". Torridge District Council. Retrieved 2 August 2023.
4. Trewhela, Lee (30 May 2024). "Torridge leader elected for fifth time". Cornish and Devon Post. Retrieved 2 July 2024.
5. Clarke, Lewis (9 August 2020). "Council welcomes Steve Hearse as top man at Torridge Council". In Your Area. Retrieved 2 August 2023.
6. "Local Government Act 1972", legislation.gov.uk, The National Archives, 1972 c. 70, retrieved 31 May 2023
7. "Election Maps". Ordnance Survey. Retrieved 25 July 2023.
8. "England council elections". BBC News Online. 10 May 2011. Retrieved 23 June 2014.
9. "Compositions calculator". The Elections Centre. Retrieved 31 July 2023.
10. "Council minutes". Torridge District Council. Retrieved 31 July 2022.
11. Cooper, Joel (5 December 2019). "Mystery surrounds sudden resignation of council leader". Devon Live. Retrieved 31 July 2022.
12. "Local elections 2023: live council results for England". The Guardian.
13. "Declaration of result of poll" (PDF). Torridge District Council. Retrieved 10 May 2024.
14. "Torridge". Local Councils. Thorncliffe. Retrieved 2 July 2024.
15. "Your councillors by political grouping". Torridge District Council. Retrieved 2 August 2023.
16. Historic England. "Town Hall and Public Library (1200934)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 8 December 2020.
17. "Contact us". Torridge District Council. Retrieved 2 August 2023.
18. "Planning application 1/0088/2018/LA". Torridge District Council. p. 2, Supporting Statement. Retrieved 2 August 2023. Riverbank House was built circa 1982 as the former Western Counties Building Society head office. In 1988 Torridge District Council took over the premises as a main administration building for the Council.
19. "The Torridge (Electoral Changes) Order 2017", legislation.gov.uk, The National Archives, SI 2017/1083, retrieved 2 August 2023
20. "Parish council contact details". Torridge District Council. Retrieved 2 August 2023.
21. "Torridge CVS". Torridge CVS. Retrieved 14 August 2016.