Stratford-on-Avon District
Non-metropolitan district
River Avon at Stratford-upon-Avon
Shown within Warwickshire
Sovereign state	United Kingdom
Constituent country	England
Region	West Midlands
Administrative county	Warwickshire
Admin. HQ	Stratford-upon-Avon
Government
• Type	Non-metropolitan district
•  MPs:	Nadhim Zahawi ( C) Jeremy Wright ( C)
Area
• Total	377.6 sq mi (977.9 km2)
• Rank	27th
Population  (2021)
• Total	135,964
• Rank	Ranked 170th
• Density	360/sq mi (140/km2)
Ethnicity ( 2021) [1]
•  Ethnic groups	List 95.5% White 1.9% Asian 1.7% Mixed 0.5% other 0.4% Black
Religion (2021) [1]
•  Religion	List 56.4% Christianity 35.9% no religion 0.5% Islam 0.5% Hinduism 0.1% Judaism 0.4% Sikhism 0.3% Buddhism 0.4% other 5.5% not stated
Time zone	UTC+0 ( Greenwich Mean Time)
• Summer ( DST)	UTC+1 ( British Summer Time)
ONS code	44UE (ONS) E07000221 (GSS)

Stratford-on-Avon is a local government district in Warwickshire, England. The district is named after its largest town of Stratford-upon-Avon, but with a change of preposition; the town uses "upon" and the district uses "on". The council is based in Stratford-upon-Avon and the district, which is predominantly rural, also includes the towns of Alcester, Shipston-on-Stour and Southam, and the large villages of Bidford-on-Avon, Studley and Wellesbourne, plus numerous other smaller villages and hamlets and surrounding rural areas. The district covers the more sparsely populated southern part of Warwickshire, and contains nearly half the county's area. The district includes part of the Cotswolds, a designated Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty.

The neighbouring districts are Rugby and Warwick in Warwickshire, Solihull in the West Midlands, Bromsgrove, Redditch and Wychavon in Worcestershire, Cotswold in Gloucestershire, West Oxfordshire and Cherwell in Oxfordshire, and West Northamptonshire.

History

The district was formed on 1 April 1974 under the Local Government Act 1972. The new district covered the area of five former districts, which were all abolished at the same time: ^[2]

• Alcester Rural District
• Shipston-on-Stour Rural District
• Southam Rural District
• Stratford-on-Avon Rural District (except parish of Hockley Heath, which went to Solihull)
• Stratford-upon-Avon Municipal Borough

The new district was named Stratford-on-Avon after its main town, but using the "Stratford-on-Avon" variant of the name, which had also been used for the rural district which had covered the parishes surrounding the town. ^{[3] [4]}

Proposals to merge the district with neighbouring Warwick District were put forward and provisionally agreed, before eventually being abandoned in April 2022. ^{[5] [6]}

Governance

Stratford-on-Avon District Council
Type
Type	Non-metropolitan district
Leadership
Chair	Victoria Alcock, Liberal Democrat since 24 May 2023 [7]
Leader	Susan Juned, Liberal Democrat since 24 May 2023
Chief Executive	David Buckland since June 2019 [8]
Structure
Seats	41 councillors
Political groups	Administration (25)   Liberal Democrats (25) Other parties (16)   Conservative (12)   Green (3)   Independent (1)
Length of term	4 years
Elections
Voting system	First past the post
Last election	4 May 2023
Next election	6 May 2027
Meeting place
Elizabeth House, Church Street, Stratford-upon-Avon, CV37 6HX
Website
www.stratford.gov.uk

Stratford-on-Avon District Council provides district-level services. County-level services are provided by Warwickshire County Council. ^[9] The whole district is also covered by civil parishes, which form a third tier of local government. ^[10]

Political control

The council has been under Liberal Democrat majority control since the 2023 election. ^[11]

The first election to the council was held in 1973, initially operating as a shadow authority alongside the outgoing councils before coming into its powers on 1 April 1974. Since 1974 political control of the council has been as follows: ^{[12] [13] [14]}

Leadership

The leaders of the council since 2000 have been: ^[15]

Composition

Following the 2023 election the composition of the council was: ^[18]

The next election is due in 2027.

Elections

Since the last boundary changes in 2023 the council has comprised 41 councillors representing 39 wards, with each ward electing one or two councillors. Elections are held every four years. ^[19]

Premises

The council is based at Elizabeth House on Church Street in Stratford. ^[20] The oldest part of the building was a house at 15 Church Street, built in 1911 as "Maugersbury House". The house was bought in 1920 by NFU Mutual and converted to be their offices. It was later extended in a similar style along Church Street in 1927 and 1957. The NFU left the building in 1982, after which it was bought by the council and converted to become their offices and meeting place, replacing the five sets of offices inherited from the council's predecessor authorities. ^[21] The building was formally re-opened as the council's headquarters on 19 April 1985 by Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother, when it was named "Elizabeth House" in recognition of her visit. ^[22]

Towns and parishes

The whole district is covered by civil parishes, of which there are 113. The parish councils for Alcester, Shipston-on-Stour, Southam and Stratford-upon-Avon have declared their parishes to be towns, allowing them to take the style "town council". Some of the smaller parishes have a parish meeting rather than a parish council or share a grouped parish council with neighbouring parishes. Henley-in-Arden and Studley are both post towns, but have parish councils rather than town councils. ^[23]

The parishes are: ^[24]

• Admington, Alcester, Alderminster, Ardens Grafton, Arlescote, Arrow, Aston Cantlow, Atherstone-on-Stour, Avon Dassett,
• Barcheston, Barton-on-the-Heath, Bearley, Beaudesert, Bidford-on-Avon, Billesley, Binton, Bishops Itchington, Brailes, Broom, Burmington, Burton Dassett, Butlers Marston
• Chadshunt, Chapel Ascote, Charlecote, Cherington, Chesterton and Kingston, Claverdon, Clifford Chambers and Milcote, Combrook, Compton Verney, Compton Wynyates, Coughton
• Dorsington
• Ettington, Exhall
• Farnborough, Fenny Compton, Fulbrook
• Gaydon, Great Alne, Great Wolford
• Halford, Hampton Lucy, Harbury, Haselor, Henley-in-Arden, Hodnell and Wills Pastures, Honington
• Idlicote, Ilmington
• Kineton, Kinwarton
• Ladbroke, Langley, Lighthorne, Lighthorne Heath, Little Compton, Little Wolford, Long Compton, Long Itchington, Long Marston, Lower Shuckburgh, Loxley, Luddington
• Milcote, Moreton Morrell, Morton Bagot
• Napton-on-the-Hill, Newbold Pacey, Northend
• Oldberrow, Oversley Green, Oxhill
• Pillerton Hersey, Pillerton Priors, Preston Bagot, Preston-on-Stour, Priors Hardwick, Priors Marston
• Quinton
• Radbourne, Radway, Ratley and Upton
• Salford Priors, Sambourne, Shipston-on-Stour, Shotteswell, Snitterfield, Southam, Spernall, Stockton, Stoneton, Stourton, Stratford-upon-Avon, Stretton-on-Fosse, Studley, Sutton-under-Brailes
• Tanworth-in-Arden, Temple Grafton, Tidmington, Tredington, Tysoe
• Ufton, Ullenhall, Upper Shuckburgh, Warmington, Watergall, Weethley, Welford-on-Avon, Wellesbourne, Weston-on-Avon, Whatcote, Whichford, Whitchurch, Willington, Wilmcote, Wixford, Wolverton, Wootton Wawen, Wormleighton

See also

• List of wards in Stratford district by population

References

External links

• Stratford-on-Avon District Council YouTube channel

52°11′25″N 1°42′31″W / 52.1902°N 1.7087°W / 52.1902; -1.7087