Fenland

From Infogalactic: the planetary knowledge core
Jump to: navigation, search

<templatestyles src="Module:Hatnote/styles.css"></templatestyles>

Fenland District
Non-metropolitan district
Fenland shown within Cambridgeshire
Fenland shown within Cambridgeshire
Sovereign state United Kingdom
Constituent country England
Region East of England
Non-metropolitan county Cambridgeshire
Status Non-metropolitan district
Admin HQ March
Incorporated 1 April 1974
Government
 • Type Non-metropolitan district council
 • Body Fenland District Council
 • Leadership Leader & Cabinet (Conservative)
 • MPs Stephen Barclay
Area
 • Total 210.99 sq mi (546.45 km2)
Area rank 85th (of 326)
Population (mid-2014 est.)
 • Total 97,732
 • Rank 244th (of 326)
 • Density 460/sq mi (180/km2)
 • Ethnicity 98.6% White
Time zone GMT (UTC0)
 • Summer (DST) BST (UTC+1)
ONS code 12UD (ONS)
E07000010 (GSS)
OS grid reference TL417969
Website www.fenland.gov.uk

Fenland is a local government district in Cambridgeshire, England. Its council is based in March, and covers the neighbouring market towns of Chatteris, Whittlesey, and Wisbech, often called the "capital of the fens".[1] The district covers around 500 square kilometres (210.99 square miles) of mostly agricultural land in the extremely flat Fens.

It was formed on 1 April 1974, with the merger of the Borough of Wisbech, Chatteris Urban District, March Urban District, Whittlesey Urban District, North Witchford Rural District and Wisbech Rural District.[2]

Politics

<templatestyles src="Module:Hatnote/styles.css"></templatestyles>

Fenland District Council is elected every four years, with currently 40 councillors being elected at each election. Since 1976 the Conservative party has held control of the party, apart from a period after 1995 when Labour had control, but the Conservatives regained a majority at the 1999 election. As of the 2015 elections the council is composed of the following councillors:[3]

Party Councillors
  Conservative Party 34
  Independent 3
  Liberal Democrats 2

Economy

The Fenland economy has for years been built upon farming and food related industry. The food industry is now well established, and related processing, storage, packaging and distribution has become more sophisticated and diverse. The predominantly rural economy of the area has also included a strong industrial tradition, including brick making, printing and engineering, but many Fenland residents already travel outside the area to work.

As growth of the local economy from Cambridge continues, the pressure for outsourcing of industry, housing and jobs is expected to move northwards[citation needed]. Chatteris will be given priority for economic regeneration in the Cambridge sub-region[citation needed] and further housing allocations will be dependent on improving job prospects.

Fenland council gave £370,400 to its chief executive Tim Pilsbury when he took early retirement in 2010-11.[4]

Twinning

Fenland is twinned with:

See also

References

  1. Wisbech Community Network
  2. The English Non-metropolitan Districts (Definition) Order 1972 - SI 1972/2038
  3. Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  4. Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.

External links

Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.