Bromsgrove District

History

The town of Bromsgrove had been governed by improvement commissioners from 1846, who were replaced by an elected local board in 1859, which in turn was converted into an urban district council in 1894.

The modern district was formed on 1 April 1974 under the Local Government Act 1972. The new district covered the area of two former districts, which were both abolished at the same time:

• Bromsgrove Urban District
• Bromsgrove Rural District The new district was named Bromsgrove after its largest settlement.

Governance

Liberal Democrat Conservative ;Administration (13) : Conservative (11) : ;Other parties (18) : : Labour (6) :

Bromsgrove District Council provides district-level services. County-level services are provided by Worcestershire County Council. Much of the district is also covered by civil parishes, which form a third tier of local government for their areas.

Bromsgrove forms part of the Greater Birmingham & Solihull Local Enterprise Partnership. Since 2008 the council has developed shared working arrangements with neighbouring Redditch Borough Council, with the two organisations sharing a chief executive, management team and other staff.

Political control

The council has been under no overall control since the 2023 election, being run by an administration comprising the Conservatives and most of the independents, led by Conservative councillor Karen May.

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:

Leadership

The leaders of the council since 1987 have been:

Composition

Following the 2023 election, and subsequent changes of allegiance up to July 2025, the composition of the council was:

Five of the independent councillors sit together as the "2025 Independents" group, and the other two form the "Bromsgrove Independents" group. All cabinet positions are held by Conservatives or members of the Bromsgrove Independents group. The next election is due in 2027.

Elections

Since the last boundary changes in 2015 the council has comprised 31 councillors representing 30 wards, with each ward electing one councillor except Belbroughton and Romsley ward which elects two. Elections are held every four years.

Premises

The council is based at Parkside, at the corner of Market Street and Stourbridge Road. The building was formerly the Parkside School, built in 1912. The school moved to a new building in 2008. The old building was subsequently converted and extended to become the council's headquarters, as well as an area office for Worcestershire County Council and new library for the town, opening in 2015.

When first created in 1974 the council had inherited offices at St John's Court (then known as the Council House) from Bromsgrove Urban District Council and at 94 Birmingham Road from Bromsgrove Rural District Council. The council subsequently moved to a modern office building on Burcot Lane, also called the Council House, which was formally opened in 1986. It remained there until the move to Parkside in 2015. The Burcot Lane building has since been demolished.

Transport

Bromsgrove railway station is the local station for the district's centre, but there are several others within the district. Road travel, especially to Birmingham, is also important in the district.

Barnt Green railway station and Alvechurch railway station are on the line to Redditch.

Hagley railway station and Wythall railway station are also on lines leading into Birmingham, which pass through the edges of the district.

Bromsgrove is situated on Route 5 and 46 of the National Cycle Network.{{cite web |access-date=7 October 2019

Parishes

Most of the district's area is covered by civil parishes, the exceptions being two separate parts of the pre-1974 Bromsgrove Urban District which have not since been added to parishes: one covering the main part of the Bromsgrove built-up area, and another around Rubery on the northern edge of the district adjoining Birmingham. Each parish has a parish council.

Population

The following table illustrates the change in the population of the area that makes up the modern district between 1801 and 2011.

References

References

1. "GENERAL ELECTION RESULT - Conservatives hold Bromsgrove as Bradley Thomas wins seat".
2. "Bromsgrove Local Authority".
3. (1913). "A History of the County of Worcester: Volume 3". Victoria County History.
4. {{London Gazette. (11 November 1859)
5. "Bromsgrove Urban District". GB Historical GIS / University of Portsmouth.
6. {{cite legislation UK. (1972)
7. {{cite legislation UK. (1973)
8. (16 May 2025). "Bromsgrove District Council elects new chairman". Bromsgrove Standard.
9. (27 January 2025). "Agenda item - Statutory Officer Appointments - nominations to the positions of Chief Executive and Head of Paid Service and Deputy Chief Executive and Section 151 Officer".
10. {{cite legislation UK. (1972)
11. "Election Maps". Ordnance Survey.
12. (2018). "Corporate Peer Challenge: Bromsgrove DC and Redditch BC". Local Government Association.
13. (24 May 2023). "Bromsgrove District Council to consider committee system as it announces new leader and chairman". Bromsgrove Standard.
14. "Compositions Calculator". University of Exeter.
15. "Bromsgrove council". [[BBC News Online]].
16. (8 May 1987). "Shock loss for leader of council". Wolverhampton Express and Star.
17. (15 October 2007). "Civic leader dies". Bromsgrove Advertiser.
18. (28 August 2012). "Civic leader who held all major council roles dies aged 87". Bromsgrove Advertiser.
19. (14 May 1992). "Tory ousted". Birmingham Post.
20. (7 March 1995). "Council leader decides to make way for 'new faces'". Birmingham Post.
21. (5 May 1995). "Leader rejoices at 'dream' win". Birmingham Mail.
22. (7 May 1999). "Tories swept back in big turn-about". Birmingham Mail.
23. (12 May 1999). "Tories set to ditch costly leisure centre plan". Birmingham Post.
24. (1 May 2002). "Tory group oust long time leader". Worcester News.
25. (5 October 2005). "Who will be new leader?". Worcester News.
26. "Council minutes, 19 October 2005".
27. (2 February 2016). "Tributes paid to former Bromsgrove Council leader who died suddenly at 71". Bromsgrove Standard.
28. "Council minutes, 14 May 2014".
29. (5 July 2016). "Margaret Sherrey to stand down as Bromsgrove District Council leader after health scare". Bromsgrove Advertiser.
30. "Council minutes, 20 July 2016".
31. (16 May 2019). "May looks set to become new Bromsgrove District Council leader". Bromsgrove Standard.
32. "Council minutes, 22 May 2019".
33. "Local elections 2023: live council results for England". The Guardian.
34. "Bromsgrove". Thorncliffe.
35. "Your Councillors by Political Grouping".
36. {{cite legislation UK. (2014)
37. "Contact: Main council details".
38. {{NHLE
39. (9 June 2015). "Multi-million pound project to create council hub to be completed in August". Bromsgrove Advertiser.
40. (1976). "The Municipal Year Book". Municipal Journal.
41. {{London Gazette. (1 December 1972)
42. {{NHLE
43. (5 April 1986). "Smiling princess charms the crowds". Sandwell Evening Mail.
44. (30 October 2020). "Demolition to begin on former Bromsgrove Council House next month to make way for 61 homes". Bromsgrove Standard.
45. "Bromsgrove District with parishes".
46. "Parish council contact details".
47. "Vision of Britain". GIS Project.
48. Office for National Statistics, first release of data from 2011 census.