Three Rivers District

History

Three Rivers District was created on 1 April 1974 under the Local Government Act 1972, covering the whole area of two former districts and most of a third, which were all abolished at the same time:

• Chorleywood Urban District
• Rickmansworth Urban District
• Watford Rural District, except the parish of Aldenham, which went to Hertsmere, and the part within the designated area of Hemel Hempstead New Town, which went to Dacorum.

The new district was named "Three Rivers", referencing the rivers Chess, Colne, and Gade which flow through the district and have their confluence in Rickmansworth, the largest town in the district.

Governance

Labour Liberal Democrats : ;Other parties (20) : Conservative (11) : Green (3) : Labour (3) : Independent (3)

Hertfordshire has a two-tier structure of local government, with the ten district councils (including Three Rivers District Council) providing district-level services, and Hertfordshire County Council providing county-level services. In some areas there is an additional third tier of civil parishes.

Responsibilities

Three Rivers District Council carries out a variety of district council functions including:

• Benefits - Housing and Council Tax
• Car Parking
• Concessionary Travel
• Council Tax - Administration and Collection
• Elections and Electoral Registration
• Environmental Health
• Food Safety and Hygiene Complaints
• Noise Pollution and Pest Control
• Housing Administration
• Licensing
• Caravan Sites
• Town Planning
• Public Conveniences
• Health and Leisure Centres
• Refuse Collection
• Recycling
• Tourism and Visitor Information

Political control

The council has been under no overall control since a by-election in August 2024, having previously been under Liberal Democrat majority control since 2018. The leaders of the council have been Liberal Democrats (or their predecessors, the SDP–Liberal Alliance) since 1986, including through some periods of minority administrations.

The first election to Three Rivers District Council was held in 1973, initially acting as a shadow authority alongside the outgoing authorities until the new arrangements took effect on 1 April 1974. Political control since 1974 has been as follows:

Leadership

The leaders of the council since 1986 have been:

Composition

Following the 2024 election and by-elections and changes of allegiance up to March 2025, the composition of the council was:

The next election is due in May 2026.

Premises

The council's main offices are at Three Rivers House on Northway in the centre of Rickmansworth, which was purpose-built for the council in 1991. The site had been part of the grounds of Basing House, which had bought by the old Rickmansworth Urban District Council in 1930 to serve as its headquarters.

Elections

Since the last boundary changes in 2014 the council has comprised 39 councillors representing 13 wards, each of which elects three councillors. Elections are held three years out of every four, electing one councillor from each ward each time. Elections to Hertfordshire County Council are held in the fourth year of the cycle when there are no district council elections.

Wards

The wards of the district are:

• Abbots Langley and Bedmond
• Carpenders Park
• Chorleywood North and Sarratt
• Chorleywood South and Maple Cross
• Dickinsons
• Durrants
• Gade Valley
• Leavesden
• Moor Park and Eastbury
• Oxhey Hall and Hayling
• Penn and Mill End
• Rickmansworth Town
• South Oxhey

Wider politics

County council

For elections to Hertfordshire County Council, the district is divided into six divisions, three of which are held by the Conservatives, and three by the Liberal Democrats:

Parliament

For parliamentary elections, the entire district has been part of the South West Hertfordshire constituency since the 2024 general election. The constituency is not quite coterminous with the district, however, as it also contains the ward of Kings Langley from the Dacorum district. The current MP is Gagan Mohindra of the Conservative Party.

Rail

Train services are provided by Chiltern Railways and the Metropolitan line of the London Underground.

London Underground stations:

• Chorleywood
• Croxley
• Rickmansworth
• Moor Park

Chiltern Railways stations:

• Chorleywood
• Rickmansworth

A special fare structure exists as the stations are outside the Greater London boundary.

London Overground stations:

• Carpenders Park

West Coast Main Line stations:

• Kings Langley

Settlements

• Abbots Langley
• Chorleywood
• Croxley Green
• Loudwater
• Maple Cross
• Moor Park
• Rickmansworth
• Sarratt
• South Oxhey

Civil parishes

Three Rivers is partially parished. There are six civil parishes in the district:

• Abbots Langley
• Batchworth
• Chorleywood
• Croxley Green
• Sarratt
• Watford Rural

There are also two unparished areas in the district, both comprising parts of the former Rickmansworth Urban District which have not subsequently been added to a parish: one larger area including Maple Cross and Mill End, Rickmansworth; and a smaller area including part of Loudwater.

Footnotes

References

1. "Three Rivers Local Authority".
2. {{cite legislation UK. (1972)
3. {{cite legislation UK. (1973)
4. (23 May 2025). "New Chair 'honoured' to take on civic role".
5. (23 May 2024). "Three Rivers District Council elects new leader". Watford Observer.
6. (8 January 2020). "Three Rivers appoints new Chief Executive".
7. {{cite legislation UK. (1972)
8. "Compositions Calculator". University of Exeter.
9. (19 April 2008). "Three Rivers". [[BBC News Online]].
10. (18 May 2016). "Colleagues pay tribute to former council leader who stepped down after 30 years in role". Watford Observer.
11. "Council minutes, 17 May 2016".
12. "Council minutes, 14 July 2020".
13. (23 May 2024). "Three Rivers District Council elects new leader". Watford Observer.
14. "Council minutes, 21 May 2024".
15. (3 May 2024). "Three Rivers election result". [[BBC News]].
16. (10 May 2024). "Grand post-election roundup". Thorncliffe.
17. (23 August 2024). "Election Result: Lib Dems lose majority on Three Rivers council after Tories win by-election". My Local News.
18. "Three Rivers". Thorncliffe.
19. (9 October 1991). "Tour the council". Harefield Gazette.
20. (14 November 1930). "Rickmansworth: Basing House". Buckinghamshire Examiner.
21. {{cite legislation UK. (2014)
22. "Hertfordshire's County Councillors". [[Hertfordshire County Council]].
23. "Final recommendations local authority ward data".
24. "The 2023 Review of Parliamentary Constituency Boundaries in England – Volume two: Constituency names, designations and composition – Eastern".
25. "Election Maps". [[Ordnance Survey]].