Bredbury - Governance

Governance

Bredbury and Romiley Local Board was created in 1865, covering the civil parishes of Bredbury and Romiley, and in 1880 the two parishes were amalgamated. Bredbury and Romiley Urban District was created in 1894, and was extended to include the former Compstall Urban District in 1936. In 1952, Brinnington township was transferred to the County Borough of Stockport to enable a large residential overspill estate to be built.

Until 1953 Bredbury Ward returned twelve councillors to the urban district council, with Romiley Ward returning six and Compstall Ward returning a single member. In that year, Bredbury Ward was divided into Bredbury North and Bredbury South wards, and in 1959, there was a redivision of the urban District into seven wards, with Compstall continuing to return a single councillor, and each of the others electing three. Romiley received three wards and a new Woodley ward was created out of Bredbury, the first time that the village of Woodley had been officially recognised. The remainder of Bredbury was divided into Bredbury North, Bredbury South and Bredbury West. There were further electoral changes in 1970 when the altered Bredbury North ward was renamed Bredbury Central.

Up to 1958, the Urban District formed one electoral division on Cheshire County Council, but in that year it was divided into Bredbury Tame and Bredbury Goyt divisions.

The council offices were in Bredbury Old School on School Brow until 1919, when Bank House on George Lane was acquired. The site has since been redeveloped for housing.

The council's first acquisition of houses was a terrace at Vernon View in 1922. Construction of the houses had been delayed by the First World War. In the same year the first council estate was commenced at George Lane.

The council subsequently owned over 2,000 homes, including several schemes for old people's accommodation incorporating welfare features.

In 1959, the urban district council intervened over an application by Manchester City Council for a compulsory purchase order to build an overspill estate on 60 acres (240,000 m2) of land at Bredbury Green, offering two other sites instead. The confirmed area was reduced to 24 acres (97,000 m2). The City Council subsequently completed several relatively small overspill estates, which resulted in more successful integration than in some nearby areas.

The council was for many years in the forefront of a campaign for the preservation and restoration of the Lower Peak Forest Canal and the connecting waterways of the Cheshire Ring. The canal reopened in 1974.

In 1974, the urban district was abolished. Its former area was transferred to Greater Manchester and combined with neighbouring districts to form the Metropolitan Borough of Stockport. It formed part of two wards, Bredbury and Romiley, each returning three members. The ward boundaries were subsequently adjusted, and in 2005 the wards were renamed Bredbury and Woodley and Bredbury Green and Romiley.

Although the area had traditionally elected Conservative politicians, with occasional victories for the Labour Party, by 2006 all elected positions were held by the Liberal Democrats.