Rural Boroughs
A weakness in the county reviews carried out under the earlier Local Government Act 1929 had been that, unlike small urban districts, municipal boroughs of a similar size could not be amalgamated into a surrounding rural district. This was addressed in the 1958 Act, which gave the reviewing county council or local government commission the power to include a non-county borough in a rural district. However, some of the civic dignities of the borough corporation would be retained. The boroughs thus effected would be known as "boroughs included in rural districts", or as rural boroughs.
The concept of rural boroughs had originally been announced by Henry Brooke, Minister of Housing and Local Government in the House of Commons on 29 July 1957 when he said he was considering that in future rural districts could include "what might be called a rural borough or country borough with the mayoralty and corporate existence continuing so that the burgesses could go on enjoying the traditions and the corporate property which their predecessors had handed down".
Rural boroughs were no longer to be governed by the Municipal Corporations Act 1882, and the corporation was to consist entirely of elected councillors, from whose number a mayor and deputy mayor were to be chosen annually. The office of alderman was not to exist in rural boroughs. The council of a rural borough was required to continue to appoint a town clerk, and was permitted to employ such officers and servants as needed to discharge the functions of the borough. All provisions of the borough's charter not inconsistent with its new status were to remain in effect. Rural boroughs were prevented from applying for a new or amended charter, however. If the borough corporation so chose it could surrender its charter, and the borough would be converted into a civil parish governed by a parish council.
Seven rural boroughs were created:
- Bishops Castle, to Clun and Bishop's Castle Rural District in 1967
- Bridgnorth, to Bridgnorth Rural District in 1967
- Lostwithiel, to St Austell Rural District in 1968
- Ludlow, to Ludlow Rural District in 1967
- South Molton, to South Molton Rural District in 1967
- Oswestry, to Oswestry Rural District in 1967
- Wenlock, to Bridgnorth Rural District in 1966
Rural boroughs were abolished in 1974 under the Local Government Act 1972, and converted to civil parishes.
Read more about this topic: Local Government Act 1958
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