Rural district
| Rural district | |
|---|---|
District electoral division |
A rural district was a type of
England and Wales
In
Each rural district had an elected rural district council (RDC), which inherited the functions of the earlier sanitary districts, but also had wider authority over matters such as local planning,
Until 1930 the rural district councillors were also
was represented by one or more councillors.Originally there were 787 rural districts in England and Wales, as they were based directly upon the sanitary districts and poor law unions which had preceded them. Gradual urbanisation over the following decades led to some rural districts being redefined as urban districts or merging with existing urban districts or boroughs. Other rural districts proved to be too small or poor to be viable, and under the Local Government Act 1929, 236 rural districts were abolished and merged or amalgamated into larger units.[1] Further mergers took place over following decades and by 1965 the number of districts had been reduced to 473.
The typical shape of a rural district was a doughnut-shaped ring around a town (which would be either an
A few rural districts consisted of only one parish (for example,
All rural districts in England and Wales were abolished in 1974 (by the Local Government Act 1972) and were typically merged with nearby urban districts or boroughs to form "districts", which included both urban and rural areas.
See
Ireland
Rural districts were created in
In 1921, Ireland was partitioned with Northern Ireland remaining within the United Kingdom, and the rest of the country leaving as the Irish Free State in 1922. In the Irish Free State, rural districts outside of County Dublin were abolished in 1925 under the Local Government Act 1925 amid widespread accusations of corruption. Their functions were transferred to the county councils[2] The remaining rural districts in County Dublin were similarly abolished in 1930 by the Local Government (Dublin) Act 1930.[3] The former boundaries of the rural districts in the Republic of Ireland continue to be used for statistical purposes and defining constituencies.[4][5]
In Northern Ireland, rural districts continued to exist until 1973 when they were abolished (along with all other local government of the old pattern) and replaced with a system of unitary
Newfoundland
Rural districts also existed in the Canadian province of Newfoundland to govern certain rural communities. Under Newfoundland's Local Government Act, rural districts and towns together formed the province's municipalities.[6] Under the Municipalities Act, effective April 1, 1980, rural districts where abolished and automatically turned into towns.[7]
References
- ^ "Vision of Britain - Administrative Units Typology - Status definition: Rural District". www.visionofbritain.org.uk.
- ^ Local Government Act, 1925 Archived 2007-04-16 at the Wayback Machine. Irish Statute Book.
- ^ "Irish Statute Book, Local Government (Dublin) Act, 1930". Archived from the original on 2007-02-28. Retrieved 2005-11-28.
- ^ "Census - CSO - Central Statistics Office" (PDF). www.cso.ie.
- ^ (eISB), electronic Irish Statute Book. "electronic Irish Statute Book (eISB)". www.irishstatutebook.ie.
- ^ Statutes of Newfoundland 1972, p. 162.
- ^ Government of Newfoundland and Labrador, Historical Statistics of Newfoundland and Labrador, 1988, table A-9.