Greater Manchester
Greater Manchester's Location within England |
|
- City of Manchester
- Stockport
- Tameside
- Oldham
- Rochdale
- Bury
- Bolton
- Wigan
- City of
Salford
- Trafford
|
Greater
Manchester is a metropolitan county in England
established in 1974 which covers an area roughly encompassing the conurbation
surrounding the City of Manchester.
It is situated in North West England. The metropolitan county consists
of ten metropolitan boroughs, including the City
of Manchester and the City
of Salford.
It borders with the
ceremonial counties of Cheshire (including Warrington),
Derbyshire, West Yorkshire,
Lancashire (including Blackburn with Darwen)
and Merseyside.
As well as Manchester
city centre, the county includes major centres such as Bolton,
Oldham, Salford,
Stockport and Wigan.
Greater
Manchester is not entirely built-up. Although the City
of Manchester forms a conurbation along with Salford,
Trafford and Stockport, other towns and boroughs, such as Bury
and Wigan
are clearly separate.
| Geography |
| Status |
Ceremonial
and Metropolitan county (no county council) |
| Origin |
1974 |
| Region |
North West England |
Area
- Total |
Ranked 39th
1,276 km² |
| ONS code |
2A |
| NUTS 2 |
UKD3 |
| Demographics |
Population
- Total (2004 est.)
- Density
|
Ranked 3rd
2,539,100
1,990 / km² |
| Ethnicity |
91.1% White
5.6% S.Asian
1.2% Afro-Carib. |
| Politics
|
| Members of Parliament |
Hazel Blears,
Graham Brady, Andrew Burnham, David Chaytor, Ann Coffey, David Crausby,
Jim Dobbin, Paul Goggins, Andrew Gwynne, David Heyes, Beverley Hughes,
Mark Hunter, Brian Iddon, Gerald Kaufman, Barbara Keeley, Ruth Kelly,
John Leech, Ivan Lewis, Tony Lloyd, Ian McCartney, Michael Meacher,
James Purnell, Paul Rowen, Ian Stewart, Graham Stringer, Andrew Stunell,
Neil Turner, Phil Woolas |
Local Government
Greater
Manchester is divided into ten metropolitan boroughs, these are: Bolton,
Bury,
the City
of Manchester, Oldham,
Rochdale,
the City
of Salford, Stockport,
Tameside, Trafford and Wigan.
For the first twelve
years after the county was created in 1974, the county had a two-tier
system of local government, and the boroughs shared power with the Greater
Manchester County Council.
However in 1986, along
with five other metropolitan county councils and the Greater London Council,
the Greater Manchester County Council was abolished, and most of its powers
were devolved to the boroughs, which became effective unitary authorities.
Despite the abolition
of the county council, the boroughs jointly administer some services on
a county-wide basis. Including:
- The Greater Manchester
Passenger Transport Executive, (GMPTE) which is responsible for planning
and co-ordinating public transport across the county.
- The Greater Manchester
Police, who are overseen by a joint Police authority.
- The Greater Manchester
County Fire Service, who are administered by a joint "Fire and
Civil Defence Authority".
- The Greater Manchester
Waste Disposal Authority
These are administered
by joint-boards which are made up of councillors appointed from each of
the ten boroughs.
The authorities of
Greater Manchester are represented
by the Association of Greater Manchester Local Authorities (AGMLA). Which
meets to create a co-ordinated county-wide approach to many issues.
The boroughs jointly
own the Manchester Airport Group which controls Manchester International
Airport and several other UK airports. Other services are directly funded
and managed by the local councils.
Greater
Manchester is still a Ceremonial County with a Lord-Lieutenant, and
is still recognised for statistical purposes.
History
Before 1974 the area
of Greater
Manchester was split between Cheshire
and Lancashire
with numerous parts being independent county boroughs. The area was informally
known as 'SELNEC', for 'South East Lancashire North East Cheshire'. Also
small parts of the West Riding of Yorkshire
(around Saddleworth) and Derbyshire
were covered.
SELNEC had been proposed
by the Redcliffe-Maud Report of 1969 as a 'metropolitan area'. This had
roughly the same northern boundary as today's Greater
Manchester, but covered much more territory in north-east Cheshire
- including Macclesfield and
Warrington. It also covered Glossop
in Derbyshire.
In 1969 a SELNEC Passenger
Transport Authority was set up, which covered an area smaller than the
proposed SELNEC, but different to the eventual Greater
Manchester.
Although the Redcliffe-Maud
report was rejected by the Conservative Party government after it won
the 1970 general election, it was committed to local government reform,
and accepted the need for a county based on Manchester.
Its original proposal was much smaller than the Redcliffe-Maud Report's
SELNEC, but further fringe areas such as Wilmslow,
Warrington and Glossop
were trimmed from the edges and included instead in the shire counties.
Greater Manchester was eventually
established in 1974.
Rejected Objects for Change
On May 25, 2004 the
Boundary Committee for England published recommendations for systems of
Unitary Authorities to be put to referendum as described under Subdivisions
of England, but on Thursday 4 November 2004 the referendum for the North
East decided by a margin of 78% to 22% against an elected regional assembly.
On 8 November the Deputy Prime Minister announced "I will not therefore
be bringing forward orders for referendums in either the North West, or
Yorkshire and the Humber".
Places of Interest
- Buckton Castle
- Bramall Hall,
Bramhall
- Salford Quays,
Salford
- Smithills Hall
- Wythenshawe Hall
- Astley Cheetham
Art Gallery, Ashton-under-Lyne
- Museum of the
Manchester Regiment, Ashton-under-Lyne
- Park Bridge Heritage
Centre
- Old Trafford,
home of Manchester United FC
- Old Trafford,
home of Lancashire County Cricket Club
- Imperial War Museum
North
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