Salisbury City Council

Salisbury City Council
Coat of arms or logo
Type
Type
Leadership
Mayor
Cllr. Mike Osment[1]
Structure
Seats 23
17 / 23
5 / 23
1 / 23
Elections
Plurality-at-large voting
Last election
 4 May 2017
Meeting place
The Guildhall, Salisbury
Website
salisburycitycouncil.gov.uk

Salisbury City Council is an English city council in which the Conservatives currently have an overall majority.

The council came into being in April 2009 to serve the city of Salisbury, Wiltshire, as part of the 2009 structural changes to local government in England, although its first elections were not held until June 2009. It is based in the city's historic Guildhall, following the adaptation of the building. Until that was completed it had its offices and meetings at 22, Bedwin Street, Salisbury.

Population

The civil parish of Salisbury – which excludes some of the city's suburbs such as Laverstock, Ford, Britford, Netherhampton and Odstock – had a population of 40,302 at the 2011 census.[2]

City status

As New Sarum, Salisbury has been ranked as a city since "time immemorial". The Local Government Act 1972, which took effect in 1974, eliminated the administration of the City of New Sarum under its charters, with the Salisbury District taking over its administrative functions. However, the status of a city was preserved after 1974 by the Charter Trustees of the City of New Sarum. That name was only formally changed from "New Sarum" to "Salisbury" by the reforms of 2009, which established the new Salisbury City Council.[3] The parish was once again granted city status by letters patent dated 1 April 2009.[4]

Coat of arms

On 23 March 2010, the city council was granted a royal licence, transferring to it the armorial bearings of the previous City of New Sarum. The arms and supporters were originally recorded at the heraldic visitations of Wiltshire in 1565 and 1623.[5] The blazon of the arms is:

Barry of eight Azure and Or. Supporters: On either side an eagle displayed with two heads Or, ducally gorged Azure.[6][7]

There do not appear to be any meanings attached to the design.[8] The traditional explanation that the blue stripes represent the rivers that meet in the city is now discounted.[8][9] It has also been suggested that the eagles derive from the arms of the Bouverie family, Earls of Radnor, benefactors of the city. However, this also can be discounted, as the arms of the city were recorded before the family was connected with it.[8][9]

Membership

The council consists of twenty-three councillors, elected in eight wards, each having three councillors except St Mark's & Bishopdown ward which has two.[10] Elections to the city council took place on Thursday, 4 May 2017. The city councillors are now as follows:

Ward Councillor Party
Bemerton Caroline Corbin Labour
Thomas Corbin Labour
Mike Osment Labour
Fisherton & Bemerton Village John Walsh Labour
Frogg Moody Conservative
Jeremy Robert Lloyd Nettle Conservative
Harnham Brian Edward Dalton Liberal Democrat
Simon James Jackson Conservative
Stephen William Berry Conservative
St Edmund & Milford Atiqul Hoque Conservative
Liz Sirman Conservative
Amanda Mary Foster Conservative
St Francis & Stratford Mark McClelland Conservative
Kevin Stuart Daley Conservative
Charles Thomas Rogers Conservative
St Mark's & Bishopdown Derek William Brown Conservative
John Howard Baber Conservative
St Martin's & Cathedral Ian Robert Tomes Labour
Sven Hocking Conservative
Jo Broom Conservative
St Paul's Matthew Jonathan Anthony Dean Conservative
John William Farquhar Conservative
John Lindley Conservative

History of control

At the first elections to the city council in 2009, the Liberal Democrats gained twelve seats, giving them a majority of one over all other parties.

At the next elections, on Thursday, 2 May 2013, the council had no overall control. Soon after them Jo Broom, who had been elected in Fisherton & Bemerton Village as a Liberal Democrat, joined the Conservatives. Then, following the resignation of a Conservative, there was a by-election in the St Martin's & Cathedral ward on 9 January 2014, won by Patricia Fagan for Labour.

In 2017, the Conservatives won an overall majority for the first time.

Functions

The council is initially responsible for the following properties and services:

  • Parks and associated public conveniences
  • Car parks
  • Cemeteries
  • Play areas
  • Sports pitches
  • Open spaces
  • Guildhall
  • Allotments
  • Salisbury Crematorium
  • Charter market etc.
  • Charter fair
  • Bemerton Heath Neighbourhood centre
  • General fund shops and garages owned by the city prior to 1974
  • Events: Christmas Lights, St George's Day, Salisbury Food Festival, Music in the Parks, Britain in Bloom
  • City Centre management
  • General Community Fund

See also

References

  1. ↑ "Mayor of Salisbury". Salisbury City Council. Retrieved 1 July 2013.
  2. ↑ Office for National Statistics
  3. ↑ "Civic History Its Charters and Silver". The Guildhall Salisbury. Salisbury City Council. 2009. Archived from the original on December 23, 2008. Retrieved 25 November 2009.
  4. ↑ "No. 59250". The London Gazette. 24 November 2009. p. 20329. The QUEEN has been pleased by Letters Patent under the Great Seal bearing date 1 April 2009 to confer on the Parish of Salisbury the status of a City.
  5. ↑ "No. 59398". The London Gazette. 21 April 2010. p. 7045.
  6. ↑ Briggs, Geoffrey (1971). Civic and Corporate Heraldry: A Dictionary of Impersonal Arms of England, Wales and N. Ireland. London: Heraldry Today. p. 346. ISBN 0-900455-21-7.
  7. ↑ Fox-Davies, A C (1915). The Book of Public Arms, 2nd edition. London: T C & E C Jack. p. 690.
  8. 1 2 3 "What is the symbolism behind Salisbury's coat of arms?". Wiltshire History Questions. Wiltshire Council. 19 November 2004. Retrieved 11 June 2010.
  9. 1 2 Scott-Giles, C Wilfrid (1953). Civic Heraldry of England and Wales, 2nd edition. London: J M Dent & Sons. p. 384.
  10. ↑ "About Your Council". Salisbury City Council. Retrieved 18 February 2018.
  • Salisbury City Council
  • "Views sought on new city council". BBC News Online. 5 March 2008. Retrieved 15 May 2015. Under the new system of local government, the city council would have the same powers and functions as a town or parish council. These include looking after allotments, burial ground, cemeteries and crematoria, bus shelters, community centres, the arts, public footpaths and public toilets.
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