East Hertfordshire

East Hertfordshire is a local government district in Hertfordshire, England. It was named as the UK’s best place to live according to the Halifax Quality of Life survey 2020.

This article is about the district. For the constituency, see East Hertfordshire (UK Parliament constituency).
East Hertfordshire District
Non-metropolitan district
East Hertfordshire shown within Hertfordshire
Sovereign stateUnited Kingdom
Constituent countryEngland
RegionEast of England
Non-metropolitan countyHertfordshire
StatusNon-metropolitan district
Admin HQBishop's Stortford, Hertford
Incorporated1 April 1974
Government
 • TypeNon-metropolitan district council
 • BodyEast Herts Council
 • LeadershipLeader & Cabinet (Conservative)
 • MPsOliver Heald
Stephen McPartland
Julie Marson
Area
 • Total183.66 sq mi (475.69 km2)
Area rank94th (of 317)
Population
 (mid-2019 est.)
 • Total149,748
 • Rank141st (of 317)
 • Density820/sq mi (310/km2)
 • Ethnicity
94.7% White
1.8% S.Asian
1.2% Black
1.3% Mixed Race
1.1% Chinese or Other
Time zoneUTC0 (GMT)
 • Summer (DST)UTC+1 (BST)
ONS code26UD (ONS)
E07000242 (GSS)
OS grid referenceTL3758624322
Websitewww.eastherts.gov.uk

The main settlement is Bishop's Stortford.The other main towns in the district are Hertford, Ware (on the River Lea), Buntingford (on the River Rib), and Sawbridgeworth (on the River Stort). Of these five major towns, all except Buntingford fall within the parliamentary constituency of Hertford and Stortford. Buntingford is part of the North East Hertfordshire constituency.

East Herts, as its council is officially known, is bordered by North Hertfordshire, Stevenage, Welwyn Hatfield, and Broxbourne in Hertfordshire, and by Epping Forest, Harlow, and Uttlesford in Essex.

The district was formed on 1 April 1974, as a merger of the municipal borough of Hertford with Bishop's Stortford, Sawbridgeworth and Ware urban districts, and Braughing Rural District, Ware Rural District and part of Hertford Rural District. By area it is the largest of the ten local government districts in Hertfordshire.

In the 2006 edition of the Channel 4 "Best and Worst Places to Live in the UK", East Hertfordshire was rated the seventh best district to live in. In 2012 Halifax voted East Herts the 9th best place to live.[1]

Transport

The district contains only one motorway - a small stretch of the M11 at Bishop's Stortford. The major roads within the district include:

A10 - (north-south) from London to Cambridge: enters after Hoddesdon, Hertfordshire, leaves before Royston dualled.

A414 - (WSW-ENE) from Welwyn to Harlow, through Hertford, where it forms the Hertford by-pass.

A602 - (SE-NW), connecting at A10 at Ware with the A1(M) at Stevenage.

A120 - (west-east) connecting the A10 at Standon with the M11 at Bishop's Stortford.

None of the above roads are classified as trunk roads. Therefore, they are maintained by Hertfordshire County Council while responsibility for the M11 rests with the Highways Agency.

Stansted Airport is just beyond the edge of the district near Bishop's Stortford, but officially sits within Uttlesford district in neighbouring Essex. Many of the district's towns have rail services into London at King's Cross, Moorgate, and Liverpool Street.

Employment

The district's biggest employer is the pharmaceutical company GlaxoSmithKline, which has a research and manufacturing centre in Ware. The company also has large offices in neighbouring Stevenage and Harlow.

Parishes

The district is entirely parished. See List of civil parishes in Hertfordshire.

Footnotes
  1. Hart in Hampshire remains UK's most desirable place

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