Warwick (district)

Borough
name=Warwick


admin=Warwickshire
status=Non-metropolitan district
region=West Midlands (region)!West Midlands
arearank=161
sqkm=282.88
HQ=Leamington Spa
ONS=44UF
ethnicity=92.9% White
4.7% South Asian
website= [http://www.warwickdc.gov.uk Warwick]
leadership=Leader and cabinet
MP=James Plaskitt (L)
Jeremy Wright (C)

Warwick is a local government district of central Warwickshire in England. The current leader of the district council is Conservative Party member Michael Doody. [cite web|url= http://www.warwickdc.gov.uk/WDC/Council_x2c_+government+and+democracy/Councils/Political+structure/|title= Warwick DC|accessdate= ????-??-??]

The district comprises the towns of Warwick itself, Leamington Spa, Kenilworth and Whitnash, and also includes the surrounding rural areas. The district is bordered to the south and west by Stratford district to the north-east by Rugby borough and to the north by Coventry City Council.

Politics and History

Despite being named after Warwick, the district council headquarters are in Leamington Spa. It employs more than 500 people in a four storey building near to the River Leam. Warwick hosts the county council headquarters. The district council deal with issues such as waste management, council tax, planning/building regulations, council housing and council house repairs. The county council looks after such matters as education, social services, culture and highways.

The district was created on 1 April 1974, by a merger of the former Leamington Spa and Warwick municipal boroughs, the Kenilworth urban district and the Warwick Rural District. The council claimed to have the 33rd cheapest council tax out of the 238 shire districts in the country [cite web|url= http://www.warwickdc.gov.uk/WDC/Council_x2c_+government+and+democracy/Democratic+processes+and+events/News+conferences/Warwick+District+Council+News/Council+tax+200708.htm|title= Warwick DC|accessdate= ????-??-??] .

WiMAX

In 2007 the district began trialling a WiMAX scheme which would eventually allow all residents, for a fee, to connect to wireless broadband internet anywhere in the district, indoors or out [cite web|url= http://www.warwickdc.gov.uk/WDC/Council_x2c_+government+and+democracy/Democratic+processes+and+events/News+conferences/Warwick+District+Council+News/Wireless+Warwick.htm|title=Warwick DC|accessdate= ????-??-??] . This is the first such scheme in EuropeFact|date=July 2008.

Parking

On 6th August 2007 on-street parking charges were introduced in certain parts of central Leamington, Warwick and Kenilworth for the first time.

Tourism and Leisure

Two of the most well known tourist attractions in the district are Warwick Castle and Kenilworth Castle, the latter being preserved the second ruined during the English Civil War. Also of interest are the National Trust property Baddesley Clinton and Wroxall Abbey. All three of the districts main towns, Leamington, Warwick and Kenilworth have many hotels, two of the better known ones being The Regent Hotel and a Hilton Hotel at Warwick. Warwick Racecourse hosts televised meetings several times a year and the English women's lawn bowls championships takes place in Leamington each year.

There are three public swimming pools and three leisure centres in the district as well as many public open spaces, the most well known being Leamington's Jephson Gardens and Newbold Comyn. There are two public pay-per-play golf courses, one in Leamington and one in Warwick. The biggest football teams in the area are Leamington F.C. and Racing Club Warwick. All three towns have their own theatres including the Royal Spa Centre, Loft Theatre Company, Playbox Theatre Company and The Bridge House Theatre.

Travel

The district has these five railway stations Warwick, Warwick Parkway, Leamington, Hatton, and Lapworth. The Grand Union Canal flows through the district and the M40 motorway also passes through.

Parishes and settlements

The Warwick district includes the settlements and Parishes of:

*Ashow
*Baddesley Clinton, Baginton, Barford, Beausale, Bishops Tachbrook, Blackdown, Bubbenhall, Budbrooke, Bushwood
*Cubbington
*Eathorpe
*Haseley, Hatton, Honiley, Hunningham
*Kenilworth
*Lapworth, Leamington Spa, Leek Wootton
*Norton Lindsey
*Offchurch, Old Milverton
*Radford Semele, Rowington
*Sherbourne, Shrewley, Stoneleigh
*Wappenbury, Warwick, Wasperton, Weston Under Wetherley, Whitnash, Wroxall

For a list of wards in Warwick district by population click here.

References

External links

* [http://www.warwickdc.gov.uk/wdc www.warwickdc.gov.uk] , Warwick District Council.