- Ards Borough Council
NI_district
district_name = Ards Borough
alt_name = Comhairle Baile na hArda / Burgh Cooncil o' the Airds, Newton an' Blathewick [ [http://www.ratingreviewni.gov.uk/ards_bc.pdf Rating Review] ]
district_
area_rank = 20th
district_area = 376
district_HQ =Newtownards
district_iso = GB-ARD
district_ons = 95X
protestant_pc = 82.5%
catholic_pc = 12.6%
web_address =
http://www.ards-council.gov.uk
district_MPs =Sylvia Hermon ,Iris Robinson Ards Borough Council is a Local Council in
County Down ,Northern Ireland with its headquarters inNewtownards . Other towns includePortaferry ,Comber , andDonaghadee , and the population of the area is about 73,000.The borough has four district electoral areas: Newtownards, Ards West, Ards East and
Ards Peninsula , from which 23 members are elected. At the 2005 election members were elected from the following political parties: 13Democratic Unionist Party (DUP), 6Ulster Unionist Party (UUP), 3 Alliance Party, and 1Social Democratic and Labour Party (SDLP). The current Mayor is Councillor Robin Drysdale (DUP) and the Deputy Mayor is Councillor James Fletcher (UUP).The current DUP team has now fallen to 11 following the re-designation of two councillors as Independents. As such from February 2007, the DUP have lost their overall majority in the Council chamber.
Strangford Lough is at the heart of the area, and is the largest inlet in theBritish Isles with internationally renowned wildlife. TheIrish Sea coast stretches from Donaghadee to Portaferry.Mount Stewart , a National Trust property on the shore of Strangford Lough is in the area, as well as Northern Ireland’s onlyaquarium , Exploris, in Portaferry andGrace Neill's , holder of theGuinness Book of Records title of the oldest pub onIreland .In elections for the
Westminster Parliament andNorthern Ireland Assembly it is mostly in the Strangford constituency, with part in the North Down constituency.The Borough of Ards has a sister city (twinning) relationship with the City of
Peoria, Arizona , USA. As a result of this relationship, regular exchange visits are made between the two communities by artists, educators, business, political, and community leaders.Mayor of Ards
Source: Freedom of Information request to Ards Borough Council
Review of Public Administration
Under the Review of Public Administration (RPA) the Council is due to merge with
North Down Borough Council in 2011 to form a single council for the enlarged area totalling 451 km² and a population of 149,567. [cite web | title=Minister Foster announces decisions on Local Government Reform | work=DoE | url=http://www.doeni.gov.uk/index/local_government/minister_foster_announces_decisions_on_local_government_reform.htm | accessdate=2008-05-31] The next election was due to take place in May 2009, but onApril 25 ,2008 ,Shaun Woodward ,Secretary of State for Northern Ireland announced that the scheduled 2009 district council elections were to be postponed until the introduction of the eleven new councils in 2011. [ [http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/northern_ireland/7367253.stm "Northern Ireland elections are postponed", BBC News, April 25, 2008, accessed April 27, 2008] ]ee also
*
Local Councils in Northern Ireland References
External links
* [http://www.ards-council.gov.uk/ Ards Borough Council]
* [http://www.kingdomsofdown.com/down/index.asp Kingdoms of Down Tourism]
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