| Borough of Macclesfield | |
| Origin: | Macclesfield Municipal Borough Alderley Edge Urban District Bollington Urban District Knutsford Urban District Wilmslow Urban District Disley Rural District Macclesfield Rural District Bucklow Rural District (part of) |
| Start: | 1 April 1974 |
| End: | 31 March 2009 |
| Map: | Shown within Cheshire |
| Code: | 13UG |
Macclesfield was, from 1974 to 2009, a local government district with borough status in Cheshire, England. It included the towns of Bollington, Knutsford, Macclesfield and Wilmslow and within its wider area the villages and hamlets of Adlington, Disley, Gawsworth, Kerridge, Pott Shrigley, Poynton, Prestbury, Rainow, Styal, Sutton and Tytherington.
The district was formed on 1 April 1974 under the Local Government Act 1972. It was a merger of Macclesfield municipal borough, Alderley Edge, Bollington, Knutsford and Wilmslow urban districts, along with the single parish Disley Rural District, Macclesfield Rural District and part of Bucklow Rural District. The new district was awarded borough status from its creation, allowing the chairman of the council to take the title of mayor.[1]
In 2006 the Department for Communities and Local Government considered reorganising Cheshire's administrative structure as part of the 2009 structural changes to local government in England. The decision to merge the boroughs of Macclesfield, Congleton and Crewe and Nantwich to create a single unitary authority was announced on 25 July 2007, following a consultation period in which a proposal to create a single Cheshire unitary authority was rejected.[2]
The Borough of Macclesfield was abolished on 1 April 2009, when the new Cheshire East unitary authority was formed.[3]
The borough contained 52 civil parishes and 2 discrete unparished areas (namely, the towns of Macclesfield and Wilmslow). Of the 52 civil parishes, five (Agden, Little Bollington, Macclesfield Forest and Wildboarclough, Tatton, and Wincle) held parish meetings rather than elect a parish council.[4] Of the remaining 47 civil parishes, two contained towns (Bollington and Knutsford) and so had town councils rather than parish councils administering them. A number of adjacent or abutting civil parishes were grouped together under a single parish council: Ollerton with Marthall, Plumley with Toft and Bexton, and Tabley (for the parishes of Tabley Inferior and Tabley Superior) The remaining 37 civil parishes had their own parish council.
The following civil parishes were included in the borough:
The town of Macclesfield had been a municipal borough from 1836 to 1974 with a borough council.[5] The first elections to the new Macclesfield Borough created under the Local Government Act 1972 were held in 1973, initially operating as a shadow authority until the new arrangements came into effect on 1 April 1974. Political control of the council from 1974 until its abolition in 2009 was held by the following parties:[6]
| Party in control | Years | |
|---|---|---|
| 1974–1976 | ||
| 1976–2009 | ||
The leaders of the council from 1983 were:
| Councillor | Party | From | To | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Margaret Duddy[7] | 1983 | 2001 | ||
| Peter Burns[8] | 2001 | May 2004 | ||
| Sue Kipling[9] | 2004 | 23 Sep 2004 | ||
| Wesley Fitzgerald | 2004 | 31 Mar 2009 | ||
Wesley Fitzgerald went on to become the first leader of Cheshire East Council.
The political composition of the council at its abolition in 2009 was:
| Party | Councillors | ||
| Conservative | 38 | ||
| Liberal Democrat | 12 | ||
| Labour | 6 | ||
| Handforth Ratepayer | 2 | ||
| Independent | 2 |