Test Valley is a local government district with borough status in Hampshire, England, named after the valley of the River Test. The council is based in the borough's largest town of Andover. The borough also contains the town of Romsey and numerous villages and surrounding rural areas. A small part of the borough at its southern end lies within the New Forest National Park, and part of the borough north of Andover lies within the North Wessex Downs, a designated Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty.
The neighbouring districts are Basingstoke and Deane, Winchester, Eastleigh, Southampton, New Forest, Wiltshire and West Berkshire.
The district was created on 1 April 1974 under the Local Government Act 1972, covering the area of four former districts which were all abolished at the same time:[1]
The new district was named Test Valley after the River Test which flows through the area.[2] The district was awarded borough status on 22 October 1976, allowing the chair of the council to take the title of mayor.[3]
| Test Valley Borough Council | |
| Logo Pic: | Test Valley Borough Council logo.svg |
| Logo Res: | 200px |
| House Type: | Non-metropolitan district |
| Leader1 Type: | Mayor |
| Leader1: | Ian Jeffrey |
| Party1: | Conservative |
| Election1: | 22 May 2024[4] |
| Leader2 Type: | Leader |
| Leader2: | Phil North |
| Party2: | Conservative |
| Election2: | 10 May 2017 |
| Leader3 Type: | Chief Executive |
| Leader3: | Andy Ferrier |
| Election3: | 15 June 2020[5] |
| Political Groups1: |
|
| Seats: | 43 councillors |
| Structure1 Res: | 250 |
| Last Election1: | 4 May 2023 |
| Next Election1: | 6 May 2027 |
| Term Length: | 4 years |
| Session Room: | Andover - Beach Hurst - geograph.org.uk - 1159990.jpg |
| Meeting Place: | Beech Hurst, Weyhill Road, Andover, SP103AJ |
Test Valley Borough Council provides district-level services. County-level services are provided by Hampshire County Council. The whole district is also covered by civil parishes, which form a third tier of local government.[6]
In the part of the borough within the New Forest National Park, town planning is the responsibility of the New Forest National Park Authority. The borough council appoints one of its councillors to serve on the 22-person National Park Authority.[7]
The council has been under Conservative majority control since 1999.
The first election to the council was held in 1973, initially acting as a shadow authority alongside the outgoing authorities until the new arrangements took effect on 1 April 1974. Political control since 1974 has been as follows:[8]
| Party in control | Years | |
|---|---|---|
| 1974–1976 | ||
| 1976–1979 | ||
| 1979–1995 | ||
| 1995–1999 | ||
| 1999–present | ||
The role of mayor is largely ceremonial in Test Valley. Political leadership is instead provided by the leader of the council. The leaders since 1980 have been:[9] [10]
| Councillor | Party | From | To | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| John Morgan | 1980 | 1985 | |||
| 1985 | 4 May 1994 | ||||
| Eileen Haselden | 4 May 1994 | 17 May 1995 | |||
| Eileen Haselden | 17 May 1995 | 14 May 1997 | Joint leaders | ||
| Mark Cooper | |||||
| Mark Cooper | 14 May 1997 | 6 May 1998 | |||
| Norman Arnell | 6 May 1998 | 19 May 1999 | |||
| Ian Carr | 19 May 1999 | 10 May 2017 | |||
| Phil North | 10 May 2017 | ||||
Following the 2023 election, the composition of the council was:[11]
| Party | Councillors | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| 26 | |||
| 17 | |||
| Total | 43 | ||
The next election is due in 2027.
Since the last boundary changes in 2019 the council has comprised 43 councillors representing 20 wards, with each ward electing one, two or three councillors. Elections are held every four years.[12]
The council has its main offices at Beech Hurst in Andover. The site had previously been a large house built in the 1850s, which had been purchased in 1947 by the old Andover Borough Council to use as its headquarters. The house continued to serve as offices for Test Valley after the new council's creation in 1974 until 1990 when it was demolished and replaced by a modern building on the same site, retaining the Beech Hurst name.[13] The council also maintains a smaller office at the former Magistrates' Court on Church Street in Romsey.[14] Full council meetings are held alternately at Andover Guildhall and at Crosfield Hall in Romsey.[9]
Test Valley covers some 250sqmi of western Hampshire, stretching from boundaries with Southampton in the south to near Newbury in the north. Test Valley is a predominantly rural area. It includes part of the North Wessex Downs Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty.
The River Test is the centrepiece of the Test Valley; the river is a chalk stream of particular beauty known for its fishing, salmon and trout, which Lord Crickhowell (onetime chairman of the National Rivers Authority) said "should be treated as a great work of art or music". Stockbridge is home of the Houghton Fishing Club, an exclusive fishing club founded in 1822, which meets in the Grosvenor Hotel.
In December 2006, Sport England published a survey which revealed that residents of Test Valley were the 8th most active in England in sports and other fitness activities. 26.9% of the population participate at least 3 times a week for 30 minutes.[15]
In March 2012 Test Valley was ranked 14th best rural area to live out of 119 local authority areas in Great Britain by the Halifax. This was based on factors including employment and income levels, the weather, health and life expectancy, education, crime, broadband access and other things.[16] [17]
The whole borough is covered by civil parishes. The parish councils for Andover and Romsey have declared their parishes to be towns, allowing them to take the style "town council". Whilst Stockbridge is a post town it has a parish council rather than a town council. Some of the smaller parishes have a parish meeting rather than a parish council. The parishes of Frenchmoor and West Tytherley share a grouped parish council.[18]
The area is served by BBC South and ITV Meridian with television signals received from either Rowridge or Hannington TV transmitters. [19] [20]
Radio stations for the area are: