West Devon is a local government district with borough status in Devon, England. Its council is based in Tavistock, the borough's largest town. The borough also includes the towns of Hatherleigh, North Tawton and Okehampton, along with numerous villages and surrounding rural areas.
A large area in the south-east of the borough lies within the Dartmoor National Park, and part of the south-west of the borough lies within the Tamar Valley Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty.
The neighbouring districts are Torridge, Mid Devon, Teignbridge, South Hams and Cornwall.
The district was formed on 1 April 1974 under the Local Government Act 1972, covering the area of three former districts which were all abolished at the same time:[1]
The new district was named West Devon, reflecting its location within the wider county.[2]
On 27 April 1982 the district was awarded borough status, allowing the chair of the council to take the title of mayor.[3]
| West Devon Borough Council | |
| Logo Pic: | West Devon Borough Council logo.svg |
| Logo Res: | 150 |
| Foundation: | 1 April 1974 |
| House Type: | Non-metropolitan district |
| Leader1 Type: | Mayor |
| Leader1: | Debo Sellis |
| Party1: | Conservative |
| Election1: | 21 May 2024[4] |
| Leader2 Type: | Leader |
| Leader2: | Mandy Ewing |
| Party2: | Independent |
| Election2: | 30 May 2023 |
| Leader3 Type: | Chief Executive |
| Leader3: | Andy Bates |
| Election3: | June 2020[5] |
| Members: | 31 councillors |
| Structure1 Res: | 250px |
| Political Groups1: |
|
| Voting System1: | First past the post |
| Last Election1: | 4 May 2023 |
| Next Election1: | 6 May 2027 |
| Session Res: | 250px |
| Meeting Place: | Kilworthy Park, Drake Road, Tavistock, PL190BZ |
West Devon Borough Council provides district-level services. County-level services are provided by Devon County Council.[6] The whole borough is also covered by civil parishes, which form a third tier of local government.[7]
In the parts of the borough within the Dartmoor National Park, town planning is the responsibility of the Dartmoor National Park Authority. The borough council appoints two of its councillors to serve on the 19-person National Park Authority.[8]
The council has been under no overall control since the 2023 election, being led by a coalition of the independent councillors, Greens, Liberal Democrats and Labour.
The first election to the council was held in 1973, initially operating as a shadow authority alongside the outgoing authorities until the new arrangements came into effect on 1 April 1974. Political control of the council since 1974 has been as follows:[9] [10]
| Party in control | Years | |
|---|---|---|
| 1974–1987 | ||
| 1987–1991 | ||
| 1991–1995 | ||
| 1995–1999 | ||
| 1999–2015 | ||
| 2015–2020 | ||
| 2020–2021 | ||
| [11] | 2021–2023 | |
| 2023–present | ||
The role of mayor is largely ceremonial in West Devon. Political leadership is instead provided by the leader of the council. The leaders since 2011 have been:[12]
| Councillor | Party | From | To | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| James McInnes | pre-2011 | 15 May 2012 | ||
| Philip Sanders | 15 May 2012 | 5 May 2019 | ||
| Neil Jory | 21 May 2019 | 30 May 2023 | ||
| Mandy Ewing | 30 May 2023 | |||
Following the 2023 election and subsequent by-elections in June 2023 and May 2024, the composition of the council was:[13] [14] [15]
| Party | Councillors | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| 11 | |||
| 11 | |||
| 4 | |||
| 4 | |||
| 1 | |||
| Total | 31 | ||
The independent councillors, Greens, Liberal Democrats and Labour sit together as the "West Devon Alliance" group, which forms the council's administration.[16] The next election is due in 2027.
Since the last boundary changes in 2015, the council has comprised 31 councillors representing 18 wards, with each ward electing one, two or three councillors. Elections are held every four years.[17]
In the EU referendum of 2016, the majority of voters in West Devon voted to leave the European Union (18,937 to 16,658, that is 53.2% to 46.8%). The turnout was 81.25%.[18]
The borough straddles the constituencies of Central Devon and Torridge and West Devon.[7]
The council is based at Kilworthy Park in Tavistock, being a modern office built on the site of the goods yard of the old Tavistock North railway station.[19]
The whole borough is divided into civil parishes. The parishes councils for Hatherleigh, North Tawton, Okehampton and Tavistock take the style "town council". The small parish of Kelly has a parish meeting rather than a parish council.[20]
West Devon has been twinned with Wesseling, Germany since 1983.