Metropolitan Borough of Bury

The Metropolitan Borough of Bury is a metropolitan borough of Greater Manchester in England. It is north of Manchester, to the east of Bolton and west of Rochdale. The borough is centred around the town of Bury but also includes other towns such as Ramsbottom, Tottington, Radcliffe, Whitefield and Prestwich. Bury bounds the Lancashire districts of Rossendale and Blackburn with Darwen to the north. With a population of in, it is the smallest borough in Greater Manchester.

Within the boundaries of the historic county of Lancashire, the Metropolitan Borough of Bury, which covers undefined km2, was created on 1 April 1974, with the transfer of functions from the County Borough of Bury and the boroughs of Prestwich and Radcliffe, along with the urban districts of Tottington and Whitefield, and part of the urban district of Ramsbottom, all previously in Lancashire.

History
The Metropolitan Borough of Bury was created on 1 April 1974, by the Local Government Act 1972 as one of the ten metropolitan districts of Greater Manchester. Prior to this, the area was represented by six other boroughs and districts:
 * Bury (County Borough)
 * Prestwich (Municipal Borough)
 * Radcliffe (Municipal Borough)
 * Ramsbottom (Urban District) (part)
 * Tottington (Urban District)
 * Whitefield (Urban District)

In 2006, facing a budget shortfall of over £10 million, Bury Metropolitan Council decided to sell its painting by L. S. Lowry called "A Riverbank". The work, which depicts the River Irwell and cost £175 in 1951, was expected to fetch between £500,000 and £800,000. Between the announcement and the sale at Christie's, the council was accused of "selling off the family silver". The authority, which had the painting on display at Bury Art Museum, said it was putting its people before a picture. The painting raised £1.25 million for the authority on 17 November 2006 at the auction in London, costing the bidder £1,408,000 including commission. Consequently, the council's membership of the Museums Association was cancelled and it was deregistered by the Museums, Libraries and Archives Council, a quango that was disbanded in 2011, transferring some of its duties to Arts Council England.

In July 2008 the borough was the first in Greater Manchester to hold a referendum on whether to install a directly-elected mayor. This was the result of a campaign against congestion charge plans that raised a petition with 9,460 names, well above the required five per cent of voters needed to trigger a mayoral vote. The proposal to have an elected mayor was rejected.

Parliamentary constituencies
The Metropolitan Borough of Bury currently consists of two parliamentary constituencies:
 * Bury North – James Daly (Conservative)
 * Bury South – Christian Wakeford (Labour)

Council
The borough has 17 wards, each represented by 3 councillors to form a council of 51 members. As of 2020, there were 148,595 electors, with an average of 2,914 per councillor.

At the 2023 Bury Metropolitan Borough Council election the average turnout to vote was 34.3%, varying locally from 45% in North Manor ward to only 25% in Bury East.

Combined Authority
The borough falls under the Greater Manchester Combined Authority, and is represented by the council leader, Eamonn O'Brien.

Unparished areas
The entirety of the borough is unparished.

Coat of arms
The coat of arms contains symbols representing the six constituent towns, with the design based on the arms of the old County Borough of Bury. The shield is divided diagonally by interweaving alluding to the textile industry. On the shield are a bee (representing industry) and papyrus (papermaking) from Bury; a ram's head and a bullock's head represent Ramsbottom and Tottington respectively. The silver field represents Whitefield, whilst the shield is supported with figures from the crests of Radcliffe and Prestwich. These represent the Radcliffe and Egerton families and wear a red rose (for Lancashire) and a cogwheel (for industry). The motto 'Forward in Unity' sits on a scroll under the shield.

Demography
At the 2021 UK census, the Metropolitan Borough of Bury had a total population of 193,846. The population density is 1815 /km2.

When the Census was taken there were 74,335 households in Bury with an average of 2.4 persons in each one. In more detail, 39.4% of households were married couples living together, 28.9% were one-person households, 8.7% were co-habiting couples and 10.7% were lone parents. Of all the households 75.11% lived in houses they owned, with or without a mortgage, significantly higher than the national average of 68.07%.

Of people aged 16–74 in Bury 42.93% were economically active in 2001, higher than the national average of 40.81%. 29.2% of this age group (16–74) had no academic qualifications, slightly higher than 28.9% in all of England.

5.8% of Bury's residents were born outside the United Kingdom, significantly lower than the national average of 9.2%. The largest minority group was recorded as Asian, at 4% of the population.

Population and employment change
The historical population table details the population change since 1801, including the percentage change since the last available census data. Although the Metropolitan Borough of Bury has only existed since 1974, figures have been generated by combining data from the towns, villages, and civil parishes that would later be constituent parts of the borough.

In 1971 34,980 people living in Bury were employed in manufacturing. By 2001 this had fallen to 13,690 – a decrease of 61%. During the same period the numbers of people employed in service industries increased from 34,200 to 54,227, a gain of 58.5%.

Politics and services
Between 1974 and 1986, the Conservative Party controlled the council. In 1986, the Labour Party gained control and continued in power, at first with an overall Labour majority and subsequently through a Labour executive running the council in a state of no overall control, until 2007. The May elections in 2007 saw the Conservative Party become the largest group on the council and the Conservative Group took control of the council and its executive. The leader of the council was named as Councillor Bob Bibby. At the 2008 local elections, the Conservatives won three more seats and took overall control of the council. In 2010, the Conservatives lost overall control with the new council having 23 Conservative, 20 Labour and 8 Liberal Democrat councillors.

The Audit Commission reported in 2006 that Bury Council continues to make good and sustained progress in improving services for local people. Overall the council was awarded 'three star' status, similar to 47% of all local authorities.

The council was said to be improving well in children's services, particularly in social care. The Audit Commission also noted that resident satisfaction was rising, reflecting improvements in the quality of the environment and services generally. Ten parks have achieved green flag status, recycling levels are above average and street cleanliness is improving. The council is on target to reach its Decent Homes target by 2010.

The assessment concluded that the council has improved the way it uses its resources to deliver its plans, improving how it manages its finances and service performance and strengthening arrangements to make sure that it achieves good value for money.

Education
There are 60 primary schools, 13 secondary schools, 3 special schools and 2 Pupil Referral Units in the Borough. Overall, Bury was ranked 23rd of the all local education authorities in SATs performance and 3rd in Greater Manchester in 2006. In 2007, Bury LEA was ranked 45th out of 148 in the country – and 3rd in Greater Manchester – based on the percentage of pupils attaining at least 5 A*-C grades at GCSE including maths and English (47.8% compared with the national average of 45.8%). The schools of the area compete annually in the Bury Schools Athletics Championships.

The borough has two colleges of further education. Bury College, which was originally Bury Technical College. In 1974, it merged with Radcliffe Technical College to form the Bury Metropolitan College of Further Education and, in 1987, it was renamed Bury College following its merger with Peel Sixth Form College, Stand Sixth Form College and a number of Youth Training Schemes. Holy Cross College was formerly Bury Convent Grammar School. It was a direct grant Catholic girls' school founded in 1878 by the Daughters of the Cross, a congregation of religious from Liège. In 2007 it was named 7th in the country.

Bury is also home to one of the UK's oldest Islamic seminaries, Darul Uloom Bury, which was established in 1979 and located in Holcombe.

Landmarks
As of February 2004, Bury has 5 Grade I, 8 Grade II*, and 228 Grade II listed buildings.

Bury is at the heart of the largest public art scheme in the UK – the Irwell Sculpture Trail. Works in the borough include Ulrich Ruckriem's sculpture in Radcliffe, on the site of the former Outwood Colliery. Ruckreim is one of Germany's most eminent artists, best known for his monumental stone sculptures. His work at Outwood is one of his largest stone settings to date. Edward Allington's Tilted Vase sits in Market Place in the centre of Ramsbottom and has become a distinctive feature of interest.

Local Nature Reserves
There are six local nature reserves (LNRs) in the borough:
 * Chapelfield LNR, a Grade B Site of Biological Importance (SBI) with notable Water Violet Hottonia palustris.
 * Chesham Woods LNR, a group of six woodlands and grazing meadows, established as the borough's second LNR in 2000
 * Hollins Vale LNR, encompassing two Sites of Biological Importance: an area of grasslands which with historic hedgerows which Hollins Brook runs through; and woodland plantation.
 * Kirklees Valley LNR, through which the Kirklees Trail passes.
 * Philips Park LNR within the long-established Philips Park, the first and largest LNR in the borough, created in 1999, with a range of habitats, a countryside centre and a mountain bike trail.
 * Redisher LNR, also called Redisher Wood LNR, a woodland valley around Holcombe Brook

Religion


At the 2021 UK census, 48.8% of people in Bury stated they were Christian. 29.4% of people stated they had no religion, 9.9% following the Muslim and 5.5% the Jewish faiths. The Jewish community in Prestwich and Whitefield is the second largest in the country.

Bury is covered by the Roman Catholic Diocese of Salford, and the Anglican Diocese of Manchester.

There are four Grade I listed churches in Bury. The Church of All Saints, at Stand in Whitefield, was built in 1826. The Parish Church of St Mary, Radcliffe, is a 14th-century church with a 15th-century tower. The Church of St Mary the Virgin, Prestwich, is a 15th-century church. The current Church of St Mary the Virgin, Bury, was built in 1876 by J. S. Crowther. Of the nine Grade II* listed buildings in Bury, two are churches: Christ Church, Walshaw and the Presbyterian Chapel in Ainsworth.

There are around 6 Mosques in Bury including one of the oldest Islamic seminaries in the United Kingdom, Darul Uloom Bury, which was established in 1979 in Holcombe.

The original Jewish immigrant community in Manchester was based in the inner city. As in other cities the community gradually moved outward geographically and upward economically from its roots establishing itself in the more leafy suburbs of Crumpsall and Broughton Park as well as the town of Prestwich. Later, a second migration of young families in the mid-1960s sought pastures even further away from these traditional areas settling in Whitefield, Sunny Bank and Unsworth. There are now about 10 synagogues in the borough.

Twin towns
The Metropolitan Borough of Bury has five twin towns, in China, France, Germany and the United States. Two of these were originally twinned with a place within the Metropolitan Borough prior to its creation in 1974.

Freedom of the Borough
The following individuals and groups have received the Freedom of the Borough of Bury.