North Warwickshire

North Warwickshire is a local government district with borough status in Warwickshire, England. The borough includes the two towns of Atherstone (where the council is based) and Coleshill, and the large villages of Polesworth, Kingsbury, Hartshill and Water Orton along with smaller villages and surrounding rural areas.

The area historically had a large coal mining industry, but the last coal mine in the area, Daw Mill at Arley, closed in 2013. The borough's landscape is primarily of the mildly undulating agricultural variety, with the North Warwickshire plateau rising to 177 m (581 ft) above sea-level at Bentley Common, 2.5 miles southwest of Atherstone. The most significant bodies of water within North Warwickshire are Kingsbury Water Park, Shustoke Reservoir, the River Blythe and the mid-section of the Coventry Canal.

The neighbouring districts are Nuneaton and Bedworth, Coventry, Solihull, Birmingham, Lichfield, Tamworth, North West Leicestershire and Hinckley and Bosworth.

History
The district was created on 1 April 1974 under the Local Government Act 1972, by a merger of one previous district with part of another, these were: The new district was named North Warwickshire, reflecting its position in the wider county. The district was awarded borough status from its creation, allowing the chair of the council to take the title of mayor.
 * Atherstone Rural District
 * Meriden Rural District (remainder split between Solihull and Coventry in the new West Midlands county)

Governance
North Warwickshire Borough Council provides district-level services. County-level services are provided by Warwickshire County Council. The whole borough is also covered by civil parish, which form a third tier of local government.

Political control
The council has been under no overall control since the 2023 election, being led by a Conservative minority administration with informal support from two of the three independent councillors.

The first elections to the council were 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:

Leadership
The role of mayor is largely ceremonial in North Warwickshire. Political leadership is instead provided by the leader of the council. The leaders since 2009 have been:

Composition
Following the 2023 election the composition of the council was:

Two of the three independent councillors sit together as the "Dordon Independents" group, which supported the Conservatives in forming a minority administration in May 2023. The next election is due in 2027.

Elections
Since the last boundary changes in 2003 the council has comprised 35 councillors representing 17 wards with each ward electing two councillors except the Arley and Whitacre ward, which elects three. Elections are held every four years.

The boundaries of North Warwickshire are similar to those of the North Warwickshire parliamentary constituency. The constituency also includes the town of Bedworth, but does not include the villages of Hartshill and Arley. The local MP is Craig Tracey.

Premises
The council is based at the Council House on South Street in Atherstone. The building was purpose-built for the council and opened in 1979.

Towns and parishes
The whole district is covered by 33 civil parishes. The parish councils for Atherstone and Coleshill have declared their parishes to be towns, allowing them to take the style "town council". Some of the parishes share a grouped parish council. The parishes are:


 * Ansley
 * Arley
 * Astley
 * Atherstone
 * Austrey
 * Baddesley Ensor
 * Baxterley
 * Bentley
 * Caldecote
 * Coleshill
 * Corley
 * Curdworth
 * Dordon
 * Fillongley
 * Great Packington
 * Grendon
 * Hartshill
 * Kingsbury
 * Lea Marston
 * Little Packington
 * Mancetter
 * Maxstoke
 * Merevale
 * Middleton
 * Nether Whitacre
 * Newton Regis
 * Over Whitacre
 * Polesworth
 * Seckington
 * Shustoke
 * Shuttington
 * Water Orton
 * Wishaw

Television
North Warwickshire is served by BBC West Midlands and ITV Central with television signals received from the Sutton Coldfield TV transmitter.

Radio
Radio stations for the area are:
 * BBC CWR
 * BBC Radio WM
 * Capital Midlands
 * Heart West Midlands
 * Smooth West Midlands
 * Free Radio Coventry & Warwickshire
 * Greatest Hits Radio Midlands

Coat of arms
The council was granted a coat of arms in 1976.