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Amber Valley
Borough in England

Amber Valley is a local government district with borough status in the east of Derbyshire, England, taking its name from the River Amber. Its council is based in Ripley. The district covers a semi-rural area lying to the north of the city of Derby. The district contains four main towns whose economy was based on coal mining and remains to some extent influenced by engineering, distribution and manufacturing, holding for instance the headquarters and production site of Thorntons confectionery.

The House of Commons constituency of Amber Valley is of smaller scope.

The village of Crich and other parts of the district were the setting for ITV drama series Peak Practice.

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History

The district was formed on 1 April 1974 under the Local Government Act 1972 as one of nine districts within Derbyshire. The new district covered the area of five former districts, which were all abolished at the same time:1

The new district was named Amber Valley, after the River Amber.2 Amber Valley was granted borough status in 1989, allowing the chair of the council to take the title of mayor.3

Governance

Amber Valley Borough Council provides district-level services. County-level services are provided by Derbyshire County Council. Most of the district is also covered by civil parishes, which form a third tier of local government.4

Political control

Labour won a majority on the council at the 2023 election, taking control from the Conservatives.5

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:67

Party in controlYears
Labour1974–1976
No overall control1976–1980
Labour1980–1987
No overall control1987–1988
Conservative1988–1991
Labour1991–2000
Conservative2000–2014
Labour2014–2015
Conservative2015–2019
Labour2019–2021
Conservative2021–2023
Labour2023–present

Leadership

The role of mayor is largely ceremonial in Amber Valley. Political leadership is instead provided by the leader of the council. The leaders since 2003 have been:8

CouncillorPartyFromTo
Alan CoxConservativepre-200317 Dec 2007
Stuart BradfordConservative17 Dec 200711 Jun 2014
Paul JonesLabour11 Jun 201420 May 2015
Alan CoxConservative20 May 20158 May 2016
Kevin ButteryConservative25 May 201622 May 2019
Chris Emmas-WilliamsLabour22 May 20199 May 2021
Kevin ButteryConservative19 May 202124 May 2023
Chris Emmas-WilliamsLabour24 May 2023

Composition

Following the 2023 election and changes of allegiance and a by-election up to May 2024, the composition of the council was:910

PartyCouncillors
Labour26
Conservative8
Green5
Belper Independents2
Liberal Democrats1
Total42

The next election is due in 2027.

Premises

The council is based at Ripley Town Hall, which had been built in 1881 as a market hall and converted to a town hall for the former Ripley Urban District Council in 1907. A modern extension to the west of the building was added in the 1990s.11

Elections

Main article: Amber Valley Borough Council elections

Since the last boundary changes in 2023 the council has comprised 42 councillors elected from 18 wards, with each ward electing two or three councillors. Elections are held every four years.12

Towns of Amber Valley

Main villages of Amber Valley

Parishes

There are 35 civil parishes in the borough, covering almost the whole area. The exception is Riddings, which is an unparished area, being the only part of the former Alfreton Urban District not to have been subsequently added to a parish.13

Arms

Coat of arms of Amber Valley
NotesGranted 18 October 1989 14CrestOn a wreath of the colours the battlements of a tower Proper issuant therefrom between two abbatical crosiers Or an oak tree Proper fructed and ensigned by a crown of fleurs-de-lys Gold.EscutcheonVert a pale wavy Or a bordure Argent charged with five horseshoes Sable on a chief of the second between two lozenges a cresset Sable fired Proper.SupportersOn the dexter side a unicorn Argent armed and crined Or gorged with a collar pendent therefrom a cross flory Gules and on the sinister side a leopard Proper gorged with a collar Gules pendent therefrom a fleur-de-lys Or.MottoPer Laborem Progedimur (We Make Progress Through Hard Work)

Media

In terms of television, the Amber Valley is served by BBC East Midlands and ITV Central broadcasting from the Waltham transmitter.

Radio stations that broadcast to the area are:

The local newspapers are the Ripley & Heanor News,15 Belper News16 and Derbyshire Times.

See also

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Amber Valley.

53°00′N 1°24′W / 53.00°N 1.40°W / 53.00; -1.40

References

  1. "The English Non-metropolitan Districts (Definition) Order 1972", legislation.gov.uk, The National Archives, SI 1972/2039, retrieved 31 May 2023 https://legislation.gov.uk/uksi/1972/2039/made ↩

  2. "The English Non-metropolitan Districts (Names) Order 1973", legislation.gov.uk, The National Archives, SI 1973/551, retrieved 31 May 2023 https://legislation.gov.uk/uksi/1973/551/made ↩

  3. "Bulletin of Changes of Local Authority Status, Names and Areas 1st April 1988–31st March 1989" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 13 December 2011. Retrieved 15 January 2012. https://web.archive.org/web/20111213221626/http://www.lgbce.org.uk/__documents/lgbce-documents/research/clg-bulletins/bulletin88-89.pdf ↩

  4. "Local Government Act 1972", legislation.gov.uk, The National Archives, 1972 c. 70, retrieved 31 May 2023 https://legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1972/70/ ↩

  5. Torr, George; Roberts, Georgia (5 May 2023). "Local Elections 2023: Labour big winners across Derbyshire". BBC News. Retrieved 1 June 2023. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-derbyshire-65501707 ↩

  6. "Compositions calculator". The Elections Centre. 4 March 2016. Retrieved 14 May 2023. https://www.electionscentre.co.uk/?page_id=3825 ↩

  7. "Amber Valley". BBC News Online. 19 April 2008. Retrieved 25 March 2010. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/shared/bsp/hi/elections/local_council/08/html/17ub.stm ↩

  8. "Council minutes". Amber Valley Borough Council. Retrieved 21 August 2022. https://www.ambervalley.gov.uk/council/committees-and-meetings/ ↩

  9. "Local elections 2023: live council results for England". The Guardian. https://www.theguardian.com/politics/ng-interactive/2023/may/04/elections-2023-results-live-local-council-england#le-full-results ↩

  10. Bisknell, Eddie (13 March 2024). "Amber Valley councillor quits Green Party for Conservatives over opposition to solar farm and in-fighting". Derbyshire Live. Retrieved 4 May 2024. https://www.derbytelegraph.co.uk/news/local-news/amber-valley-councillor-quits-green-9162249 ↩

  11. "Historic Monument Record: Town Hall, Market Place, Ripley". Derbyshire County Council. Retrieved 23 January 2021. https://her.derbyshire.gov.uk/Monument/MDR13075 ↩

  12. "The Amber Valley (Electoral Changes) Order 2022", legislation.gov.uk, The National Archives, SI 2022/810, retrieved 1 June 2023 https://legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2022/810/made ↩

  13. "Election Maps". Ordnance Survey. Retrieved 1 June 2023. https://www.ordnancesurvey.co.uk/election-maps/gb/ ↩

  14. "East Midlands Region". Civic Heraldry of England. Retrieved 5 March 2021. http://civicheraldry.co.uk/east_midlands.html ↩

  15. "Ripley & Heanor News". British Papers. 27 May 2014. Retrieved 17 April 2024. https://www.britishpapers.co.uk/england-emids/ripley-heanor-news/ ↩

  16. "Belper News". British Papers. 19 February 2014. Retrieved 19 April 2024. https://www.britishpapers.co.uk/england-emids/belper-news/ ↩