BATH AND NORTH EAST SOMERSET

Bath and North East Somerset District
Geography
Status:	Unitary district
Region:	South West England
Historic county:	Somerset
Ceremonial county:	Somerset
Area: - Total	Ranked 137th 351.12 km²
Admin. HQ:	Bath
ONS code:	00HA
Demographics
Population: - Total () - Density	Ranked / km²
Ethnicity:	97.2% White 0.5% Chinese[1]
Politics
Bath and North East Somerset Council http://www.bathnes.gov.uk/
Leadership:	Leader & Cabinet
Executive:
MPs:	Don Foster (LD) Dan Norris (L)

'Bath and North East Somerset' (commonly referred to as 'BANES' or 'B&NES') is a unitary authority that was created on April 1, 1996 following the abolition of the County of Avon. It is part of the Ceremonial county of Somerset.
The city of Bath is the principal settlement in the district, but BANES also covers Keynsham, Midsomer Norton, Radstock and the Chew Valley. The geographical area covered is 351.12 km² (135 mi²). There are a total of 72,000 dwellings within the area, 6,408 are listed buildings, 662 Grade 1and 145 Grade 2 and classified as of historical or architectural importance. 170,238 people live in the area and approximately half live in the City of Bath making it 12 times more densely populated than the rest of the area.
Since BANES was created, no political party has been in overall control of the council. The Liberal Democrats quickly became the dominant party, but in the local elections on May 3, 2007 the Conservative Party won 31 seats and are now the dominant party, though they do not have a majority. The Labour Party has only five seats, none of which are in Bath.
Local issues include traffic calming measures, graffiti, council tax and the escalating cost of the new (and much delayed) Thermae Bath Spa development.
BANES is often criticised for being divided between its distinct component parts, the urban Bath and rural North East Somerset, with Bath getting most of the investment and attention from the council. However, it is predominantly Bath residents who are campaigning for a return to a separate Bath city council as it existed under the former Avon County. The district was formed as a merger of the former Avon districts of Bath and Wansdyke.
The district borders Bristol, North Somerset, Somerset, South Gloucestershire, and Wiltshire local government areas.
On December 10, 2003, Bath and North East Somerset was granted Fairtrade Zone status.
Bath and North East Somerset Council runs a youth democracy group called Dafby, who are consulted by the council on a wide variety of issues that affect young people.

Contents

Towns and villages

Economy

Local Government

External links

Towns and villages

The major towns and villages in the district are:

★ Bath

★ Bathampton

★ Chew Magna

★ Chew Stoke

★ Keynsham

★ Midsomer Norton

★ Paulton

★ Radstock

★ Saltford

Economy

This is a chart of trend of regional gross value added of North and North East Somerset and South Gloucestershire at current basic prices published (pp.240-253) by ''Office for National Statistics'' with figures in millions of British Pounds Sterling.

Year	Regional Gross Value Added	Agriculture	Industry	Services
1995	'5,916'	125	1,919	3,872
2000	'8,788'	86	2,373	6,330
2003	'10,854'	67	2,873	7,914

includes hunting and forestry
includes energy and construction
includes financial intermediation services indirectly measured
Components may not sum to totals due to rounding

Local Government

The current council composes of:

'Party'		'Councillors'	'+/-'
	Conservative Party	31	+5
	Liberal Democrats	26	-3
	Labour Party	5	-1
	Independent	2	-2
	No party	1	+1
	NOC Hold (Con 1st)

The whole council will be up for re-election in 2011.

External links

★ BANES council

★ BBC Somerset