Horwich Town Council

Horwich Town Council is a local authority with limited powers and covers the town and civil parish of Horwich in the Metropolitan Borough of Bolton, Greater Manchester, England. It is made up of fourteen elected Town Councillors, representing six electoral wards. Four of the Wards elect two Councillors while two other Wards elect three Councillors.

Horwich Town Council
Type
Type	Town Council of the Civil Parish of Horwich
Leadership
Town Mayor	Gordon Stone (Liberal Democrat)
Town Clerk	Carol Hutchinson (non-political post)
Seats	14 town councillors
Elections
Voting system	First past the post
Meeting place
The Public Hall, Lee Lane, Horwich
Website
www.horwich.gov.uk

History

Under the Local Government Act 1972, Horwich Urban District Council was abolished in 1974 and its area became a successor parish authority in the Metropolitan Borough of Bolton.[1]

Letters Patent granting arms to Horwich Town Council

The following is the full text of the letters patent issued by the College of Arms granting armorial bearings:[2]

To All and Singular to whom these Presents shall come Sir Anthony Richard Wagner, Knight Commander of the Royal Victorian Order, Garter Principal King of Arms, John Riddell Bromhead Walker, Esquire, Member of the Royal Victorian Order, upon whom has been conferred the Decoration of the Military Cross, Clarenceux King of Arms and Walter John George Verco, Esquire, Commander of the Royal Victorian Order, Norroy and Ulster King of Arms send Greeting!

Whereas, Desmond Smith, Gentleman, Town Mayor of the Town of Horwich did represent unto The Most Noble Bernard Marmaduke, Duke of Norfolk, Knight of the Most Noble Order of the Garter, Knight Grand Cross of the Royal Victorian Order, Knight Grand Cross of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire, upon whom has been conferred the Territorial Decoration, Earl Marshal and Hereditary Marshal of England and One of Her Majesty's Most Honourable Privy Council, now deceased, that pursuant to the provisions of the Local Government Act 1972, the Council of the Parish of Horwich was established as a successor Parish Authority to the then existing Urban District of Horwich and that in accordance with the said Act the Council of the Parish of Horwich adopted on the Ninth day of January 1974 the status of a Town and accordingly the Parish Council of Horwich is now the Town Council of Horwich. That the Town Council is desirous of having Armorial Bearing duly established with lawful authority and he therefore as Town Mayor of the Town of Horwich and on behalf of the Council thereof did request the favour of His Grace's Warrant for Our granting and assigning such Arms and Crest as We may consider fit and proper to be borne and used by the Town Council of Horwich on its Common Seal or otherwise according to the Laws of Arms. And forasmuch as the said Earl Marshal did by Warrant under his hand and Seal bearing date the Sixth day of December 1974 authorise and direct Us to grant and assign such Arms and Crest accordingly Know Ye therefore that We the said Garter, Clarenceux and Norroy and Ulster in pursuance of His Grace's Warrant and by virtue of the Letters Patent of Our several Offices to each of Us respectively granted do by these Presents grant and assign unto the Town Council of Horwich the Arms following that is to say:

Vert a Hart courant proper gorged with an Ancient Crown on a Chief or a Cross Flory Gules voided of the Chief between four Pallets two and two Sable all between two Roses Gules barbed and seeded proper. And for the Crest on a Wreath Argent and Gules a Huntsman habited and drawing his bow all proper.

Powers and functions

Horwich Town Council acts as a channel of local opinion to Bolton Metropolitan Borough Council, and as such has the right to be informed on any planning decisions affecting the civil parish.[3] The town council receives funding by levying a "precept" on the council tax paid by the residents of the civil parish.[4] It has the powers to provide crime prevention measures (such as CCTV) and to contribute money towards traffic calming schemes.[3] The town council also gives grants to local voluntary organisations,[3] and sponsoring public events, including Horwich in Bloom,[5] a local version of Britain in Bloom. Since 1997, the town council awards every two years civic medals to people of Horwich who provided exemplary service to the town.[6]

Wards

Horwich is divided into six wards, each of which elect between two or three Town Councillors:[7]

Brazley Ward, 2 Cllr's. Bridge Ward, 3 Cllr's.

Church Ward, 2 Cllr's. Claypool Ward, 2 Cllr's.

Lever Park Ward, 3 Cllr's. Vale Ward, 2 Cllr's.

Mayors of Horwich

Each year the Town Council elects one of the Town Councillors to become the Town Mayor who represents the town over the municipal year. It is a ceremonial position and a few of the holders have held the position more than once: Elizabeth McCracken held it four times and Kevan James Helsby, Alice Kilcoyne, Robert Ronson, John Bragg, Ken Denton, Joyce Kellett and Stephen Michael Rock have held it twice.[8]

List of Mayors of Horwich [8]
Tenure	Name	Party		Notes
1974–1975	Desmond Smith		Labour
1975–1976	Walter Taylor		Labour
1976–1977	Ron Parkinson		Conservative
1977–1978	Michael Foster		Conservative
1978–1979	Barrie Crumblehulme		Conservative
1979–1980	Elizabeth McCracken		Labour	1st term
1980–1981	Stanley Dawson		Conservative
1981–1982	Thomas Fairhurst		Labour
1982–1983	Elsie Butterworth		Conservative
1983–1984	Ernest Seddon		Labour
1984–1985	John Kevin Kilcoyne		Labour
1985–1986	Bernard P. Broderick		Conservative
1986–1987	Albert Swindells		Labour
1987–1988	Kevan James Helsby		Labour	1st term. Also Mayor of Bolton 2001–2002.
1988–1989	Elizabeth McCracken		Labour	2nd term
1989–1990	Ian Badon Hamilton		Liberal Democrats
1990–1991	Alice Kilcoyne		Labour	1st term
1991–1992	Robert Ronson		Liberal Democrats	1st term
1992–1992	Ian Carruthers		Labour
1992–1993	Elizabeth McCracken		Labour	3rd term
1993–1994	Mark Perks		Conservative
1994–1995	Madeline Murray		Labour
1995–1996	John Bragg		Labour	1st term
1996–1997	Barbara Olwyn Ronson		Liberal Democrats	Also Mayor of Bolton 2007–2008.
1997–1998	Elizabeth McCracken		Labour	4th term
1998–1999	Alice Kilcoyne		Labour	2nd term
1999–2000	James Michael Kilcoyne		Labour
2000–2001	Peter McGeehan		Liberal Democrats
2001–2002	Joyce Kellett		Labour	1st term
2002–2003	John Bragg		Labour	2nd term
2003–2004	Robert Ronson		Liberal Democrats	2nd term
2004–2005	Kevan James Helsby		Labour	2nd term. Also Mayor of Bolton 2001–2002.
2005–2006	Stephen Michael Rock		Liberal Democrats	1st term
2006–2007	Bernard McCartin		Liberal Democrats
2007–2008	Kenneth Malcolm Denton		Liberal Democrats	1st term
2008–2009	Thomas Farmer		Liberal Democrats
2009–2010	Susan Denton		Liberal Democrats
2010–2011	Kenneth Thompson		Liberal Democrats
2011–2012	Peter Baxendale		Conservative
2012–2013	Joyce Kellett		Labour	2nd term
2013–2014	Christine A. Root		Labour
2014–2015	Richard E. W. Silvester		Labour Co-op
2015–2016	Kenneth Malcolm Denton		Labour	2nd term
2016–2017	James Bullock		Labour
2017–2018	Stephen Michael Rock		Liberal Democrats	2nd term
2018–2019	Peter Wright		Labour
2019–2021	Gordon Stone		Liberal Democrats	Due to the Covid 19 pandemic, it was decided that the Town Mayor would continue in office for a second year / term.

Twin town

Horwich is twinned with the town of Crowborough in East Sussex. They entered into a unique twinning arrangement when they became the first towns within the United Kingdom to sign a Town Twinning Charter. The charter was signed by the Mayors of Horwich and Crowborough at a ceremony in the Public Hall, Horwich on the 22 March 1990 and in the Town Hall, Crowborough on the 27 March 1990.[9] On the 25th Anniversary of the Town Twinning, in March 2015, the Mayor of Horwich, Cllr. Richard E W Silvester and the Mayor of Crowborough, Cllr. Ronald G Reed signed 25th Anniversary celebratory Town Twinning documents in Crowborough Town Hall on Tuesday 10 March 2015 and in Horwich Public Hall on Thursday 19 March 2015, to re-new the twinning agreement. Horwich Cycle Club members travelled down to Crowborough on Friday 15 May 2015 and cycled with members of Wealden Cycle Club over that weekend as part of the celebrations.

References

1. Horwich Archived 2011-07-18 at the Wayback Machine. Greater Manchester County Record Office. Retrieved 14 June 2010.
2. Coat of Arms Archived 2013-08-07 at the Wayback Machine. Horwich Town Council. Retrieved 14 June 2010.
3. Your Council Archived 2013-08-07 at the Wayback Machine. Horwich Town Council. Retrieved 14 June 2010.
4. Council tax charges and bands. Bolton Borough Council. Retrieved 14 June 2010.
5. Horwich in bloom winner brightened gardens at Flockton Court. Bolton News. Published 12 August 2009.
6. Civic Medals Archived 2013-08-07 at the Wayback Machine. Horwich Town Council. Retrieved 14 June 2010.
7. Councillors / Officers Archived 2013-08-07 at the Wayback Machine. Horwich Town Council. Retrieved 14 June 2010.
8. Chairmen and Mayors of Horwich. Links in a Chain. Retrieved 14 June 2010.
9. Town Twinning Archived 2013-08-07 at the Wayback Machine. Horwich Town Council. Retrieved 14 June 2010.