Ards and North Down Borough Council

Ards and North Down Borough Council is a local authority in Northern Ireland that was established on 1 April 2015. It replaced Ards Borough Council and North Down Borough Council. The first elections to the authority were on 22 May 2014 and it acted as a shadow authority, prior to the creation of the Ards and North Down district on 1 April 2015.

Ards and North Down Borough Council
Type
Type	District council of Ards and North Down
History
Founded	1 April 2015
Preceded by	Ards Borough Council North Down Borough Council
Leadership
Mayor	Alderman Bill Keery, Democratic Unionist Party
Deputy Mayor	Councillor Karen Douglas, Alliance
Structure
Seats	40
Political groups	DUP (14)      Alliance (10)      UUP (8)      Green (3)      Independent (3)      SDLP (1)      TUV (1)
Elections
Last election	2 May 2019
Meeting place
Town Hall, Bangor Castle
Website
http://ardsandnorthdown.gov.uk

The district was originally called "North Down and Ards"[1] but the council was known as "Ards and North Down District Council".[2] Councillors on the transitional shadow authority (prior to the council's official creation) voted on 15 December 2014 to submit an application to the Department of the Environment to change the name to East Coast Borough Council with effect from 1 April 2015.[2] Negative public reaction to the proposed name prompted a rethink.[3] The district name "Ards and North Down" was not finalised until 2016.[4] The transfer of the borough charter from North Down Borough Council was delayed until after the district naming.[1]

Mayoralty

Mayor

From	To	Name		Party
2015	2016	Alan Graham		DUP
2016	2017	Deborah Girvan		Alliance
2017	2018	Robert Adair		DUP
2018	2019	Richard Smart		UUP
2019	2020	Bill Keery		DUP

Deputy Mayor

From	To	Name		Party
2015	2016	Carl McClean		UUP
2016	2017	William Keery		DUP
2017	2018	Gavin Walker		Alliance
2018	2019	Eddie Thompson		DUP
2019	2020	Karen Douglas		Alliance

Councillors

For the purpose of elections the council is divided into seven district electoral areas (DEA):[5]

Area	Seats
Ards Peninsula	6
Bangor Central	6
Bangor East and Donaghadee	6
Bangor West	5
Comber	5
Holywood and Clandeboye	5
Newtownards	7

Party strengths

Party		Elected 2014	Elected 2019
	DUP	17	14
	Alliance	7	10
	UUP	9	8
	Green (NI)	3	3
	SDLP	1	1
	TUV	1	1
	Independents	2	3

Councillors by electoral area

Current council members
District electoral area	Name	Party
Ards Peninsula	Robert Adair		DUP
	Joe Boyle		SDLP
	Nigel Edmund		DUP
	Edward Thompson		DUP
	Angus Carson		UUP
	Lorna McAlpine		Alliance
Bangor Central	Karen Douglas		Alliance
	Stephen Dunlop		Green (NI)
	Alistair Cathcart		DUP
	Craig Blaney		UUP
	Wesley Graham Irvine		DUP
	Ray McKimm		Independent
Bangor East and Donaghadee	Mark Brooks		UUP
	Gavin Walker		Alliance
	David Chambers		UUP
	Janice MacArthur †		DUP
	William Keery		DUP
	Thomas Smith		Independent
Bangor West	Connie Egan		Alliance
	Jennifer Gilmour		DUP
	Marion Smith		UUP
	Barry McKee		Green (NI)
	Scott Wilson		Alliance
Comber	Deborah Girvan		Alliance
	Philip Smith		UUP
	Robert Gibson		DUP
	Trevor Cummings		DUP
	Stephen Cooper		TUV
Holywood and Clandeboye	Martin McRandal †		Alliance
	Kathryn McNickle †		Green (NI)
	Gillian Greer		Alliance
	Stephen Dunne		DUP
	Carl McClean		UUP
Newtownards	James Menagh		Independent
	Naomi Armstrong		DUP
	Nick Mathison		Alliance
	Stephen McIlveen		DUP
	Colin Kennedy		DUP
	Richard Smart		UUP
	Alan McDowell		Alliance

† Co-opted to fill a vacancy since the election.
‡ Changed party affiliation since the election.
Last updated 11 May 2020.

For further details see 2019 Ards and North Down Borough Council election.

Population

The area covered by the new borough has 156,672 residents according to the 2011 Northern Ireland census.[6]

References

1. "Ards and North Down Borough Council". The Belfast Gazette (7794): 33, notice ID 2462059. 15 January 2016.
2. "New name signifies a new beginning for local Council". Ards and North Down Borough Council. 17 December 2014. Archived from the original on 12 January 2015. Retrieved 7 January 2016. In the New Year the Council will formally apply for Borough status and will submit an application to the DoE to change the name to East Coast Borough Council with effect from 1 April 2015; until then the Council will be known as North Down and Ards District Council
3. Glynn, Niall (15 January 2015). "Northern Ireland super council names spark controversy". BBC News NI. BBC. Retrieved 7 January 2016.
4. "Change of District Name (North Down and Ards) Order (Northern Ireland) 2016". STATUTORY RULES OF NORTHERN IRELAND 2016 No.10. Legislation.gov.uk. 18 January 2016. Retrieved 15 June 2016.
5. "[ARCHIVED CONTENT] Current review of district electoral areas" (PDF). webarchive.proni.gov.uk. Archived from the original (PDF) on 29 September 2015. Retrieved 19 November 2017.
6. "NI Census 2011 - Key Statistics Summary Report, September 2014" (PDF). NI Statistics and Research Agency. Retrieved 28 September 2014.