Limavady Borough Council
55°03′04″N 6°57′04″W / 55.051°N 6.951°W Template:NI district Limavady Borough Council (Irish: Comhairle Baile Léim an Mhadaidh) is a Local Council in County Londonderry in Northern Ireland. Its headquarters is in the town of Limavady. The Borough has a population of over 32,000 with 63% of the population living in a rural setting. It covers an area of 586 square kilometres and includes the valley of the River Roe. It stretches from the Sperrin Mountains in the south to Benone beach, a seven mile strand on the Atlantic coast which was the first beach in Northern Ireland to be awarded a Blue Flag. Apart from Limavady other towns in the area include Dungiven and Ballykelly.
The Limavady Borough Council area consists of three electoral areas: Limavady Town, Benbradagh and Bellarena. The Council was established in 1973 and is made up of 15 members who are elected for a four year term using a single transferable vote system. Together with the neighbouring district of Coleraine, it forms the East Londonderry constituency for elections to the Westminster Parliament and Northern Ireland Assembly.
At the last election in 2005 members from the following political parties were elected: 6 Sinn Féin, 3 Social Democratic and Labour Party (SDLP), 2 Democratic Unionist Party (DUP), 2 Ulster Unionist Party (UUP) and 2 United Unionist Coalition (UUC). The posts of Mayor and Deputy Mayor are rotated annually among the political representatives of the two main traditions within the community as part of the partnership process operated by the Council. The current Mayor is Councillor Michael Carten (SDLP) and the Deputy Mayor is Councillor Boyd Douglas (UUC).
2005 Election results
| Party | seats | change +/- | |
|---|---|---|---|
| style="background-color: Template:Sinn Féin/meta/color" |• | Sinn Féin | 6 | +2 |
| style="background-color: Template:Social Democratic and Labour Party/meta/color" |• | Social Democratic and Labour Party | 3 | -1 |
| style="background-color: Template:Democratic Unionist Party/meta/color" |• | Democratic Unionist Party | 3 | +1 |
| style="background-color: Template:Ulster Unionist Party/meta/color" |• | Ulster Unionist Party | 2 | -1 |
| style="background-color: Template:Independent/meta/color" |• | Independent | 1 | -1 |
Review of Public Administration
Under the Review of Public Administration (RPA) the Council is due to merge with Coleraine Borough Council and Ballymoney Borough Council and Moyle District Council in 2011 to form Causeway Coast and Glens District Council, a single council for the enlarged area totalling 1796 km² and a population of 131,564.[1] The next election was due to take place in May 2009, but on 25 April 2008, Shaun Woodward, Secretary of State for Northern Ireland announced that the scheduled 2009 district council elections were to be postponed until the introduction of the eleven new councils in 2011.[2]
See also
Local councils in Northern Ireland