Castlereagh Borough Council

NI_district
district_name = Castlereagh Borough
alt_name = Comhairle Baile an Chaisleáin Riabhaigh / Stye Braes o Ulidia Burgh [http://www.planningni.gov.uk/Corporate_Services/Consultation_Documents/DraftPlanningReform/responses/LC54_CastlereaghBC.pdf]
district_

area_rank = 24th
district_area = 85
district_HQ = Castlereagh
district_iso = GB-CSR
district_ons = 95Y
protestant_pc = 76.9%
catholic_pc = 18.3%
web_address = http://www.castlereagh.gov.uk
district_MPs = Iris Robinson
Peter Robinson
Alasdair McDonnell

Castlereagh Borough Council is a local council in Northern Ireland. It is a largely urban Borough bordering Belfast. Unusually, it has no natural borough centre, largely consisting of a series of suburbs of Belfast in the Castlereagh Hills to the south-east of the City with a small rural area to the South of the Borough. The main centres of population are Carryduff, 6 miles (9.6 km) south of Belfast city centre and Dundonald, 5 miles (8 km) east of it. The population totals nearly 66,500.The Castlereagh Borough Council area consists of 4 electoral areas: Castlereagh Central, South, East and West. In the last elections in 2005, 23 members were elected from the following political parties: 13 Democratic Unionist Party (DUP), 4 Ulster Unionist Party (UUP), 4 Alliance Party and 2 Social Democratic and Labour Party (SDLP). The current Mayor is Councillor Joanne Bunting (DUP) and the Deputy Mayor is Councillor David Drysdale (UUP).

Castlereagh and the city of Kent in Washington in the United States signed up as sister cities partners on 1 August 2000.

In elections for the Westminster Parliament the area is split between the East Belfast constituency, the South Belfast constituency and the Strangford constituency. It has previously also had a section included in the North Down constituency. It is not to be confused with Castlerea, a town in County Roscommon in the Republic of Ireland.

Review of Public Administration

Under the Review of Public Administration (RPA) the Council is due to merge with Lisburn City Council in 2011 to form a single council for the enlarged area totalling 540 km² and a population of 175,182. [cite web | title=Minister Foster announces decisions on Local Government Reform | work=DoE | url=http://www.doeni.gov.uk/index/local_government/minister_foster_announces_decisions_on_local_government_reform.htm | accessdate=2008-05-31] The next election was due to take place in May 2009, but on April 25, 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. [ [http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/northern_ireland/7367253.stm "Northern Ireland elections are postponed", BBC News, April 25, 2008, accessed April 27, 2008] ]

ee also

* Local Councils in Northern Ireland

References

External links

* [http://www.castlereagh.gov.uk/ Castlereagh Borough Council]