Metropolitan Borough of Rochdale

Summary

The Metropolitan Borough of Rochdale is a metropolitan borough of Greater Manchester in England. Its largest town is Rochdale and the wider borough covers other outlying towns and villages, including Middleton, Heywood, Milnrow and Littleborough. It is the ninth-largest district by population in Greater Manchester with a population of 224,087 in 2021.[3]

Borough of Rochdale
Rochdale Town Hall
Coat of arms of Borough of Rochdale
Rochdale shown within Greater Manchester
Rochdale shown within Greater Manchester
Coordinates: 53°37′00″N 2°09′24″W / 53.61667°N 2.15667°W / 53.61667; -2.15667
Sovereign stateUnited Kingdom
CountryEngland
RegionNorth West
City region and ceremonial countyGreater Manchester
Historic countyLancashire
Incorporated1 April 1974
Named forRochdale
Administrative HQNumber One Riverside
Civic suiteRochdale Town Hall
Government
 • TypeMetropolitan borough with leader and cabinet
 • BodyRochdale Borough Council
 • ControlLabour
 • LeaderNeil Emmott (L)
 • MayorMike Holly
 • Chief ExecutiveSteve Rumbelow
 • House of Commons
Area
 • Total61.0 sq mi (158.1 km2)
 • Rank163rd
Population
 (2021)[3]
 • Total224,087
 • Rank83rd
 • Density3,670/sq mi (1,417/km2)
DemonymRochdalian
Ethnicity (2021)
 • Ethnic groups
List
Religion (2021)
 • Religion
List
Time zoneUTC+0 (GMT)
 • Summer (DST)UTC+1 (BST)
Postcode area
Dialling codes
  • 0161
  • 01706
ISO 3166 codeGB-RCH
GSS codeE08000005
ITL codeTLD37
GVA2021 estimate[5]
 • Total£3.9 billion
 • Per capita£17,181
GDP (nominal)2021 estimate[5]
 • Total£4.5 billion
 • Per capita£20,247
Websiterochdale.gov.uk

History edit

Within the boundaries of the historic county of Lancashire, the borough was formed in 1974 as part of the provisions of the Local Government Act 1972 and is an amalgamation of six former local government districts. It was originally proposed that the borough include the neighbouring town of Bury and disclude Middleton; Bury however went on to form the administrative centre for the adjacent Metropolitan Borough of Bury. The borough was formed by a merger of the former county borough of Rochdale and from the administrative county of Lancashire, the municipal boroughs of Heywood and Middleton, along with the urban districts of Littleborough, Milnrow and Wardle.The borough lies mostly within the historic county of Lancashire but a small part lies in the former West Riding of Yorkshire. Prior to its creation, it was suggested that the metropolitan borough be named Chadwick (with reference to Sir Edwin Chadwick), but this was rejected in favour of Rochdale.[6]

 
Milnrow skyline
 
Saint Luke's Parish Church, Heywood

Premises edit

 
Number One Riverside, the headquarters of Rochdale Borough Council

The council is based at Number One Riverside in Rochdale town centre, which was opened in 2014. It serves as a public library, includes a café, private meeting areas, a conference centre and a workplace. It merged 33 buildings into one and won the award for the best workplace of 2014.[7]

Electoral arrangements edit

The borough of Rochdale is divided into 20 wards, each ward having three councillors for a total of 60 councillors. Councillors serve four-year terms, with one-third of the council elected every year except every fourth year when no councilors are elected.

Current political make-up edit

The council has been controlled by Labour since 2011.

Party Affiliation Number
Labour 46
Conservative 9
Liberal Democrats 3
Independent 2

Geography edit

 
Blackstone Edge Fold, Rochdale

The borough lies directly north-northeast of the City of Manchester, to the east of the Metropolitan Borough of Bury, to the north of the Metropolitan Borough of Oldham and partly to the east of the county of West Yorkshire bordering near to the Metropolitan Borough of Calderdale and the Lancashire borough of Rossendale is to the northwest. There are some rural parts and urban parts of the district including Blackstone Edge and the Pennine hills which form part of the rural areas of the borough. The more urban areas centre around the town and neighbouring boroughs of Bury, Oldham and Manchester. The town of Middleton is contiguous with the northeastern suburbs of Manchester and the towns of Chadderton, Failsworth and Oldham. The towns of Heywood, Littleborough and Milnrow form an urban area with Rochdale.

Demography edit

 
St Chad's Church, Rochdale's parish church

Ethnicity (2021 Census)[8] edit

  • All residents 223,773 - 100.0
  • White - 165,485 - 74.0
  • English/Welsh/Scottish/Northern Irish/British - 156,669 - 70.0
  • Irish - 1,735 - 0.8
  • Gypsy or Irish Traveller - 194 - 0.1
  • Roma - 163 - 0.1
  • Other White - 6,724 - 3.0
  • Mixed/multiple ethnic groups - 5,284 - 2.4
  • White and Black Caribbean - 1,303 - 0.6
  • White and Black African - 1,210 - 0.5
  • White and Asian - 1,736 - 0.8
  • Other Mixed - 1,035 - 0.5
  • Asian/Asian British - 41,406 - 18.4
  • Indian - 1,190 - 0.5
  • Pakistani - 30,525 - 13.6
  • Bangladeshi - 5,170 - 2.3
  • Chinese - 867 - 0.4
  • Other Asian - 3,654 - 1.6
  • Black/African/Caribbean/Black British - 7,927 - 3.6
  • African - 6,476 - 2.9
  • Caribbean - 440 - 0.2
  • Other Black - 1,011 - 0.5
  • Other ethnic group - 3,669 - 1.7
  • Arab - 815 - 0.4
  • Any other ethnic group - 2,854 - 1.3

Religion edit

The following table shows the religious identity of residents residing in Rochdale.

Religion 2021[9]
Number %
Christian 104,841 46.9
Muslim 42,121 18.8
Jewish 218 0.1
Hindu 613 0.3
Sikh 191 0.1
Buddhism 398 0.2
Other religion 675 0.3
No religion 64,349 28.8
Religion not stated 10,366 4.6
Total 295,963 100.0


 
Milkstone Mosque, Rochdale

Population change edit

The table below details the population change since 1801, including the percentage change since the last available census data. Although the Metropolitan Borough of Rochdale has only existed 1974, figures have been generated by combining data from the towns, villages, and civil parishes that would later be constituent parts of the borough.

Population growth in Rochdale since 1801
Year 1801 1811 1821 1831 1841 1851 1861 1871 1881 1891 1901 1911 1921 1931 1941 1951 1961 1971 1981 1991 2001
Population 28,689 36,815 46,440 57,377 69,956 80,317 102,247 124,177 146,107 151,490 165,617 181,061 181,227 181,395 177,574 173,833 188,316 204,071 206,351 204,802 205,233
% change +28.3 +26.1 +23.6 +21.9 +14.8 +27.3 +21.4 +17.7 +3.7 +9.3 +9.3 +0.1 +0.1 −2.1 −2.1 +8.3 +8.4 +1.1 −0.8 +0.2
Source: Vision of Britain[10]

Twin towns edit

The Metropolitan Borough of Rochdale has formal twinning arrangements with six places. Three were originally twinned with a place within the Metropolitan Borough boundaries prior to its creation in 1974.[11]

Country Place County / District / Region / State Originally twinned with Date
France Tourcoing Nord-Pas de Calais County Borough of Rochdale 1956
Germany Peine Niedersachsen Municipal Borough of Heywood 1967
Germany Bielefeld Nordrhein-Westfalen County Borough of Rochdale 1953
Pakistan Sahiwal Punjab Metropolitan Borough of Rochdale 1988
Ukraine Lviv Lviv Metropolitan Borough of Rochdale 1992
Bangladesh Sylhet Sylhet Division Metropolitan Borough of Rochdale 2009

Freedom of the Borough edit

The following people and military units have received the Freedom of the Borough of Rochdale.

Individuals edit

Military units edit

[27]

See also edit

References edit

Notes edit

  1. ^ "Councillors and elections". Rochdale Borough Council. Retrieved 7 January 2024.
  2. ^ "Mid-Year Population Estimates, UK, June 2021". Office for National Statistics. 21 December 2022. Retrieved 18 October 2023.
  3. ^ a b "Mid-Year Population Estimates, UK, June 2021". Office for National Statistics. 21 December 2022. Retrieved 18 October 2023.
  4. ^ a b UK Census (2021). "2021 Census Area Profile – Rochdale Local Authority (E08000005)". Nomis. Office for National Statistics. Retrieved 7 January 2024.
  5. ^ a b Fenton, Trevor (25 April 2023). "Regional gross domestic product: city regions". Office for National Statistics. Retrieved 2 September 2023.
  6. ^ Clark 1973, p. 101.
  7. ^ "Is your office as trendy as this?". BBC News. 7 October 2014.
  8. ^ "Ethnicity - Ethnicity by local authorities, ONS".
  9. ^ "Religion - Religion by local authorities, ONS".
  10. ^ "Rochdale District: total population". Vision of Britain. Retrieved on 20 December 2008.
  11. ^ "Town twinning". rochdale.gov.uk. Archived from the original on 29 October 2007. Retrieved 18 August 2011.
  12. ^ "Receiving the Freedom of Rochdale | the Official Gracie Fields".
  13. ^ "Cyril Smith stripped of the freedom of borough".
  14. ^ "'True hero' unveils L/Cpl Stephen Shaw MC Way in Heywood". BBC News Manchester. 27 May 2013. Retrieved 9 October 2022.
  15. ^ Gray, Lisa (16 May 2014). "Battle hero Stephen Shaw to be given freedom on his day of honour". The Manchester Evening News. Retrieved 9 October 2022.
  16. ^ Selby, Alan (3 November 2017). "Death of former MP and influential minister Joel Barnett". The Manchester Evening News. Retrieved 9 October 2022.
  17. ^ Wilkinson, Damon (29 August 2017). "Coronation Street legend Julie Goodyear is to be given the freedom of Rochdale". The Manchester Evening News. Retrieved 9 October 2022.
  18. ^ Wilkinson, Damon (5 October 2017). "Coronation Street legend Julie Goodyear 'truly humbled' as she is awarded freedom of Rochdale". The Manchester Evening News. Retrieved 9 October 2022.
  19. ^ "Freedom of the Borough honour for Rochdale's England hero Keira Walsh". Rochdale Borough Council. 7 October 2022. Retrieved 9 October 2022.
  20. ^ "Honorary Freemen, Aldermen and Alderwomen". Rochdale Borough Council.
  21. ^ "Honorary Freemen, Aldermen and Alderwomen". Rochdale Borough Council.
  22. ^ "Honorary Freemen, Aldermen and Alderwomen". Rochdale Borough Council.
  23. ^ "Honorary Freemen, Aldermen and Alderwomen". Rochdale Borough Council.
  24. ^ "Honorary Freemen, Aldermen and Alderwomen". Rochdale Borough Council.
  25. ^ "Honorary Freemen, Aldermen and Alderwomen". Rochdale Borough Council.
  26. ^ "Honorary Freemen, Aldermen and Alderwomen". Rochdale Borough Council.
  27. ^ "Honorary Aldermen and Freemen - Freedom of the Borough".

Bibliography edit

  • Clark, David Michael (1973). Greater Manchester Votes: A Guide to the New Metropolitan Authorities. Redrose. ISBN 978-0950293202.

External links edit

  • www.investinrochdale.co.uk/, Rochdale Development Agency - information on the borough, its economy and regeneration.