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The County of Avon was a short-lived non-metropolitan county and ceremonial county in the west of England, named after the River Avon which ran through it. In 1996 it was split into Bath and North East Somerset, Bristol, North Somerset and South Gloucestershire unitary authorities. The area is still used for some administrative, non-administrative and statistical purposes, and today has a population of approximately one million people.
Creation
Avon was formed under the Local Government Act 1972, on April 1, 1974. It took in the areas of the former county boroughs of Bristol and Bath, and areas from the administrative counties of Gloucestershire (Kingswood, Mangotsfield, and the rural districts of Warmley, Sodbury (most) and Thornbury (most)), and Somerset (Weston-super-Mare, Clevedon, Keynsham, Norton-Radstock, Portishead, and the rural districts of Bathavon, Long Ashton, Axbridge (much), and Clutton (much). Like most of the new counties created by the Act, its boundaries were substantially trimmed from its inception, with Frome and Bradford on Avon removed from the proposed area.
It had six districts. Bristol and Bath were taken in directly from the former county boroughs. In the north, the Gloucestershire side, the urban districts of Kingswood and Mangotsfield formed a single borough of Kingswood, with the rest becoming Northavon. In the south, there were two districts, Woodspring, on the coast, and Wansdyke, in the interior.
To the north it bordered Gloucestershire, to the east Wiltshire and to the south Somerset. In the west it had a coast on the Bristol Channel.
The area of Avon was 1347km2 (520mi2) and its population in 1991 was 919,800. Cities and towns in Avon included (in approximate order of population) Bristol, Bath, Weston-super-Mare, Yate, Clevedon, Portishead, Midsomer Norton & Radstock, Bradley Stoke, Nailsea, Yatton, Keynsham and Thornbury.
Demise
It was never a well-loved institution as many Bristolians resented the removal of the "county" title from their city, and some people in parts of Gloucestershire and Somerset that were now included in Avon felt they had been cut off from their traditional counties. In particular there was a long-running campaign to return Weston-super-Mare to Somerset. The county did however have a fairly strong rational basis, being largely conterminous with the Bristol 'Travel to Work Area' defined since the 1950s and 1960s for planning purposes. In addition, people in the new county, but beyond the Bristol City boundary, were brought within convenient travelling distance of their main county council offices for the first time.
Avon was one of the counties in the "first tranche" of reviews conducted by the Banham Commission in the 1990s. The Commission recommended that it and its districts be abolished and replaced with four unitary authorities. The Avon (Structural Change) Order 1995 was debated in the Commons on February 22 1995.* The Order came into effect on 1 April 1996. The four authorities that replaced Avon are:
- The City and County of Bristol
- South Gloucestershire – formed from Kingswood and Northavon districts.
- North Somerset – formed from Woodspring district.
- Bath and North East Somerset – formed from Bath and Wansdyke districts.
For ceremonial purposes, the post of Lord Lieutenant of Avon was abolished, Bristol regained its own Lord Lieutenant and High Sheriff, while the other authorities were returned to their traditional counties. Suggestions to alter Bristol's boundaries (either by drawing new boundaries or by merely incorporating the mostly urbanised borough of Kingswood into it) were rejected.
Legacy
The demise of the County of Avon was the focus of a documentary called The End of Avon by the BBC produced by Linda Orr and Michael Lund broadcast in 1996. In 2006 Adam Thomas, a BBC Somerset Sound presenter, investigated, for Inside Out West on BBC One, why Avon refuses to die and continues to be included in the databases of large corporations as part of addresses in the area and in names such as Avon Wildlife Trust, the Avon and Somerset Constabulary, and Avon Fire and Rescue. Representatives from the organisations said they had no plans to change their names. However, the Royal Mail indicated that it was not necessary to include Avon as part of any address as it had abandoned the use of the former postal county in 1996.
Some bodies still cover the whole area of the former county of Avon: for example, the Avon Fire Brigade, the Avon Coroner's District the West of England Strategic Partnership and Intelligence West. Additionally the whole of the area is covered by Avon and Somerset Constabulary. Though there is no longer a joint council, the four unitary authorities still cooperate on many aspects of policy, such as the Joint Local Transport Plan.B&NES, Bristol, North Somerset & South Gloucestershire Councils, 2005. "Greater Bristol Joint Local Transport Plan 2006-2011." Currently, the term "West of England" is used by some organisations to refer to the former Avon area.
The term CUBA, the "County (or Councils) that Used to Be Avon", was coined — initially as a joke by Avon County Council employee Chris Bahn — to refer to the Avon area post-abolition of the county. The term Severnside is sometimes used as a euphemism for 'Avon' , although the term can also be used to refer to the stretch of shoreline from Avonmouth north to Aust, or from Newport to Chepstow. Many computer-generated address lists still give addresses in the area as being in the county of 'Avon', as it is a former postal county (see Postal counties of the United Kingdom).
The Forest of Avon is a community forest covering part of the area of the four local authorities. Other relics of Avon's existence include the Avon Cycleway, an 85-mile circular route, which wends its way on quiet roads and bridle tracks around (or just beyond) the outer limits of the former county. Also, Avon County Council funded Sustrans' first cycleway, the Bristol and Bath railway path, which led to the creation of the National Cycle Network.
See also
External links
- Avon: the name that refuses to die
- Bristolians Against Avon (BAA) Campaign
- West of England Partnership
- Intelligence West
References
Avon | Former non-metropolitan counties | History of Bristol | History of Gloucestershire | History of Somerset
"Avon (county)"