55°50′N 4°30′W / 55.833°N 4.500°W / 55.833; -4.500

Renfrew
District

History
 • Created16 May 1975
 • Abolished31 March 1996
 • Succeeded byRenfrewshire
East Renfrewshire
GovernmentRenfrew District Council
 • HQPaisley

Renfrew District (Scottish Gaelic: Sgìre Rinn Friù) was, between 1975 and 1996, one of nineteen local government districts in the Strathclyde region of Scotland.[1]

History

The district was created in 1975 under the Local Government (Scotland) Act 1973, which established a two-tier structure of local government across mainland Scotland comprising upper-tier regions and lower-tier districts. Renfrew was one of nineteen districts created within the region of Strathclyde. The district covered the area of seven former districts from the historic county of Renfrewshire, all of which were abolished at the same time:[2][3]

The remaining parts of Renfrewshire were divided between the Eastwood and Inverclyde districts. The three districts together formed a single lieutenancy area.[4]

The district was named after the town of Renfrew, a royal burgh which had given its name to the county of Renfrewshire, but the district's largest town and administrative headquarters was Paisley.

The district was abolished in 1996 under the Local Government etc. (Scotland) Act 1994 which replaced regions and districts with unitary council areas. Renfrewshire council area was created covering most of the Renfrew District, but the Barrhead electoral division (roughly corresponding to the pre-1975 burgh of Barrhead and parish of Neilston) went instead to East Renfrewshire.[5]

Political control

The first election to the district council was held in 1974, initially operating as a shadow authority alongside the outgoing authorities until it came into its powers on 16 May 1975. Political control of the council from 1975 was as follows:[6]

Party in control Years
Labour 1975–1977
No overall control 1977–1980
Labour 1980–1996

Premises

Municipal Buildings, Cotton Street, Paisley (now Renfrewshire House)

The council was based at the Municipal Buildings on Cotton Street in Paisley, which had been completed between 1969 and 1973 as the "County and Municipal Buildings", being a joint facility for the old Renfrewshire County Council and Paisley Town Council.[7][8][9] The council shared the building with Strathclyde Regional Council, who used it as their Renfrewshire sub-regional office. Following the abolition of Renfrew District and Strathclyde in 1996 the building became the headquarters of Renfrewshire Council and was later renamed Renfrewshire House.[10]

See also

References

  1. ^ "Renfrew". Undiscovered Scotland. Retrieved 9 February 2023.
  2. ^ "Local Government (Scotland) Act 1973", legislation.gov.uk, The National Archives, 1973 c. 65, retrieved 9 February 2023
  3. ^ "No. 14632". The Edinburgh Gazette. 7 March 1930. p. 258.
  4. ^ "The Lord-Lieutenants Order 1975", legislation.gov.uk, The National Archives, SI 1975/428, retrieved 9 February 2023
  5. ^ "Local Government etc. (Scotland) Act 1994", legislation.gov.uk, The National Archives, 1994 c. 39, retrieved 3 January 2023
  6. ^ "Compositions calculator". The Elections Centre. Retrieved 18 January 2023.
  7. ^ "Paisley, Cotton Street, County and Municipal Buildings". Canmore. Historic Environment Scotland. Retrieved 31 January 2023.
  8. ^ Glasgow Area Telephone Directory, October 1971, p. 709, Renfrewshire County Council, County Buildings, Cotton Street, Paisley
  9. ^ "Renfrew County Council, Paisley Town Council and Police Station building". Dictionary of Scottish Architects. Retrieved 8 February 2023.
  10. ^ "Contact us". Renfrewshire Council. Retrieved 7 February 2023.
Categories