West Dunbartonshire facts for kids

Quick facts for kids West Dunbartonshire Wast Dunbairtonshire Siorrachd Dhùn Breatann an Iar
Coat of arms Council logo
Sovereign state	United Kingdom
Country	Scotland
Lieutenancy area	Dunbartonshire
Admin HQ	Dumbarton
Government
• Body	West Dunbartonshire Council
Area
• Total	61.3 sq mi (158.8 km2)
Area rank	Ranked 31st
Population  (2020)
• Total	89,130
• Rank	Ranked 26th
• Density	1,453.7/sq mi (561.27/km2)
ONS code	S12000039
ISO 3166 code	GB-WDU

West Dunbartonshire (Scots: Wast Dunbairtonshire; Scottish Gaelic: Siorrachd Dhùn Breatann an Iar, pronounced [ˈʃirˠəxk ɣum ˈpɾʲɛht̪ən̪ˠ əɲ ˈiəɾ]) is one of the 32 local government council areas of Scotland. The area lies to the north-west of the Glasgow City council area and contains many of Glasgow's commuter towns and villages. West Dunbartonshire also borders Argyll and Bute, East Dunbartonshire, Renfrewshire and Stirling.

The council area was formed in 1996 from the former Clydebank district and the eastern part of Dumbarton district, which had both been part of Strathclyde Region.

West Dunbartonshire has three main urban areas: Clydebank, Dumbarton and the Vale of Leven. The area also includes the intervening rural areas, including the Kilpatrick Hills and the south-eastern bank of Loch Lomond. The council is based at 16 Church Street in Dumbarton, although Clydebank is the largest town.

History

West Dunbartonshire was created in 1996 under the Local Government etc. (Scotland) Act 1994, which abolished the regions and districts which had been created in 1975, replacing them with unitary council areas. West Dunbartonshire covered the area of the abolished Clydebank district and the eastern part of Dumbarton district. In a referendum in 1994 the largely rural western part of the old Dumbarton district, including the town of Helensburgh, had voted to join Argyll and Bute rather than stay with Dumbarton.

The 1994 act originally named the new district "Dumbarton and Clydebank", but the shadow authority elected in 1995 requested a change of name to "West Dunbartonshire", which was agreed by the government before the new council area came into force.

Communities

The area is divided into 17 community council areas, 10 of which have community councils as at 2023 (being those with asterisks in the list below):

Governance

West Dunbartonshire
Leadership
Provost	Douglas McAllister, Labour Since 18 May 2022
Leader	Martin Rooney, Labour Since 18 May 2022
Chief Executive	Peter Hessett Since 2022
Structure
Seats	22 councillors
Labour	11 / 22
SNP	8 / 22
WDCP	1 / 22
Independent	2 / 22
Elections
Voting system	Single transferable vote
Last election	6 May 2022
Next election	6 May 2027
Meeting place
Burgh Hall, 16 Church Street, Dumbarton, G82 1QL

The council comprises 22 councillors elected from 6 wards.

Leadership

The leaders of the council since 1996 have been:

Premises

The council is based at the former Burgh Hall at 16 Church Street in Dumbarton. It also has an area office in the main shopping centre in Clydebank.

When the council was created in 1996, it inherited several buildings from its predecessors, including Municipal Buildings and Crosslet House from Dumbarton District Council, Clydebank Town Hall and the nearby Council Offices on Rosebery Place from Clydebank District Council, and the County Buildings, Dumbarton from Strathclyde Regional Council.

The council gradually consolidated its offices, with Crosslet House being demolished in 2015, the Rosebery Place offices being demolished in 2017, and the County Buildings being demolished in 2019.

In 2018 the council consolidated most of its offices to Burgh Hall, which had been vacant for some years. The front part of the 1866 building was retained and a modern office complex built to the rear. The Municipal Buildings in Dumbarton are still used by the council as a register office, whilst Clydebank Town Hall is now primarily an events venue.

Elections

Since 2007 elections have been held every five years under the single transferable vote system, introduced by the Local Governance (Scotland) Act 2004. Election results since 1995 have been as follows:

Since the 2022 election, one Labour councillor was suspended from the party in November 2022, meaning Labour lost its majority on the council which is therefore now under no overall control. One SNP councillor resigned from the party in January 2023. Both now sit as independents.

Wards

Map of the area's wards (2017 configuration)

Six multi-member wards were created for the 2007 election, replacing 22 single-member wards which had been in place since the creation of the council in 1995:

Ward number	Ward	Location	Largest settlement	Additional settlements	Seats
1	Lomond		Balloch	Gartocharn, Jamestown, Levenvale, Mill of Haldane	3
2	Leven		Alexandria	Bonhill, Dalmonach, Renton, Dumbarton (northern parts)	4
3	Dumbarton		Dumbarton	Milton, Bowling	4
4	Kilpatrick		Duntocher	Faifley, Hardgate	3
5	Clydebank Central		Clydebank		4
6	Clydebank Waterfront		Clydebank	Old Kilpatrick	4

Settlements

Largest settlements by population:

Main sights

• Erskine Bridge
• Dumbarton Castle
• Inchmurrin, the largest freshwater island in the British Isles
• Kilpatrick Hills
• Loch Lomond
• Loch Lomond and the Trossachs National Park
• Overtoun Bridge
• River Leven

See also

In Spanish: West Dunbartonshire para niños