Ashfield District


Ashfield is a local government district in Nottinghamshire, England. The council is based in Kirkby-in-Ashfield, but the largest town is neighbouring Sutton-in-Ashfield. The district also contains the town of Hucknall and a few villages. The district is mostly urban, with some of its settlements forming parts of both the Nottingham and Mansfield Urban Areas.
The neighbouring districts are Mansfield, Newark and Sherwood, Gedling, Nottingham, Broxtowe, Amber Valley and Bolsover.

History

The district was created on 1 April 1974 under the Local Government Act 1972, covering the whole of two former districts, most of Hucknall Urban District and of parts of a fourth, which were all abolished at the same time:
  • Basford Rural District
  • Hucknall Urban District
  • Kirkby in Ashfield Urban District
  • Sutton in Ashfield Urban District
The new district was named Ashfield, being the shared suffix of two of the towns' names.

Governance

Ashfield District Council provides district-level services. County-level services are provided by Nottinghamshire County Council. Parts of the district are also covered by civil parishes, which form a third tier of local government.

Political control

A local party, the Ashfield Independents, has held a majority of the seats on the council since 2019.
The first election to the council was held in 1973, initially operating as a shadow authority alongside the outgoing authorities before coming into its powers on 1 April 1974. Political control of the council since 1974 has been as follows:

Leadership

The leaders of the council since 1974 have been:

Composition

Following the 2023 election and subsequent by-elections and changes of allegiance up to February 2025, the composition of the council was:
The next election is due in 2027.

Elections

Since the last boundary changes in 2015 the council has comprised 35 councillors representing 23 wards, with each ward electing one, two or three councillors. Elections are held every four years.

Premises

The council is based at the Council Offices on Urban Road in Kirkby-in-Ashfield, completed in 1986 on a site behind the old headquarters of one of the council's predecessors, the Kirkby-in-Ashfield Urban District Council, with the old building now being known as Ada Lovelace House. The new building was officially opened in October 1986 by Birgitte, Duchess of Gloucester.

Settlements and parishes

There are just three civil parishes in the district, being Annesley, Felley and Selston. Annesley and Felley share a grouped parish council. The rest of the district, corresponding to the pre-1974 urban districts of Hucknall, Kirkby-in-Ashfield and Sutton-in-Ashfield, is an unparished area.
The largest settlement is Sutton-in-Ashfield. Towns and villages in the district include the following:

Television

The Ashfield District is served by BBC East Midlands and ITV Central with television signals receives from the Waltham TV transmitter. Northern parts of the district around Sutton-in-Ashfield and Kirkby-in-Ashfield receives better signals from the Emley Moor TV transmitter that broadcast BBC Yorkshire and ITV Yorkshire programmes and the Belmont transmitter broadcasting BBC Yorkshire and Lincolnshire and ITV Yorkshire programmes.

Radio

Radio stations that broadcast the area are:
  • BBC Radio Nottingham on 95.5 FM
  • Capital East Midlands on 96.5 FM
  • Takeover Radio on 106.9 FM
  • Mansfield 103.2 FM, a community based station which broadcast to the district from its studios in nearby Mansfield.

    Newspapers

The Ashfield District is served by the local newspaper, Mansfield and Ashfield Chad.