Blaby District

Blaby District
District

Shown within Leicestershire
Sovereign state United Kingdom
Constituent country England
Region East Midlands
Administrative county Leicestershire
Admin. HQ Narborough
Government
 • Type Blaby District Council
 • Leadership: Leader & Cabinet
 • Executive: Conservative
 • MPs: Edward Argar,
Alberto Costa
Area
 • Total 50.4 sq mi (130.5 km2)
Area rank 198th
Population (mid-2014 est.)
 • Total 95,851
 • Rank Ranked 249th
 • Density 1,900/sq mi (730/km2)
Time zone Greenwich Mean Time (UTC+0)
 • Summer (DST) British Summer Time (UTC+1)
ONS code 31UB (ONS)
E07000129 (GSS)
Ethnicity 94.3% White
3.8% S.Asian
Website blaby.gov.uk

Blaby is a local government district in Leicestershire, England.

The district is named after the village of Blaby. It covers the civil parish of Blaby and 23 others. Among these are Cosby, Countesthorpe, Enderby, Huncote, Narborough (the location of the main district council offices), Sapcote, Stoney Stanton, and Wigston Parva. Much of the district is part of the Leicester urban area: this applies especially to the parishes of Braunstone Town (including the commuter housing development of Thorpe Astley); Glenfield (the location of the headquarters of Leicestershire County Council); Kirby Muxloe; Leicester Forest East; and Glen Parva. There are plans to extend this urban area significantly through a large scale housing development, in the rural parish of Lubbesthorpe, and expansion of the industrial area in the neighbouring parish of Enderby.

Blaby was represented in Parliament by the former Chancellor of the Exchequer, Nigel Lawson, between 1974 and 1992.

History

The district traces its origins to the Blaby Poor Law Union,[1] which was founded in 1834. It became a rural district of Leicestershire in 1894. Oadby was removed in 1913 to form an urban district. 1935 saw parts being transferred to Leicester, whilst it took in part of the abolished Hinckley Rural District. In 1974, under the Local Government Act 1972, the area was reconstituted as a non-metropolitan district.

In 1994 a new development within Braunstone Town, Thorpe Astley, was built over the course of 15 years. This totalled over 2,000 homes during the phased construction. The development in Lubbesthorpe, approved in January 2014, is located to land west of Thorpe Astley, divided by the M1.

Blaby District contains several well-known developments in the county, centred around junction 21 of the M1. The most prominent is Fosse Shopping Park, one of the busiest out-of-town shopping centers in the country. The Meridian Leisure Centre, constructed adjacent to and at the same time as the first phase of Thorpe Astley, is located in the district, including a Vue (formerly Warner Village) Cinema, Hollywood Bowl, Nandos, Frankie and Bennys, Chiquitos, Harvester, Pizza Hut and children's play centre.

Large Sainsbury's and Asda Superstores are also placed next to Fosse Park and the Junction 21 area. Business parks also adorn the gateway into Leicester; Grove Business Park's entrance is less than one mile from the motorway junction and is home to Mattioli Woods, British Gas, Topps Tiles and the Leicester Marriott Hotel. Meridian Business Park is next to both Thorpe Astley and the Meridian Leisure Centre, also houses several well-known businesses including Makro, Sytner, Samworth Brothers and Southern Fire and Rescue Station, the only such station located within the district.

Parishes

Link

Blaby District Council

References

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Blaby District.
  1. ↑ http://users.ox.ac.uk/~peter/workhouse/Blaby/Blaby.html Archived July 2, 2006 at the Wayback Machine

Coordinates: 52°34′23″N 1°12′00″W / 52.573°N 1.2°W / 52.573; -1.2

This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the Wednesday, December 30, 2015. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.