Dorset
Dorset ( ; Archaism, archaically: Dorsetshire , ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South West England. It is bordered by Somerset to the north-west, Wiltshire to the north and the north-east, Hampshire to the east, t ...
,
England
England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...
Hampshire
Hampshire (, ; abbreviated to Hants.) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Berkshire to the north, Surrey and West Sussex to the east, the Isle of Wight across the Solent to the south, ...
. The district was renamed East Dorset with effect from 1 January 1988. The district was abolished in 2019 at the same time that Dorset County Council and the other districts in the county were abolished, with the area becoming part of the
Dorset
Dorset ( ; Archaism, archaically: Dorsetshire , ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South West England. It is bordered by Somerset to the north-west, Wiltshire to the north and the north-east, Hampshire to the east, t ...
unitary authority on 1 April 2019.
The popularity of the area, being close to the New Forest, Bournemouth and the Dorset coast saw a rapid expansion in housing from the 1970s with the Verwood, Ferndown, West Moors and Corfe Mullen populations more than quadrupling. Rural landscape prevailed in the north and west of the area. Wimborne Minster retained its identity as a historic market town.
The most notable geography is lowland heath, managed by East Dorset Countryside Management Services in partnership with the
Forestry Commission
The Forestry Commission is a non-ministerial government department responsible for the management of publicly owned forests and the regulation of both public and private forestry in England.
The Forestry Commission was previously also respons ...
. The expansion of housing has led to a massive decrease in the area of this unusual and unique habitat, which once covered 500 km2 but now covers only 15% of that.
Statistics released by the
Office for National Statistics
The Office for National Statistics (ONS; ) is the executive office of the UK Statistics Authority, a non-ministerial department which reports directly to the Parliament of the United Kingdom, UK Parliament.
Overview
The ONS is responsible fo ...
show that
life expectancy
Human life expectancy is a statistical measure of the estimate of the average remaining years of life at a given age. The most commonly used measure is ''life expectancy at birth'' (LEB, or in demographic notation ''e''0, where '' ...
at birth for males in East Dorset was 80.1 years in 2001–2003, the highest in the United Kingdom. Female life expectancy at birth for the same period was 83.4 years, ranking seventh in the UK. The figures for East Dorset during 1991-1993 were 77.9 years for males and 82.5 for females.
Governance
East Dorset District Council was elected every four years, with latterly 36
councillor
A councillor, alternatively councilman, councilwoman, councilperson, or council member, is someone who sits on, votes in, or is a member of, a council. This is typically an elected representative of an electoral district in a municipal or re ...
s being elected at each election. After 1976 the Conservative party held a majority on the council apart from a period between the 1995 and 1999 elections when the Liberal Democrats had control. Following the 2015 election the council's politicians were:-
The district and its council were abolished on 1 April 2019 and, together with the other 4 Dorset districts outside the greater Bournemouth area, formed a new
Dorset
Dorset ( ; Archaism, archaically: Dorsetshire , ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South West England. It is bordered by Somerset to the north-west, Wiltshire to the north and the north-east, Hampshire to the east, t ...
Wimborne St Giles
Wimborne St Giles is a village and civil parish in east Dorset, England, on Cranborne Chase, north of Wimborne Minster and north of Poole. The village lies within the Shaftesbury estate, owned by the Earls of Shaftesbury, Earl of Shaftesbury. ...
Until 2016 the council was based at Woodleaze, a large house at Furzehill in the parish of Colehill, just north of the town of Wimborne Minster. Woodleaze had previously served as the headquarters of Wimborne and Cranborne Rural District Council. In 2016 the council moved to Allenview House on Hanham Road in the town centre of Wimborne Minster.