Alyn and Deeside () was one of six

local government districts The districts of England (officially, local authority districts, abbreviated LADs) are a level of subnational division of England used for the purposes of local government. As the structure of local government in England is not uniform, there ...

in the county of Clwyd, north-east

Wales Wales ( ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by the Irish Sea to the north and west, England to the England–Wales border, east, the Bristol Channel to the south, and the Celtic ...

from 1974 to 1996. There is still a

parliamentary In modern politics and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: Representation (politics), representing the Election#Suffrage, electorate, making laws, and overseeing ...

constituency of the same name.

History

The district was created on 1 April 1974 under the

Local Government Act 1972 The Local Government Act 1972 (c. 70) is an act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom that reformed local government in England and Wales on 1 April 1974. It was one of the most significant acts of Parliament to be passed by the Heath Gov ...

. It covered three former districts from the administrative county of

Flintshire Flintshire () is a county in the north-east of Wales. It borders the Irish Sea to the north, the Dee Estuary to the north-east, the English county of Cheshire to the east, Wrexham County Borough to the south, and Denbighshire to the west. ...

, which were all abolished at the same time: * Buckley Urban District * Connah's Quay Urban District * Hawarden Rural District, except the parish of Marford and Hoseley (an

exclave An enclave is a territory that is entirely surrounded by the territory of only one other state or entity. An enclave can be an independent territory or part of a larger one. Enclaves may also exist within territorial waters. ''Enclave'' is s ...

, surrounded by Denbighshire) which went to Wrexham Maelor. The government initially specified that the new district should be called Alyn-Dee, reflecting the district's location between the River Alyn and River Dee. The neighbouring district was similarly called Delyn, combining the names of the same two rivers the other way around. The shadow council elected in 1973 requested that the name be changed from Alyn-Dee to Alyn and Deeside. The change of name was confirmed by the Secretary of State for Wales on 19 October 1973, before the new district formally came into being. The district was abolished under the Local Government (Wales) Act 1994, which saw Clwyd County Council and its constituent districts abolished, being replaced by principal areas, whose councils perform the functions which had previously been divided between the county and district councils. The former area of Alyn and Deeside all became part of the new

principal area on 1 April 1996.

Political control

The first election to the council was held in 1973, initially operating as a shadow authority alongside the outgoing authorities until it came into its powers on 1 April 1974. From 1974 until the council's abolition in 1996, political control was held by the following parties:

Premises

The council inherited three main offices from its predecessor authorities, and for most of the council's existence its functions were divided between them: *Council Chambers, Mold Road, Buckley, built in 1901, from Buckley Urban District Council *Civic Centre, Wepre Drive, Connah's Quay, built early 1960s, from Connah's Quay Urban District Council *Council Offices, Glynne Way, Hawarden, built in 1886, from Hawarden Rural District Council In 1992 the council consolidated all its offices at a new building which it called the Civic Offices at St David's Park in

Ewloe Ewloe (; , ) is a village and electoral ward in the community (Wales), community of Hawarden in Flintshire, Wales. It is situated close to the Flintshire/Cheshire sector of the Wales-England border. Flintshire County Council is based at St Davi ...

in the

community A community is a social unit (a group of people) with a shared socially-significant characteristic, such as place, set of norms, culture, religion, values, customs, or identity. Communities may share a sense of place situated in a given g ...

of Hawarden. After the council's abolition ownership of the Civic Offices passed to the new

Flintshire County Council Flintshire County Council is the unitary local authority for the county of Flintshire, one of the principal areas of Wales. It is based at Tŷ Dewi Sant, Ewloe since 2025. It was previously based at County Hall in Mold. Elections take place ...

, which leased the building to

Unilever Unilever PLC () is a British multinational consumer packaged goods company headquartered in London, England. It was founded on 2 September 1929 following the merger of Dutch margarine producer Margarine Unie with British soap maker Lever B ...

who renamed it "Unity House". In 2018, after Unilever's lease expired, Flintshire County Council brought the building back into civic use, renaming it "Ty Dewi Sant" and moving various departments there from County Hall, Mold.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Alyn And Deeside (District) History of Flintshire Districts of Wales abolished in 1996 1974 establishments in Wales