Chiltern District was a

local government district Local may refer to: Geography and transportation * Local (train), a train serving local traffic demand * Local, Missouri, a community in the United States Arts, entertainment, and media * ''Local'' (comics), a limited series comic book by Bria ...

Buckinghamshire Buckinghamshire (, abbreviated ''Bucks'') is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England and one of the home counties. It is bordered by Northamptonshire to the north, Bedfordshire to the north-east, Hertfordshir ...

in south-central

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 ...

from 1974 to 2020. It was named after the

Chiltern Hills The Chiltern Hills or the Chilterns are a chalk escarpment in southern England, located to the north-west of London, covering across Oxfordshire, Buckinghamshire, Hertfordshire and Bedfordshire; they stretch from Goring-on-Thames in the south- ...

on which the region sits. The two towns in the district were

Amersham Amersham ( ) is a market town and civil parish in Buckinghamshire, England, in the Chiltern Hills, northwest of central London, south-east of Aylesbury and north-east of High Wycombe. Amersham is part of the London commuter belt. There ar ...

, where the council was based, and

Chesham Chesham ( , ) is a market town and civil parish in Buckinghamshire, England, United Kingdom, south-east of the county town of Aylesbury, about north-west of Charing Cross, central London, and part of the London metropolitan area, London ...

. The district also included the villages of

Chalfont St Peter Chalfont St Peter is a large village and civil parish in southeastern Buckinghamshire, England. It is in a group of villages called The Chalfonts which also includes Chalfont St Giles and Little Chalfont. The villages lie between High Wycombe a ...

Chalfont St Giles Chalfont St Giles is a village and civil parish in southeast Buckinghamshire, England. It is in a group of villages called The Chalfonts, which also includes Chalfont St Peter and Little Chalfont. It lies on the edge of the Chiltern Hills, we ...

, Little Chalfont, Great Missenden and Prestwood.

History

The district was formed on 1 April 1974 by the merger of Chesham Urban District and surrounding Amersham Rural District, 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 ...

. In 1988 it was the first Council to take up stock transfer. 4,650 homes were transferred. The district was abolished on 31 March 2020 and its area is now part of the unitary

Buckinghamshire Council Buckinghamshire Council is the Local Government in England, local authority for the Buckinghamshire (district), Buckinghamshire district in England. It is a Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority, performing both county and district- ...

Parishes

The

parish A parish is a territorial entity in many Christianity, Christian denominations, constituting a division within a diocese. A parish is under the pastoral care and clerical jurisdiction of a priest#Christianity, priest, often termed a parish pries ...

es that made up Chiltern District were: *

* Ashley Green *

* Chartridge * Chenies *

* Chesham Bois * Cholesbury-cum-St Leonards * Coleshill * Great Missenden * Latimer * Little Chalfont * Little Missenden * Penn * Seer Green * The Lee See also the list of civil parishes in Buckinghamshire

Premises

Chiltern District Council was initially based at the former Amersham Rural District Council offices at Elmodesham House, 42 High Street, Amersham, with the former Chesham Urban District Council's offices at 8082 The Broadway, High Street, Chesham serving as additional office space. In 1986 the council consolidated its offices into a purpose-built headquarters on King George V Road in Amersham, remaining there until its abolition in 2020.

Transport

There were no motorways in Chiltern District, except for a very short section of the M25 in the south-eastern corner near Chalfont St Peter. The major roads through the district were the A413, running north-west towards

Aylesbury Aylesbury ( ) is the county town of Buckinghamshire, England. It is home to the Roald Dahl Children's Gallery and the Aylesbury Waterside Theatre, Waterside Theatre. It is located in central Buckinghamshire, midway between High Wycombe and Milt ...

, and the A404, running west towards

High Wycombe High Wycombe, often referred to as Wycombe ( ), is a market town in Buckinghamshire, England. Lying in the valley of the River Wye, Buckinghamshire, River Wye surrounded by the Chiltern Hills, it is west-northwest of Charing Cross in London, ...

; both roads meet in Amersham. Railway services were provided by

Chiltern Railways Chiltern Railways (legal name The Chiltern Railway Company Limited) is a British train operating company that has operated the Chiltern Railways franchise since July 1996. Since 2009, it has been a subsidiary of Arriva UK Trains. Chiltern Rail ...

and

London Underground The London Underground (also known simply as the Underground or as the Tube) is a rapid transit system serving Greater London and some parts of the adjacent home counties of Buckinghamshire, Essex and Hertfordshire in England. The Undergro ...

Metropolitan line The Metropolitan line, colloquially known as the Met, is a London Underground line between in the City of London and and in Buckinghamshire, with branches to in Hertfordshire and in London Borough of Hillingdon, Hillingdon. Printed in mage ...

. The Great Central Main Line carried traffic between London and Manchester until 1966; the section to

is all that remains, and is now part of the

London to Aylesbury Line London is the capital and largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Western Europe, with a population of 14.9 million. London stands on the River Tha ...

. The railway stations in the district were Great Missenden,

, Chalfont and Latimer and

, the furthest tube station from London.

Law and order

Chiltern District fell within the Thames Valley Police area, with police stations in Amersham and Chesham. Neighbourhood policing priorities were set on a quarterly cycle, at a public meeting. This was done in conjunction with Chiltern District Council's Community Safety Team and , and in line with the obligation to consult laid down by the Police Reform and Social Responsibility Act 2011. In advance of the meeting, residents were invited to make their views and priorities known through a very short survey. Results from the survey were aggregated and presented at the meeting, and votes taken on the coming quarter's priorities. The Magistrates' Court in Amersham was closed with its jurisdiction reassigned but reopened as a Crown Court dealing with either-way and more serious alleged offences.

Home ownership and quality of rural life

The district had the highest proportion of

home ownership Owner-occupancy or home-ownership is a form of housing tenure in which a person, called the owner-occupier, owner-occupant, or home owner, owns the home in which they live. The home can be a house, such as a single-family house, an apartment, c ...

of the 18 local authorities in Bedfordshire, Buckinghamshire and Hertfordshire: combining the social (housing association and local authority provided) and private rented sectors, Stevenage's returns recorded in 2011 that its rented sector comprised 33.2% of its housing, whereas 10.0% of Chiltern's residents rented their homes. In May 2008, the district was assessed by Halifax as having the best rural quality of life anywhere in Britain.

Energy consumption

In May 2006, a report commissioned by British GasBritish Gas news
showed that housing in Chiltern produced the 4th highest average

carbon emissions Greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from human activities intensify the greenhouse effect. This contributes to climate change. Carbon dioxide (), from burning fossil fuels such as coal, petroleum, oil, and natural gas, is the main cause of climate chan ...

in the country at 7,421 kg of

carbon dioxide Carbon dioxide is a chemical compound with the chemical formula . It is made up of molecules that each have one carbon atom covalent bond, covalently double bonded to two oxygen atoms. It is found in a gas state at room temperature and at norma ...

per dwelling.

Coat of arms

References

External links

List of organisations within the district
{{Coord, 51.6606, N, 0.6409, W, source:dewiki_region:GB-BKM_type:landmark, format=dms, display=title Former non-metropolitan districts of Buckinghamshire Districts of England established in 1974 2020 disestablishments in England