West Dunbartonshire (; , ) is one of the 32

local government Local government is a generic term for the lowest tiers of governance or public administration within a particular sovereign state. Local governments typically constitute a subdivision of a higher-level political or administrative unit, such a ...

council areas For local government purposes, Scotland is divided into 32 areas designated as "council areas" (), which are all governed by single-tier authorities designated as "councils". They have the option under the Local Government (Gaelic Names) (Sc ...

Scotland Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...

. The area lies to the north-west of the

Glasgow City council area Glasgow City Council (Scottish Gaelic: ''Comhairle Baile Ghlaschu'') is the local government authority for Glasgow City council area, Scotland. In its modern form it was created in 1996. Glasgow was formerly governed by a corporation, also kno ...

and contains many of Glasgow's

commuter town A commuter town is a populated area that is primarily residential rather than commercial or industrial. Routine travel from home to work and back is called commuting, which is where the term comes from. A commuter town may be called by many o ...

s and villages. West Dunbartonshire also borders

Argyll and Bute Argyll and Bute (; , ) is one of 32 unitary authority, unitary council areas of Scotland, council areas in Scotland and a lieutenancy areas of Scotland, lieutenancy area. The current lord-lieutenant for Argyll and Bute is Jane Margaret MacLeod ...

East Dunbartonshire East Dunbartonshire (; , ) is one of the 32 council areas of Scotland. It borders Glasgow City Council Area to the south, North Lanarkshire to the east, Stirling (council area), Stirling to the north, and West Dunbartonshire to the west. East ...

Renfrewshire Renfrewshire () (; ) is one of the 32 council areas of Scotland. Renfrewshire is located in the west central Lowlands. It borders East Renfrewshire, Glasgow, Inverclyde, North Ayrshire and West Dunbartonshire, and lies on the southern ba ...

and

Stirling Stirling (; ; ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city in Central Belt, central Scotland, northeast of Glasgow and north-west of Edinburgh. The market town#Scotland, market town, surrounded by rich farmland, grew up connecting the roya ...

. The council area was formed in 1996 from the former Clydebank district and the eastern part of Dumbarton district, which had both been part of

Strathclyde Strathclyde ( in Welsh language, Welsh; in Scottish Gaelic, Gaelic, meaning 'strath

alley An alley or alleyway is a narrow lane, footpath, path, or passageway, often reserved for pedestrians, which usually runs between, behind, or within buildings in towns and cities. It is also a rear access or service road (back lane), or a path, w ...

of the River Clyde') was one of nine former Local government in Scotland, local government Regions and districts of Scotland, regions of Scotland cre ...

Region In geography, regions, otherwise referred to as areas, zones, lands or territories, are portions of the Earth's surface that are broadly divided by physical characteristics (physical geography), human impact characteristics (human geography), and ...

. West Dunbartonshire has three main urban areas:

Clydebank Clydebank () is a town in West Dunbartonshire, Scotland. Situated on the north bank of the River Clyde, it borders the village of Old Kilpatrick (with Bowling, West Dunbartonshire, Bowling and Milton, West Dunbartonshire, Milton beyond) to the w ...

Dumbarton Dumbarton (; , or ; or , meaning 'fort of the Britons (historical), Britons') is a town in West Dunbartonshire, Scotland, on the north bank of the River Clyde where the River Leven, Dunbartonshire, River Leven flows into the Clyde estuary. ...

and the

Vale of Leven The Vale of Leven () is an area of West Dunbartonshire, Scotland, in the valley of the River Leven, Dunbartonshire, River Leven. Historically, it was part of The Lennox, the name of which derives from the Gaelic term ''Leamhnach'', meaning ''fie ...

. The area also includes the intervening rural areas, including the Kilpatrick Hills and the south-eastern bank of

Loch Lomond Loch Lomond (; ) is a freshwater Scottish loch which crosses the Highland Boundary Fault (HBF), often considered the boundary between the lowlands of Central Scotland and the Highlands.Tom Weir. ''The Scottish Lochs''. pp. 33-43. Published by ...

. The council is based at 16 Church Street in Dumbarton, although Clydebank is the largest town.

History

West Dunbartonshire was created in 1996 under the

Local Government etc. (Scotland) Act 1994 The Local Government etc. (Scotland) Act 1994 (c. 39) is an Act of parliament, Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom that created the current Local government in Scotland, local government structure of 32 Unitary authority, unitary authori ...

, which abolished the regions and districts which had been created in 1975, replacing them with unitary

council area {{Unreferenced, date=May 2019, bot=noref (GreenC bot) A council area is one of the areas defined in Schedule 1 of the Local Government etc. (Scotland) Act 1994 and is under the control of one of the local authorities in Scotland created by that Ac ...

s. West Dunbartonshire covered the area of the abolished Clydebank district and the eastern part of Dumbarton district. In a referendum in 1994 the largely rural western part of the old Dumbarton district, including the town of

Helensburgh Helensburgh ( ; ) is a town on the north side of the Firth of Clyde in Scotland, situated at the mouth of the Gareloch. Historically in Dunbartonshire, it became part of Argyll and Bute following local government reorganisation in 1996. Histo ...

, had voted to join

rather than stay with Dumbarton. The 1994 act originally named the new district "Dumbarton and Clydebank", but the shadow authority elected in 1995 requested a change of name to "West Dunbartonshire", which was agreed by the government before the new council area came into force.

Communities

The area is divided into 17 community council areas, 10 of which have

community council A community council is a public representative body in Great Britain. In England they may be statutory parish councils by another name, under the Local Government and Public Involvement in Health Act 2007, or they may be non-statutory bodies. ...

s as at 2023 (being those with asterisks in the list below): *

Alexandria Alexandria ( ; ) is the List of cities and towns in Egypt#Largest cities, second largest city in Egypt and the List of coastal settlements of the Mediterranean Sea, largest city on the Mediterranean coast. It lies at the western edge of the Nile ...

* * Balloch and Haldane * Bonhill and Dalmonach* *

Bowling Bowling is a Throwing sports#Target sports, target sport and recreational activity in which a player rolls a bowling ball, ball toward Bowling pin, pins (in pin bowling) or another target (in target bowling). Most references to ''bowling'' are ...

and Milton* *

East* *

Dalmuir Dalmuir (; ) is an area northwest of Glasgow, Scotland, on the western side of Clydebank, and part of West Dunbartonshire Council Area. The name is a lowland Scots language, Scots derivation of the Scottish Gaelic, Gaelic meaning Big Field. ...

and Mountblow *

East and Central* *Dumbarton North *Dumbarton West *

Duntocher Duntocher (Scottish Gaelic: ''Dùn Tòchair'' or ''Druim Tòchair'') is a village in West Dunbartonshire, Scotland. It has an estimated population of 6,850. The etymology of the name of the village indicates that its name means "the fort on the ...

and Hardgate * Faifley* * Kilmaronock* * Linnvale and

Drumry Drumry is a district in the Scotland, Scottish town of Clydebank, West Dunbartonshire, split into North and South Drumry by its main thoroughfare, Drumry Road. Some of the housing, including five tower blocks, was refurbished in the early 2010s. ...

Old Kilpatrick Old Kilpatrick (, meaning "Patrick's church"), is a village in West Dunbartonshire, Scotland. The name ''Old Kilpatrick'' is said to be derived from St. Patrick ostensibly being born here. It has an estimated population of 4,820. It belonged to ...

* *Parkhall, North Kilbowie and Central* * Renton * Silverton and Overtoun*

Governance

The council comprises 22 councillors elected from 6 wards.

Political control

The first election was held in 1995, initially operating as a shadow authority alongside the outgoing authorities until the new system came into force on 1 April 1996. Political control of West Dunbartonshire Council since 1996 has been as follows:

Leadership

The leaders of the council since 1996 have been:

Composition

Following the 2022 election and subsequent by-elections and changes of allegiance up to August 2024, the composition of the council was: The next election is due in 2027.

Premises

The council is based at the former Burgh Hall at 16 Church Street in Dumbarton. It also has an area office in the main shopping centre in Clydebank. When the council was created in 1996, it inherited several buildings from its predecessors, including Municipal Buildings and Crosslet House from Dumbarton District Council, Clydebank Town Hall and the nearby Council Offices on Rosebery Place from Clydebank District Council, and the County Buildings, Dumbarton from

Strathclyde Strathclyde ( in Welsh language, Welsh; in Scottish Gaelic, Gaelic, meaning 'strath

of the River Clyde') was one of nine former Local government in Scotland, local government Regions and districts of Scotland, regions of Scotland cre ...

Regional Council. The council gradually consolidated its offices, with Crosslet House being demolished in 2015, the Rosebery Place offices being demolished in 2017, and the County Buildings being demolished in 2019. In 2018 the council consolidated most of its offices to Burgh Hall, which had been vacant for some years. The front part of the 1866 building was retained and a modern office complex built to the rear. The Municipal Buildings in Dumbarton are still used by the council as a

register office A register office, commonly referred to unofficially as a registry office or registrar's office is an office in the United Kingdom, Republic of Ireland and some Commonwealth countries responsible for the civil registration of births, deaths, marri ...

, whilst Clydebank Town Hall is now primarily an events venue.

Elections

Since 2007 elections have been held every five years under the

single transferable vote The single transferable vote (STV) or proportional-ranked choice voting (P-RCV) is a multi-winner electoral system in which each voter casts a single vote in the form of a ranked ballot. Voters have the option to rank candidates, and their vot ...

system, introduced by the

Local Governance (Scotland) Act 2004 The Local Governance (Scotland) Act 2004 (asp 9) is an Act of the Scottish Parliament which provided, amongst other things, for the election of councillors to the local government in Scotland, local authorities in Scotland by the single transfera ...

. Election results since 1995 have been as follows:

Wards

Six multi-member wards were created for the 2007 election, replacing 22 single-member wards which had been in place since the creation of the council in 1995:

Wider politics

Independence referendum

On 18 September 2014, West Dunbartonshire was one of the four council areas which had a majority "Yes" vote in the Scottish Independence Referendum at 54% with an 87.9% turnout rate.

Settlements

Largest settlements by population:

Main sights

* Erskine Bridge *

Dumbarton Castle Dumbarton Castle (, ; ) has the longest recorded history of any stronghold in Scotland. It sits on a volcanic plug of basalt known as Dumbarton Rock which is high and overlooks the Scottish town of Dumbarton. History Dumbarton Rock was forme ...

Inchmurrin Inchmurrin () is an island in Loch Lomond in Scotland. It is the largest lake island, fresh water island in the British Isles. Geography and geology Inchmurrin is the largest and most southerly of the islands in Loch Lomond. It reaches a he ...

, the largest freshwater island in the British Isles * Kilpatrick Hills *

Loch Lomond and the Trossachs National Park Loch Lomond and The Trossachs National Park () is a national park in Scotland centred on Loch Lomond and the hills and glens of the Trossachs, along with several other ranges of hills. It was the first of the national parks of Scotland, two nati ...

* Overtoun Bridge * River Leven

References

External links

{{Authority control Council areas of Scotland States and territories established in 1996 1996 establishments in Scotland