Charnwood Borough Council

About Charnwood – the Borough

With a population of over 163,000 Charnwood sits centrally between the three cities of Nottingham, Derby and Leicester. It extends from the main County town of Loughborough in the north to the edge of Leicester to the south. Charnwood is easily accessible from the M1, the high speed rail link between Sheffield and London and the nearby East Midlands Airport. While there is good local road access and reasonable bus and rail services to larger settlements accessibility is an issue for those wishing to travel away from these main routes or living in the more rural areas.

Charnwood is a Borough of contrasts and cultural diversity, from the bustle of urban life to rural tranquillity, providing a dynamic mix and making it an attractive place to live, work and visit. Just over one third of the population live in the thriving university town of Loughborough; an important centre for business, commerce and retailing which also has a strong reputation for further and higher education and expertise in engineering, pharmaceuticals and (increasingly) in advanced technologies. The remainder of the residents of Charnwood live in a broad mix of countryside, villages and towns that reflect a varied and thriving heritage.

Whilst Charnwood is relatively affluent there are pockets of deprivation where communities suffer from poor access to jobs, poor housing and lack of facilities. Recent work has identified areas of relatively higher need in Loughborough, Mountsorrel and South Charnwood.

Loughborough University has a continually growing international reputation for academic and sporting excellence. The 2008 Olympic Games furthered this reputation. There are also major opportunities around the 2012 Olympics and Charnwood is proud of its sporting heritage with a number of Great Britain medal winners being based at Loughborough University.

About Charnwood Borough Council

The Borough’s 52 elected Councillors represent the Borough’s 28 Wards, with elections taking place once every four years. The Council’s Constitution sets out how we operate, how decisions are made and the procedures which are followed to ensure that these are efficient, transparent and accountable to local people.

We have over 540 staff, the majority of whom are based in Loughborough at our Southfields offices. We also have a substantial partnership with Charnwood Neighbourhood Housing (CNH) which focuses on dealing with our landlord responsibilities for social housing.

Our annual revenue budget was £25.1 million net in 2007-08 and £24.3 million net in 2008-09. In terms of total expenditure on services, in 2007-08 it ranked as the 24^th lowest spending district in England. We aim to keep Council Tax low; the Band D Council Tax for 2007-08 was the second lowest in Leicestershire, and was in the lowest 10% of District Councils.

The Borough Council and the County Council provide most of the local government services across Charnwood. However residents also receive services from Town and Parish Councils (such as allotments, cemeteries, community centres, memorials). We provide the following services to our residents: waste collection and recycling; street cleaning; environmental health (this includes pest control, food safety, licensing, health & safety); sports and leisure facilities; arts and culture (museum, town hall, rural tours); housing; town and country planning and building control; council tax and business rates collection; council tax and housing benefits and electoral services.

The County Council provide the following services: schools; roads; libraries; country parks and social care (with the NHS).