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Malvern Hills District Council
Malvern Hills District Council
Type
Type	Non-metropolitan district
Leadership
Chair	Daniel Walton, ; Independent ; since 14 May 2024
Leader	Tom Wells, ; Independent ; since 10 May 2022
Chief Executive	Vic Allison ; since 1 August 2020
Structure
Seats	31 councillors
Political groups	Administration (18) Independent (11) Green (7) Other parties (13) Conservative (7) Liberal Democrats (3) MH Independents (3)
Length of term	4 years
Elections
Voting system	First past the post
Last election	4 May 2023
Next election	6 May 2027
Meeting place
	Council House, Avenue Road, Malvern, WR14 3AF
Website
	www.malvernhills.gov.uk

Malvern Hills District
Malvern Hills District
Non-metropolitan district
	Malvern, with its Priory church, is the district's largest settlement and its administrative centre
	Malvern Hills shown within Worcestershire and England
Sovereign state	United Kingdom
Constituent country	England
Region	West Midlands
Non-metropolitan county	Worcestershire
Status	Non-metropolitan district
Admin HQ	Great Malvern
Incorporated	1 April 1998
Government
• Type	Non-metropolitan district council
• Body	Malvern Hills District Council
• MPs	Harriett Baldwin
Area
• Total	222.8 sq mi (577.1 km2)
• Rank	66th (of 296)
Population (2022)
• Total	81,024
• Rank	280th (of 296)
• Density	360/sq mi (140/km2)
Ethnicity (2021)
• Ethnic groups	List 96.6% White ; 1.4% Mixed ; 1.3% Asian ; 0.3% Black ; 0.3% other ;
Religion (2021)
• Religion	List 53.9% Christianity ; 38.1% no religion ; 0.5% Islam ; 0.2% Hinduism ; 0.1% Judaism ; 0.1% Sikhism ; 0.4% Buddhism ; 0.5% other ; 6.2% not stated ;
Time zone	UTC0 (GMT)
• Summer (DST)	UTC+1 (BST)
ONS code	47UC (ONS); E07000235 (GSS)
OS grid reference	SO7645153913

Malvern Hills is a local government district in Worcestershire, England. Its council is based in Malvern, the district's largest town. The district also includes the towns of Tenbury Wells and Upton-upon-Severn and a large rural area covering much of the western side of the county, including numerous villages. The district is named after the Malvern Hills, which are a designated Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty.

The district was formed in 1998 had different boundaries to the 1974–1998 district. In the 2021 census the population of the Malvern Hills district was 79,973.

The neighbouring districts are Wyre Forest, Wychavon, Worcester, Tewkesbury, Forest of Dean, Herefordshire and Shropshire.

History

On 1 April 1998 the county of Hereford and Worcester was abolished, being split into a unitary authority of Herefordshire and a two-tier non-metropolitan county of Worcestershire. The parishes from Malvern Hills district which had been the rural districts of Bromyard and Ledbury prior to 1974 were transferred to the new Herefordshire authority, whilst the parishes which had been the old Tenbury Rural District were added to Malvern Hills District from the abolished Leominster District.^[2] As such the boundary between Worcestershire and Herefordshire as re-established in 1998 is almost identical to the pre-1974 boundary, the only exception being a small area containing Park Wood which had been transferred from Mathon to West Malvern in 1986 and so went to Malvern District and Worcestershire rather than Herefordshire.^[3] Following the boundary changes in 1998, the hills after which the district is named now lie principally along its western edges.

Governance

Malvern Hills District Council provides district-level services. County-level services are provided by Worcestershire County Council.^[6] The whole district is covered by civil parishes, which form a third tier of local government.^[7]

Since 2014 the council has shared a chief executive and other staff with neighbouring Wychavon District Council.^[8]

Political control

The council has been under no overall control since 2019. Since 2020 the administration has been a coalition of the independents and Greens.^[9]^[10]

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. A shadow authority was again elected in 1997 ahead of the significant district boundary changes which came into effect on 1 April 1998. Political control of the district council since 1974 has been as follows:^[11]^[12]

Party in control		Years
	Independent	1974–1987
	No overall control	1987–1991
	Independent	1991–1995
	No overall control	1995–2007
	Conservative	2007–2019
	No overall control	2019–present

Leadership

The leaders of the council since 2000 have been:^[13]

Councillor		From	To
Reg Farmer^[14]	Conservative	2000	13 May 2003
Tom Wells	Liberal Democrats	13 May 2003	10 May 2005
Diane Rayner	Liberal Democrats	10 May 2005	6 May 2007
Serena Croad	Conservative	15 May 2007	21 Apr 2009
Phillip Grove	Conservative	23 Jun 2009	15 May 2012
David Hughes	Conservative	15 May 2012	10 May 2015
Phillip Grove	Conservative	19 May 2015	16 May 2017
David Chambers	Conservative	16 May 2017	14 May 2019
Sarah Rouse^[15]	Independent	14 May 2019	28 Mar 2022
Tom Wells^[16]	Independent	10 May 2022

Composition

Following the 2023 election the composition of the council was:^[17]

Party		Councillors
	Independent	11
	Conservative	7
	Green	7
	Liberal Democrats	3
	Malvern Hills Independents	3
Total		31

The independents all sit together as the "Democratic Independent" group, which forms the council's administration with the Greens.^[18] The next election is due in 2027.

Elections

Since the last boundary changes in 2023 the council has comprised 31 councillors representing 18 wards, each electing one, two or three councillors. Elections are held every four years.^[19]

Premises

The council is based at the Council House on Avenue Road in Malvern.^[20] It was built between 1874 and 1880 as a house. It later served as a school from 1909 until 1925, when it was bought by the former Malvern Urban District Council and converted to become their headquarters, passing to Malvern Hills District Council on its creation in 1974.^[21]

Geography

The Malvern Hills themselves form the border between, and offer scenic views over, the counties of Herefordshire and Worcestershire. The district includes approximately half of the Malvern Hills Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (prior to the 1998 alterations to its boundary, it covered most of the AONB). The district bounds onto the counties of Gloucestershire, Herefordshire and Shropshire, as well as the Worcestershire districts of Wychavon, Worcester and Wyre Forest.

Malvern Hills in Hereford and Worcester, 1974–1998

The River Teme is famous for its fishing and runs across the northern half of the district, from Tenbury Wells, to its confluence with the River Severn near Worcester, close to the site of the Battle of Worcester. Historically, the Teme Valley was famous for its orchards and hop yards, though these declined during the second half of the 20th century, with some revival since c. 2000. The River Severn forms the eastern boundary of the district (with Wychavon) between Stourport and Worcester, whilst to the south of Worcester the district includes parishes to the east of the Severn; the river is also popular with anglers and has public navigation rights.

The area has a significant spa heritage and Malvern water is bottled and distributed commercially worldwide. The spa buildings (The Pump Rooms) survive at Tenbury Wells and many free spring water sources are available to the public in and around Malvern. In the east of the district is Croome Court, a significant National Trust property.

Towns and parishes

The whole district is divided into civil parishes. The parish councils for Malvern, Tenbury and Upton-upon-Severn have declared their parishes to be towns, allowing them to take the style "town council".^[22]

The parishes are: