East Hertfordshire and Broxbourne

East Hertfordshire and Broxbourne
Future unitary authority area
Shire Hall, Hertford
Shire Hall, Hertford
Interactive map
Coordinates: 51°47′46″N 0°04′39″W / 51.7962°N 0.0775°W / 51.7962; -0.0775
Sovereign stateUnited Kingdom
CountryEngland
RegionEast of England
Ceremonial countyHertfordshire
Incorporated1 April 2028
Government
 • TypeUnitary authority
 • BodyEast Hertfordshire and Broxbourne Council
Area
 • Total
278 sq mi (721 km2)
Population
 (2024 estimate)
 • Total
288,175
Time zoneUTC+0 (GMT)
 • Summer (DST)UTC+1 (BST)

East Hertfordshire and Broxbourne[1] or Eastern Hertfordshire will be a unitary authority area in the ceremonial county of Hertfordshire, England.[2] It is planned to be formed on 1 April 2028 and elections to a shadow authority will take place in May 2027.[3] It will contain the county town, Hertford.[4] It will also include Bishop's Stortford, Cheshunt, Hoddesdon, Royston, Waltham Cross and Ware.[5] The area has a 2024 estimated population of 284,893.[6]

Formation

It will be formed from the Broxbourne and East Hertfordshire districts plus five wards from North Hertfordshire (Ermine, Royston Heath, Royston Meridian, Royston Palace, and Weston and Sandon) and one ward (Northaw and Cuffley) from Welwyn Hatfield.[7][8] Cheshunt and Hoddesdon are currently unparished, the rest of the area is parished.[5]

It is being formed as part of ongoing local government changes throughout England, in which all areas of the country that have separate county councils and district councils will see those replaced with single-tier, or unitary, local governance.[9] The alternative proposals for two and three unitaries were not accepted.[10]

Governance

It will be run by East Hertfordshire and Broxbourne Council, which will be composed of 75 councillors.[1]

Name

The name of the proposed council has changed throughout its development. The current name in use for the proposed council is 'East Hertfordshire and Broxbourne', however, this is not confirmed as a final decision. Councils are able to change their official name under the Local Government Act 1972 through a two-thirds majority of councillors.[11][12][1]

The original name of 'Eastern Hertfordshire' was the temporary name given in the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government's original 'Proposals for local government reorganisation in Hertfordshire', to describe the proposed plan to merge district councils on the eastern side of Hertfordshire into unitary councils. Other proposed names in this document were also based on the general geographical location of the proposed unitary councils as described with the cardinal and ordinal directions.[13]

On 16 July 2026, when the proposal to split Hertfordshire into four unitary councils was confirmed, the names used in the proposal were directly used as the names given to the confirmed councils to be implemented, with these being North West Hertfordshire, South West Hertfordshire, Central Hertfordshire and Eastern Hertfordshire.[14][13][15]

The 'Eastern Hertfordshire' name was opposed by Broxbourne Borough Council Leader Corina Gander, due to the name's overall similarity to that of the existing East Hertfordshire Council, raising concerns that the similarities of the two names may result in the new council being "called East Herts",[16] which was a shortened name already used for the existing East Hertfordshire area.[17] Gander argued that the name may not fully represent the Broxbourne Borough area, noting that "East Herts wouldn’t lose their identity but Broxbourne would."

The name of the council was officially altered on 21 July 2026 to 'East Hertfordshire and Broxbourne', after the requests and feedback from councillors.This is the current name used in proposals as of 10 August 2026; however, the name of the council is not final and will only be officially set out in "secondary legislation establishing them".[1]

In addition, in late July 2026, there was a proposal for the name of the new council to be altered to 'Ermine', taking after the Roman road Ermine Street which was routed through Ware, Braughing,[14] and Royston.[18] All of the above locations mentioned are planned to be included in the new unitary council,[19] although the Roman road also extends between London and York.[20] The proposal was introduced in opposition to the 'East Hertfordshire and Broxbourne' name, brought forward particularly by councillors from the five wards of North Hertfordshire, as the name would only represent the former district councils of East Hertfordshire and Broxbourne. One notable supporter of the 'Ermine' name was North Hertfordshire Councillor Ruth Brown, who said on the matter, "The proposed name of East Hertfordshire & Broxbourne sounds like an amalgamation of the two previous councils and completely fails to recognise the inclusion of Royston and the surrounding villages."[14]

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 Miller, Ruth (21 July 2026). "Dear Chief Executives," (PDF). gov.uk. Archived (PDF) from the original on 4 August 2026. Retrieved 10 August 2026.
  2. ↑ Heath, Martin (16 July 2026). "Hertfordshire to see 11 councils reduced to four". BBC News.
  3. ↑ Price, Deborah (23 July 2026). "'Disaster' for Royston as council reorganisation 'cuts off' town from North Herts". Royston Crow.
  4. ↑ Price, Deborah (24 July 2026). "East Herts Council leader calls for new unitary authority to use County Hall". Bishop's Stortford Independent.
  5. 1 2 "Election Maps". Ordnance Survey.
  6. ↑ "Proposal for four unitary authorities" (PDF). Hertfordshire LGR. Retrieved 16 July 2026.
  7. ↑ LOCAL GOVERNMENT REORGANISATION IN HERTFORDSHIRE. "PROPOSAL FOR FOUR UNITARY AUTHORITIES" (PDF). p. 25.
  8. ↑ "Local government reorganisation: decision letter to Hertfordshire council leaders" (PDF). gov.uk. Retrieved 16 July 2026.
  9. ↑ Forsyth, Alex (16 July 2026). "New councils to be created in 14 areas of England in local government shake-up". BBC News.
  10. ↑ "Proposals for local government reorganisation in Hertfordshire". Gov.uk. Retrieved 16 July 2026.
  11. ↑ "Principal councils | Law Wales". law.gov.wales. Retrieved 10 August 2026.
  12. ↑ "Shepway District Council agrees to name change | LocalGov". www.localgov.co.uk. 18 January 2018. Retrieved 10 August 2026.
  13. 1 2 "Proposals for local government reorganisation in Hertfordshire". GOV.UK. Retrieved 10 August 2026.
  14. 1 2 3 "Call for new East Herts and Broxbourne council to be named after Roman road". Bishop's Stortford Independent. 28 July 2026. Retrieved 10 August 2026.
  15. ↑ "Government announces four unitary authorities in Hertfordshire | St Albans City and District Council". www.stalbans.gov.uk. Retrieved 10 August 2026.
  16. ↑ "New name for Eastern Hertfordshire council after leaders intervene". Your Harlow. 29 July 2026. Archived from the original on 10 August 2026. Retrieved 10 August 2026.
  17. ↑ "MINUTES OF THE ANNUAL MEETING OF EAST HERTFORDSHIRE DISTRICT COUNCIL HELD IN THE COUNCIL CHAMBER, WALLFIELDS, HERTFORD ON WEDNESDAY, 12 MAY 2004 AT 7.30 PM" (PDF). East Herts Council. EAST HERTFORDSHIRE DISTRICT COUNCIL. 12 May 2004. Archived (PDF) from the original on 10 August 2026. Retrieved 10 August 2026.
  18. ↑ "Roman roads". Retrieved 10 August 2026.
  19. ↑ "'A disaster for Royston': Councillor slams decision to join North Herts town with East Herts and Broxbourne". Bishop's Stortford Independent. 23 July 2026. Retrieved 10 August 2026.
  20. ↑ GNR_2020 (1 April 2022). "Ermine Street". Great North Road. Retrieved 10 August 2026.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
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