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Bath and North East Somerset District
Geography
Status:	Unitary district
Region:	South West England
Historic county:	Somerset
Ceremonial county:	Somerset
Area: - Total	Ranked 137th 351.12 km²
Admin. HQ:	Bath
ONS code:	00HA
Demographics
Population: - Total (2006 est.) - Density	Ranked 86th 175,600 500 / km²
Ethnicity:	97.2% White 0.5% Chinese[1] 0.5% S.Asian 0.5% Black British 1% Mixed Race
Politics
Bath and North East Somerset Council http://www.bathnes.gov.uk/
Leadership:	Leader & Cabinet
Executive:	Conservative (council NOC)
MPs:	Don Foster (LD) Dan Norris (L)

Bath and North East Somerset (commonly referred to as BANES or B&NES) is a unitary authority that was created on 1 April 1996 following the abolition of the County of Avon. It is part of the Ceremonial county of Somerset.

The city of Bath is the principal settlement in the district, but BANES also covers Keynsham, Midsomer Norton, Radstock and the Chew Valley. The geographical area covered is 351.12 km² (135 sq miles). There are a total of 72,000 dwellings within the area, 6,408 are listed buildings, 662 Grade 1and 145 Grade 2 and classified as of historical or architectural importance. 170,238 people live in the area and approximately half live in the City of Bath making it 12 times more densely populated than the rest of the area.

Since BANES was created, no political party has been in overall control of the council. The Liberal Democrats quickly became the dominant party, but in the local elections on 3 May 2007 the Conservative Party won 31 seats and are now the dominant party, though they do not have a majority. The Labour Party has only five seats, none of which are in Bath.

Local concerns include traffic calming measures, council tax, development of the large Western Riverside brownfield land site in Bath, and the now popular, but long delayed Thermae Bath Spa development.

The district borders Bristol, North Somerset, Somerset, South Gloucestershire, and Wiltshire local government areas.

On 10 December 2003, Bath and North East Somerset was granted Fairtrade Zone status.

Bath and North East Somerset Council runs a youth democracy group called Dafby, who are consulted by the council on a wide variety of issues that affect young people.

Contents 1 Towns and villages 2 Economy 3 Local Government 4 External links

The major towns and villages in the district are:

• Bath
• Bathampton
• Chew Magna
• Pensford
• Keynsham
• Midsomer Norton
• Paulton
• Radstock
• Saltford

See also: list of civil parishes in Somerset

This is a chart of trend of regional gross value added of North and North East Somerset and South Gloucestershire at current basic prices published (pp.240-253) by Office for National Statistics with figures in millions of British Pounds Sterling.

Year	Regional Gross Value Added[2]	Agriculture[3]	Industry[4]	Services[5]
1995	5,916	125	1,919	3,872
2000	8,788	86	2,373	6,330
2003	10,854	67	2,873	7,914

^  includes hunting and forestry

^  includes energy and construction

^  includes financial intermediation services indirectly measured

^  Components may not sum to totals due to rounding

The current council composes of:

Party		Councillors	+/-
	Conservative Party	31	+5
	Liberal Democrats	26	-3
	Labour Party	5	-1
	Independent	2	-2
	No party	1	+1
	NOC Hold (Con 1st)

The whole council will be up for re-election in 2011.

• BANES council
• BBC Somerset

v • d • e Districts of South West England

Bath and North East Somerset • Bournemouth • Bristol • Caradon • Carrick • Cheltenham • Christchurch • Cotswold • East Devon • East Dorset • Exeter • Forest of Dean • Gloucester • Isles of Scilly • Kennet • Kerrier • Mendip • Mid Devon • North Cornwall • North Devon • North Dorset • North Somerset • North Wiltshire • Penwith • Plymouth • Poole • Purbeck • Restormel • Salisbury • Sedgemoor • South Gloucestershire • South Hams • South Somerset • Stroud • Swindon • Taunton Deane • Teignbridge • Tewkesbury • Torbay • Torridge • West Devon • West Dorset • West Somerset • West Wiltshire • Weymouth and Portland Counties with multiple districts: Cornwall • Devon • Dorset • Gloucestershire • Somerset • Wiltshire