Уттлсфорд: История и современность района Эссекса

Dunmow Rural District
Saffron Walden Municipal Borough
Saffron Walden Rural District
The new district was named after the ancient hundred of Uttlesford, which had covered much of the area. The hundred had been named after a ford on the London Road (now the B1383, formerly the A11) at Wendens Ambo, since replaced by a bridge. The ford appears to derive its name from "Udel's ford". The stream at the ford is sometimes informally called the River Uttle as a back formation from the name of the ford. Hundreds gradually lost their functions to other bodies from the seventeenth century onwards, with their final administrative function ceasing in 1886. The name Uttlesford continued to have occasional use in the area between then and 1974, such as the Uttlesford Orchestra, founded in 1956, which played in and around Saffron Walden.

Uttlesford District Council provides district level services. County level services are provided by Essex County Council. The whole district is also covered by civil parishes, which form a third tier of local government.

The council is based at the Council Offices on London Road in Saffron Walden. When the council was created in 1974 it inherited offices at 46 High Street, Dunmow from the Dunmow Rural District Council, at 5 Hill Street, Saffron Walden from Saffron Walden Borough Council and at 52 Debden Road, Saffron Walden from the Saffron Walden Rural District Council. In 1988 the former Saffron Walden General Hospital on London Road closed and the site was bought by the council. The original hospital building of 1865 was renovated and a large extension built to its west to become a new headquarters for the council, which opened in May 1990.

Since the last full review of boundaries in 2015 the council has comprised 39 councillors representing 22 wards, each electing one, two or three councillors. Elections are held every four years.

Apart from considerable agriculture, retail and office premises in towns, Uttlesford District includes London Stansted Airport, which is its largest employer. For more detailed analysis of strengths and specializations in the economy see individual settlements, for instance the article: Saffron Walden. In October 2008, the airport won a 40% increase in permitted flights under the flight cap which operates in relation to the airport, from the UK government. Aside from countryside hotels close to and aircraft maintenance vital to Stansted Airport, airlines have also used a small adjoining business park. Titan Airways has its head office in the Enterprise House in the grounds in Stansted Mountfitchet. Several airlines, including Buzz, AirUK (later KLM uk), AB Airlines, Go Fly had its head office at the Enterprise House. and Lloyd International Airways had their head offices on the property of Stansted Airport.

In terms of television, the area is served by BBC East and ITV Anglia broadcasting from the Sudbury and Sandy Heath transmitters. However, some southern parts of the district such as Stansted Mountfitchet and Takeley including Stansted Airport is also served by BBC London and ITV London which broadcast from the Crystal Palace transmitter.

Stansted Airport is in the district. Stansted is the fourth busiest UK airport, with flights to over 200 destinations.

Several cycle routes cross the district, linking towns in the district to the National Cycle Network. National Cycle Route 11 (NCR 11) crosses the district north south, from Ickleton to Stansted Mountfitchet, running mostly on rural lanes. NCR 11 eventually links the district to the River Stort towpath in Bishop's Stortford (towards Harlow, NCR 1 and London). Northbound, the route continues towards Cambridge, Ely and Downham Market. A spur of the route leads into Saffron Walden, running for much of its length on a segregated cycle route. National Cycle Route 16 runs east west between Stansted Mountfitchet and Braintree, via Great Dunmow town centre. The route runs for much of its length on segregated cycle track converted from the course of the former Bishop's Stortford to Braintree railway, and it runs unbroken through the district, mostly parallel to the A120. National Cycle Network 50 runs north south between Takeley and Quendon in Uttlesford. The route ultimately runs between Quendon and Ulting (near Maldon) running entirely on country lanes.

The district is the only British local authority (excluding parishes) to begin with the letter 'u'. The only other initial letter used by only one UK local authority is 'y' for York.