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Hart
Non-metropolitan district
Fleet town centre
Hart shown within Hampshire
Sovereign state	United Kingdom
Constituent country	England
Region	South East England
Non-metropolitan county	Hampshire
Status	Non-metropolitan district
Admin HQ	Fleet
Incorporated	1 April 1974
Government
• Type	Non-metropolitan district council
• Body	Hart District Council
• MPs	Alex Brewer Alex Baker
Area
• Total	83.1 sq mi (215.3 km)
• Rank	140th (of 296)
Population
• Total	100,910
• Rank	241st (of 296)
• Density	1,200/sq mi (470/km)
Ethnicity (2021)
• Ethnic groups	List 92.5% White 3.6% Asian 2.2% Mixed 0.8% Black 0.8% other
Religion (2021)
• Religion	List 49.8% Christianity 41.1% no religion 5.6% not stated 1.2% Hinduism 0.8% Islam 0.6% Buddhism 0.4% other 0.3% Sikhism 0.1% Judaism
Time zone	UTC0 (GMT)
• Summer (DST)	UTC+1 (BST)
ONS code	24UG (ONS) E07000089 (GSS)
OS grid reference	SU8047254050

Hart is a local government district in Hampshire, England, named after the River Hart. Its council is based in Fleet. The district also contains the towns of Blackwater and Yateley, along with numerous villages and surrounding rural areas.

In the English indices of deprivation for 2019, Hart was ranked as the least deprived district in England; a position it had also held in the 2015 index.

For five years running (2011–2015), an annual study conducted by the Halifax bank named Hart as the UK's most desirable place to live for quality of life. The study took into account jobs, housing, health, crime, weather, traffic and broadband access. It found that in 2014 97% of people in the local authority area were in good health, and in 2011 tended to have incomes 40% above the national average.

History

The district was created on 1 April 1974 under the Local Government Act 1972, covering the area of two former districts, which were both abolished at the same time:

• Hartley Wintney Rural District
• Fleet Urban District

The new district was initially going to be named Hartley Wintney, after the rural district which covered most of the area, which in turn was named after the village of the same name. The shadow authority elected to oversee the transition to the new system requested a change of name to Hart, after the River Hart which runs through the area. The change of name was approved by the government on 17 January 1974, before the new district formally came into being.

The River Hart is said to derive its name from the number of deer in the area, with a hart being an old term for an adult male deer, synonymous with "stag". The area historically had several deer parks. Hart District Council uses a profile of a stag as its logo.

Governance

Hart District Council
Type
Type	Non-metropolitan district
Leadership
Chair	Dermot Smith, Independent since 16 May 2024
Leader	David Neighbour, Liberal Democrat since 25 May 2017
Chief Executive	Daryl Phillips
Structure
Seats	33 councillors
Political groups	Administration (23)   Liberal Democrat (12)   CCH (11) Other parties (10)   Conservative (9)   Independent (1)
Elections
Last election	2 May 2024
Next election	7 May 2026
Meeting place
Civic Offices, Harlington Way, Fleet, GU51 4AE
Website
www.hart.gov.uk

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

Political control

The council has been under no overall control since 2012. Since 2017 the council has been run by a coalition of the Liberal Democrats and local party Community Campaign (Hart), led by Liberal Democrat councillor David Neighbour.

The first election to the council was held in 1973, initially acting as a shadow authority alongside the outgoing authorities until the new arrangements took effect on 1 April 1974. Political control since 1974 has been as follows:

Leadership

The leaders of the council since 2008 have been:

Composition

Following the 2024 election, the composition of the council is:

No party has majority control of the council; currently the Liberal Democrats and Community Campaign (Hart), a local residents' association, run the council as a joint administration. The next election is due in 2026.

Elections

Since the last boundary changes in 2014 the council has comprised 33 councillors representing 11 wards, with each ward electing three councillors. Elections are held three years out of every four, with a third of the council (one councillor for each ward) elected at a time for a four year term of office. Hampshire County Council elections are held in the fourth year of the cycle when there are no district council elections.

Premises

The council is based at the Civic Offices on Harlington Way in Fleet. The building was purpose-built for the council in 1986.

Demography

In mid-2003 Hart had an estimated 85,700 residents. This compares with the 2001 Census figure of 83,505 residents. The 2001 Census also reported that there were 32,470 households, with 77% of residents describing their health as 'good'. In the twenty years between 1982 and 2002 the population of Hart grew by 19 per cent, compared with an increase of 11 per cent for the South East region as a whole.

Parishes and town councils

The whole district is divided into civil parishes, listed below. The parish councils for Blackwater and Hawley, Fleet, and Yateley have declared their parishes to be towns, allowing them to take the style "town council". Whilst Hook is a post town it retains a parish council rather than a town council.

• Blackwater and Hawley
• Bramshill
• Church Crookham
• Crondall
• Crookham Village
• Dogmersfield
• Elvetham Heath
• Eversley
• Ewshot
• Fleet
• Greywell
• Hartley Wintney
• Heckfield
• Hook
• Long Sutton
• Mattingley
• Odiham
• Rotherwick
• South Warnborough
• Winchfield
• Yateley

References

1. ^ UK Census (2021). "2021 Census Area Profile – Hart Local Authority (E07000089)". Nomis. Office for National Statistics. Retrieved 5 January 2024.
2. "English indices of deprivation 2019". 10 November 2023.
3. "English indices of deprivation 2015: File 10 local authority district summaries". Department for Communities and Local Government. 30 September 2015.
4. "Hart in Hampshire named as UK's most desirable place". BBC News. 24 December 2011.
5. "Hart in Hampshire remains UK's most desirable place". BBC News. 20 December 2014.
6. "The English Non-metropolitan Districts (Definition) Order 1972", legislation.gov.uk, The National Archives, SI 1972/2039, retrieved 31 May 2023
7. "The English Non-metropolitan Districts (Names) Order 1973", legislation.gov.uk, The National Archives, SI 1973/551, retrieved 31 May 2023
8. "Historical information from 1973 onwards". Boundary-Line support. Ordnance Survey. Retrieved 10 November 2023.
9. "New Chairman and Cabinet members for Hart". Hart District Council. 17 May 2024. Retrieved 5 July 2024.
10. "Local Government Act 1972", legislation.gov.uk, The National Archives, 1972 c. 70, retrieved 31 May 2023
11. "Compositions calculator". The Elections Centre. Retrieved 8 November 2023.
12. "Hart". BBC News Online. 19 April 2009. Retrieved 7 May 2010.
13. "Councillor admits fiddling his council tax". gethampshire. 19 May 2005. Archived from the original on 4 October 2011. Retrieved 23 April 2010.
14. "Council minutes". Hart District Council. Retrieved 19 July 2022.
15. "Cllr Ken Crookes 'disappointed' with decision to test new settlement at Winchfield". Basingstoke Gazette. 1 December 2014. Retrieved 19 July 2022.
16. "New man appointed to lead Hart District Council". Basingstoke Gazette. 19 December 2014. Retrieved 19 July 2022.
17. "Neighbour wins leadership race". Farnham Herald. 6 June 2017. Retrieved 19 July 2022.
18. "Hart results". BBC News. 3 May 2024. Retrieved 14 May 2024.
19. "The Hart (Electoral Changes) Order 2012", legislation.gov.uk, The National Archives, SI 2012/1395, retrieved 11 November 2023
20. "Contact us". Hart District Council. Retrieved 10 November 2023.
21. "Praise for council office builders". Fleet News. 15 August 1986. p. 7. Retrieved 10 November 2023.
22. "Parish council contact details". Hart District Council. Retrieved 10 November 2023.

External links

• Hart District Council
• Statistics on Hart District Council from the UK Government

v t e Districts of South East England
Berkshire	Bracknell Forest Reading Slough West Berkshire Windsor and Maidenhead Wokingham
Buckinghamshire	Buckinghamshire Milton Keynes
East Sussex	Brighton and Hove Eastbourne Hastings Lewes Rother Wealden
Hampshire	Basingstoke and Deane East Hampshire Eastleigh Fareham Gosport Hart Havant New Forest Portsmouth Rushmoor Southampton Test Valley Winchester
Isle of Wight	Isle of Wight
Kent	Ashford Canterbury Dartford Dover Folkestone and Hythe Gravesham Maidstone Medway Sevenoaks Swale Thanet Tonbridge and Malling Tunbridge Wells
Oxfordshire	Cherwell Oxford South Oxfordshire Vale of White Horse West Oxfordshire
Surrey	Elmbridge Epsom and Ewell Guildford Mole Valley Reigate and Banstead Runnymede Spelthorne Surrey Heath Tandridge Waverley Woking
West Sussex	Adur Arun Chichester Crawley Horsham Mid Sussex Worthing

v t e Towns, villages and hamlets in Hart District

Blackwater Blounce Bramshill Chandlers Green Church Crookham Crondall Crookham Village Darby Green Dogmersfield Dora's Green Eversley Eversley Centre Eversley Cross Ewshot Fleet Frogmore Greywell Hartfordbridge Hartley Wespall Hartley Wintney Hawley Hazeley Heckfield Heckfield Heath Hook Hook Common Hound Green Long Sutton Lower Common Mattingley Mill Lane Minley North Warnborough Odiham Phoenix Green Rotherwick Rye South Warnborough Warnborough Green Well West Green Whitehall Winchfield Winchfield Green Yateley

51°16′46″N 0°50′46″W / 51.2794°N 0.8461°W / 51.2794; -0.8461

• Hart District
• Non-metropolitan districts of Hampshire