West Lancashire District Council became a Borough Council with
the presentation of a Royal Charter by the Lord Lieutenant of
Lancashire, Lord Shuttleworth JP, in the Council Chamber at 7.30pm
on Wednesday 20 May 2009.
Following the presentation of the Charter, the first Annual
Meeting of the Borough Council was held at which the new Borough's
first Mayor - Cllr Geoff M. Roberts -was installed, along with the
Deputy Mayor, Cllr John Baldock.
West Lancashire had for many years been the only district in
Lancashire without borough status and although the Council's
Chairman did officially have the same status as a Mayor, the
position of the Council and its Chairman was sometimes wrongly
regarded as being inferior.
In October 2008 the Council submitted a petition praying for the
grant of a Royal Charter by Her Majesty the Queen conferring on the
District the status of a Borough. The petition was granted and the
Charter was sealed.
Borough status links