South Gloucestershire

South Gloucestershire, local government unitary authority, or administrative area, south-west England, bordered on the north-east by the county of Gloucestershire, on the east by the county of Wiltshire, on the south by Bath and North-East Somerset unitary authority, on the south-west by Bristol unitary authority, and on the north-west by the Severn estuary. Thornbury is the administrative centre of the unitary authority, which came into existence on April 1, 1996, and comprises the Northavon and Kingswood district councils of the former county of Avon. It was established as a result of the review of local administration in the non-metropolitan counties of England carried out by the Local Government Commission established under the Local Government Act 1992. The commission recommended that Avon be abolished and that the county and six district councils that administered the area be replaced by four, all-purpose unitary authorities, of which South Gloucestershire is one. The others are Bath and North-East Somerset, Bristol, and North Somerset. Before 1974, when Avon was created under the local government reforms implemented in that year, the area of South Gloucestershire was part of Gloucestershire. For ceremonial and related occasions, the unitary authority forms part of Gloucestershire, whose pre-1974 boundaries have been restored for this purpose. For the physical geography, settlement, economy, and history of the area see Avon, Gloucestershire. Population 245,644 (2001).