North Somerset

North Somerset, local government unitary authority, or administrative area, south-west England, bordered on the north-east by Bristol unitary authority, on the east by Bath and North-East Somerset unitary authority, on the south by the county of Somerset, and on the west by the Bristol Channel and the Severn estuary. Weston-super-Mare (population, 1991, 69,372) is the administrative centre of the unitary authority, which came into existence on April 1, 1996, and comprises the Woodspring district 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 which administered the area be replaced by four, all-purpose unitary authorities, of which North Somerset is one. The others are: Bath and North-East Somerset, Bristol, and South Gloucestershire. Before 1974, when Avon was created under the local government reforms implemented in that year, the area of North Somerset was part of Somerset. For ceremonial and related occasions, the unitary authority forms part of Somerset, whose pre-1974 boundaries have been restored for this purpose. For the physical geography, settlement, economy, and history of the area see Avon, Somerset. Population 188,556 (2001).