I.

Introduction

Vale of Glamorgan, The (Welsh, Bro Morgannwg), county borough and unitary authority, South Wales, bounded on the north-west by the county borough of Bridgend, on the north by the county borough of Rhondda Cynon Taff, on the north-east by the county of Cardiff, and on the south by the Bristol Channel. The county borough came into existence on April 1, 1996, under the provisions of the Local Government Act 1994, which changed the structure of local administration in Wales from a two-tier system of county and district councils to a single-tier system of unitary authorities. It comprises the district of Vale of Glamorgan in the south and centre of the former county of South Glamorgan, plus, in the north-west, some 20 sq km (7.7 sq mi) which were transferred from the Ogwr district of Mid Glamorgan. The remainder of Ogwr district forms the county borough of Bridgend. However, Bridgend unitary authority disputed the new boundaries and requested the return of the transferred Ogwr district territory. The Boundary Commission reviewed the situation in 1997 and ruled that there should be no further change to the boundary with Bridgend and that the disputed area should remain in the Vale of Glamorgan. Before 1974, when South and Mid Glamorgan were created under the local government reorganization implemented in that year, the territory covered by the Vale of Glamorgan county borough was part of the county of Glamorgan. The Vale of Glamorgan has an area of 337 sq km (130 sq mi).