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Ards and North Down: what’s happening where you live

What the council itself has published on the five things it most shapes for a household: homes, getting about, the bill, the local environment and schools. Each line is quoted from the council’s own document, with the link. This page says what was decided or proposed; it never says whether it was right.

This page is built from official registers only; the council’s own publications have not been read yet, and every line below says so where that leaves a gap.

Ards and North Down Borough Council: NI district (ni district), Northern Ireland. GOV.UK lists it as a unitary council. ONS code N09000011.

Council website

Do it online

The council’s own service pages as listed by GOV.UK’s Local Links Manager (Open Government Licence), refreshed weekly; the same list of everyday services, in the same order, for every council, in GOV.UK’s wording.

Housing

We haven't read this council's own publications yet. The council’s website

Transport

We haven't read this council's own publications yet. The council’s website

Council tax

We haven't read this council's own publications yet. The council’s website

Environment

We haven't read this council's own publications yet. The council’s website

Education

We haven't read this council's own publications yet. The council’s website

Ards and North Down in numbers

Official statistics for the whole council area. Each figure is the latest published, with the period it covers.

Total population
165,415 people 30 June 2024 · Office for National StatisticsMid-year estimate of the total number of people
Median age
45 years 30 June 2024 · Office for National StatisticsMedian age of people
Gross disposable household income per head
£24,420 2024 · Office for National StatisticsAverage income per person (£) after taxes and direct benefits
Gross median weekly pay
£568 30 April 2025 · Office for National StatisticsGross median weekly pay based on where people live (£)
Children in relative poverty after housing costs
16.9% April 2024 to March 2025 · Department for Work and PensionsPercentage of children aged under 16 living in relative low income families After Housing Costs (AHC)
Claimant Count
2.7% 2025 · Office for National StatisticsPercentage of people aged 16 to 64 who are claiming unemployment-related benefits
Average house price
£227,275 July 2026 · HM Land RegistryAverage monthly price of a property (£)
Female healthy life expectancy
61.8 years 2022 to 2024 · Office for National StatisticsAverage years expected to be lived in good health for females born in the given year
Male healthy life expectancy
61.9 years 2022 to 2024 · Office for National StatisticsAverage years expected to be lived in good health for males born in the given year
Greenhouse gas emissions
6.6 tCO2e per capita 2024 · Department for Energy Security and Net ZeroGreenhouse gas emissions (tCO2e) per capita
Gigabit capable broadband
96.0% 1 January 2026 · OfcomPercentage of premises that have coverage from a gigabit-capable service (download speeds of 1,000 Mbps or more)
Public electric vehicle chargers
49.0 per 100,000 population 1 July 2026 · Department for Transport, sourced from ZapmapPublicly available electric vehicle chargers at all speeds per 100,000 people
Active businesses
4,615 number of enterprises 2024 · Office for National StatisticsBusinesses with turnover or employment in current year

Gathered by the Office for National Statistics in Explore Local Statistics (Open Government Licence), refreshed daily. Some figures aren’t published for every nation, so the list can be shorter outside England.

Who runs the council

40 seats in 2026. Run by: NULL, with a majority. Open Council Data (public domain).

Councillors by party: Democratic Unionist Party - D.U.P. 14, Alliance - Alliance Party of Northern Ireland 12, Ulster Unionist Party 8, Independent / Other 3, Green Party (NI) 2, SDLP (Social Democratic & Labour Party) 1.

Next scheduled council election: 6 May 2027.

All 40 councillors, by ward
  • David Kerr (Democratic Unionist Party - D.U.P.) — Ards Peninsula
  • Joe Boyle (SDLP (Social Democratic & Labour Party)) — Ards Peninsula
  • Lorna McAlpine (Alliance - Alliance Party of Northern Ireland) — Ards Peninsula
  • Nigel Edmund (Democratic Unionist Party - D.U.P.) — Ards Peninsula
  • Pete Wray (Ulster Unionist Party) — Ards Peninsula
  • Robert Adair (Democratic Unionist Party - D.U.P.) — Ards Peninsula
  • Alex Harbinson (Alliance - Alliance Party of Northern Ireland) — Bangor Central
  • Alistair Cathcart (Democratic Unionist Party - D.U.P.) — Bangor Central
  • Chris McCracken (Alliance - Alliance Party of Northern Ireland) — Bangor Central
  • Craig Blaney (Ulster Unionist Party) — Bangor Central
  • Ray McKimm (Independent / Other) — Bangor Central
  • Wesley Irvine (Independent / Other) — Bangor Central
  • David Chambers (Ulster Unionist Party) — Bangor East and Donaghadee
  • Eddie Thompson (Democratic Unionist Party - D.U.P.) — Bangor East and Donaghadee
  • Hannah Irwin (Alliance - Alliance Party of Northern Ireland) — Bangor East and Donaghadee
  • James Cochrane (Democratic Unionist Party - D.U.P.) — Bangor East and Donaghadee
  • John Hennessy (Alliance - Alliance Party of Northern Ireland) — Bangor East and Donaghadee
  • Mark Brooks (Ulster Unionist Party) — Bangor East and Donaghadee
  • Barry McKee (Green Party (NI)) — Bangor West
  • Carl McClean (Democratic Unionist Party - D.U.P.) — Bangor West
  • Jennifer Gilmour (Democratic Unionist Party - D.U.P.) — Bangor West
  • Katherine Newman (Ulster Unionist Party) — Bangor West
  • Naomi McBurney (Alliance - Alliance Party of Northern Ireland) — Bangor West
  • Libby Douglas (Democratic Unionist Party - D.U.P.) — Comber
  • Patricia Morgan (Alliance - Alliance Party of Northern Ireland) — Comber
  • Philip Smith (Ulster Unionist Party) — Comber
  • Rachel Ashe (Alliance - Alliance Party of Northern Ireland) — Comber
  • Trevor Cummings (Democratic Unionist Party - D.U.P.) — Comber
  • Alan Graham (Democratic Unionist Party - D.U.P.) — Holywood and Clandeboye
  • Gillian McCollum (Alliance - Alliance Party of Northern Ireland) — Holywood and Clandeboye
  • Lauren Kendall (Green Party (NI)) — Holywood and Clandeboye
  • Martin McRandal (Alliance - Alliance Party of Northern Ireland) — Holywood and Clandeboye
  • Stephen Hollywood (Ulster Unionist Party) — Holywood and Clandeboye
  • Alan McDowell (Alliance - Alliance Party of Northern Ireland) — Newtownards
  • Colin Kennedy (Democratic Unionist Party - D.U.P.) — Newtownards
  • Naomi Armstrong-Cotter (Democratic Unionist Party - D.U.P.) — Newtownards
  • Richard Smart (Ulster Unionist Party) — Newtownards
  • Stephen McIlveen (Democratic Unionist Party - D.U.P.) — Newtownards
  • Steven Irvine (Independent / Other) — Newtownards
  • Victoria Moore (Alliance - Alliance Party of Northern Ireland) — Newtownards

Each councillor’s register of interests is on the council’s own website; we have not yet located the page. Councillors from Open Council Data as recorded after the May 2026 elections; a by-election since then may have changed one seat. Attendance and allowances are not shown.

This council’s meeting papers are not yet read automatically, so decisions and motions are not listed here; they are on the council’s website.

Write to your councillors → WriteToThem (mySociety) finds them from your postcode; nothing is sent through this site.

Cite this page

Harvard style. Every figure on the page also names its original source, which is usually the better thing to cite.

Every council page has the same five headings in the same order. Sources are the council’s own publications and official statistics. Council list: mySociety, UK Local Authorities (CC BY 4.0) and WhatDoTheyKnow authorities (CC BY-SA 4.0); council websites, tiers and service links: GOV.UK (Open Government Licence); codes: ONS Code History Database (Open Government Licence). Corrections: hello@whatsittome.org.