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Ballymena is a local government district with borough status in Northern Ireland. It is one of twenty-six districts created on 1 October 1973 and covers the town of Ballymena and the surrounding area which includes small towns including Broughshane, Cullybackey, Galgorm, Ahoghill and Portglenone. The borough has an area of and a population of 64,044 according to the 2011 census. The borough has a central location within Northern Ireland and is served by the M2 motorway and with a station on the Belfast-Derry/Londonderry railway line. Belfast International Airport itself is only away and the Belfast City Airport is from Ballymena. It is also accessible to the seaports of Larne and Belfast, 20 and away respectively. ==Borough council== The present borough of Ballymena was created in 1973 from the merging of the former municipal borough of Ballymena with most of the surrounding Ballymena Rural District. The new council inherited the 1937 charter of incorporation of the municipal borough, continuing the borough status and mayoralty.〔...the Charter of the Corporation of the Borough of Ballymena shall have effect in relation to the District of Ballymena... the name in the Charter shall be Ballymena Borough Council." 〕 The borough is divided into four electoral areas: Ballymena North, Ballymena South, Bannside, and Braid, from which 24 members are elected. The entire council is elected every four years by proportional representation. The last election was due to take place in May 2009, but on April 25, 2008, Shaun Woodward, Secretary of State for Northern Ireland announced that the scheduled 2009 district council elections were to be postponed until the introduction of the eleven new councils in 2011.〔(''Northern Ireland elections are postponed'', BBC News, April 25, 2008, accessed April 27, 2008 )〕 The proposed reforms were abandoned in 2010, and the most recent district council elections took place in 2011 As of February 2012, the political composition of the council was: *12 Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) *4 Ulster Unionist Party (UUP) *2 Traditional Unionist Voice (TUV) *2 Social Democratic and Labour Party (SDLP) *2 Sinn Féin *1 Alliance *1 Independent.〔(【引用サイトリンク】title=Councillors )〕 The Mayor of Ballymena for 2011-12 is Councillor Hubert Nicholl (DUP).〔 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Ballymena (borough)」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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