Three Rivers District

This article is about the district in England. For other uses, see Three Rivers (disambiguation).

Three Rivers is a local government district in south-west Hertfordshire, England. Its council is based in Rickmansworth. The district borders Hertsmere, Watford, St Albans, Dacorum, Buckinghamshire, and the London boroughs of Hillingdon and Harrow.

Three Rivers Three Rivers District
Non-metropolitan district
Church Street, Rickmansworth
Three Rivers shown within Hertfordshire
Sovereign state	United Kingdom
Constituent country	England
Region	East of England
Non-metropolitan county	Hertfordshire
Status	Non-metropolitan district
Admin HQ	Rickmansworth
Incorporated	1 April 1974
Government
• Type	Non-metropolitan district council
• Body	Three Rivers District Council
• MPs	Gagan Mohindra
Area
• Total	34.3 sq mi (88.8 km2)
• Rank	206th (of 296)
Population  (2022)
• Total	94,123
• Rank	257th (of 296)
• Density	2,700/sq mi (1,100/km2)
Ethnicity (2021) [1]
• Ethnic groups	List 77.1% White 15.2% Asian 3.6% Mixed 2.4% Black 1.7% other
Religion (2021) [1]
• Religion	List 47.6% Christianity 30.8% no religion 17.9% other 3.7% Islam
Time zone	UTC0 (GMT)
• Summer (DST)	UTC+1 (BST)
ONS code	26UJ (ONS) E07000102 (GSS)
OS grid reference	TQ0591494481

History

Three Rivers District was created on 1 April 1974 under the Local Government Act 1972, covering the whole area of two former districts and most of a third, which were all abolished at the same time:^[2]

• Chorleywood Urban District
• Rickmansworth Urban District
• Watford Rural District, except the parish of Aldenham, which went to Hertsmere, and the part within the designated area of Hemel Hempstead New Town, which went to Dacorum.

The new district was named "Three Rivers", referencing the rivers Chess, Colne, and Gade which flow through the district and have their confluence in Rickmansworth, the largest town in the district.^[3]

Governance

Three Rivers District Council
Type
Type	Non-metropolitan district
Leadership
Chair	Stephen King, Labour since 20 May 2025[4]
Leader	Stephen Giles-Medhurst, Liberal Democrats since 21 May 2024[5]
Chief Executive	Joanne Wagstaffe since 3 February 2020[6]
Structure
Seats	39 councillors
Political groups	Administration (19)   Liberal Democrats (19) Other parties (20)   Conservative (12)   Green (3)   Labour (3)   Independent (2)
Elections
Voting system	First past the post
Last election	2 May 2024
Next election	7 May 2026
Meeting place
Three Rivers House, Northway, Rickmansworth, WD3 1RL
Website
threerivers.gov.uk

Hertfordshire has a two-tier structure of local government, with the ten district councils (including Three Rivers District Council) providing district-level services, and Hertfordshire County Council providing county-level services. In some areas there is an additional third tier of civil parishes.^[7]

Responsibilities

Three Rivers District Council carries out a variety of district council functions including:

• Benefits - Housing and Council Tax
• Car Parking
• Concessionary Travel
• Council Tax - Administration and Collection
• Elections and Electoral Registration
• Environmental Health
• Food Safety and Hygiene Complaints
• Noise Pollution and Pest Control
• Housing Administration
• Licensing
• Caravan Sites
• Town Planning
• Public Conveniences
• Health and Leisure Centres
• Refuse Collection
• Recycling
• Tourism and Visitor Information

Political control

The council has been under no overall control since a by-election in August 2024, having previously been under Liberal Democrat majority control since 2018. The leaders of the council have been Liberal Democrats (or their predecessors, the SDP–Liberal Alliance) since 1986, including through some periods of minority administrations.

The first election to Three Rivers District Council was held in 1973, initially acting as a shadow authority alongside the outgoing authorities until the new arrangements took effect on 1 April 1974. Political control since 1974 has been as follows:^[8][9]

Party in control		Years
	No overall control	1974–1976
	Conservative	1976–1986
	No overall control	1986–1987
	Alliance	1987–1988
	Liberal Democrats	1988–1990
	No overall control	1990–1999
	Liberal Democrats	1999–2015
	No overall control	2015–2016
	Liberal Democrats	2017–2018
	No overall control	2018–2018
	Liberal Democrats	2018–2024
	No overall control	2024-

Leadership

The leaders of the council since 1986 have been:

Councillor	Party		From	To
Ann Shaw[10]		Liberal Democrats	1986	17 May 2016
Sara Bedford[11][12]		Liberal Democrats	17 May 2016	14 Jul 2020
Sarah Nelmes[12][13]		Liberal Democrats	14 Jul 2020	21 May 2024
Stephen Giles-Medhurst[14]		Liberal Democrats	21 May 2024

Composition

Following the 2024 election and by-elections and changes of allegiance up to March 2025, the composition of the council was:^[15][16][17]

Party		Councillors
	Liberal Democrats	19
	Conservative	12
	Green	3
	Labour	3
	Independent	2
Total		39

The next election is due in May 2026.^[18]

Premises

The council's main offices are at Three Rivers House on Northway in the centre of Rickmansworth, which was purpose-built for the council in 1991. The site had been part of the grounds of Basing House, which had bought by the old Rickmansworth Urban District Council in 1930 to serve as its headquarters.^[19][20]

Elections

Further information: Three Rivers District Council elections

Since the last boundary changes in 2014 the council has comprised 39 councillors representing 13 wards, each of which elects three councillors. Elections are held three years out of every four, electing one councillor from each ward each time. Elections to Hertfordshire County Council are held in the fourth year of the cycle when there are no district council elections.^[21]

Wards

The wards of the district are:^[21]

• Abbots Langley and Bedmond
• Carpenders Park
• Chorleywood North and Sarratt
• Chorleywood South and Maple Cross
• Dickinsons
• Durrants
• Gade Valley
• Leavesden
• Moor Park and Eastbury
• Oxhey Hall and Hayling
• Penn and Mill End
• Rickmansworth Town
• South Oxhey

Wider politics

County council

For elections to Hertfordshire County Council, the district is divided into six divisions, three of which are held by the Conservatives, and three by the Liberal Democrats:

Hertfordshire County Councillors for divisions in Three Rivers^[22]

Division	Councillor	Party
Abbots Langley	Sara Bedford		Liberal Democrats
Croxley	Chris Lloyd		Liberal Democrats
Rickmansworth East and Oxhey Park	Reena Ranger		Conservative
Rickmansworth West	Paula Hiscocks		Conservative
South Oxhey and Eastbury	Christopher Alley		Conservative
Three Rivers Rural	Phil Williams		Liberal Democrats

Parliament

For parliamentary elections, the entire district has been part of the South West Hertfordshire constituency since the 2024 general election.^[23] The constituency is not quite coterminous with the district, however, as it also contains the ward of Kings Langley from the Dacorum district.^[24] The current MP is Gagan Mohindra of the Conservative Party.

Rail

Train services are provided by Chiltern Railways and the Metropolitan line of the London Underground.

London Underground stations:

• Chorleywood
• Croxley
• Rickmansworth
• Moor Park

Chiltern Railways stations:

• Chorleywood
• Rickmansworth

A special fare structure exists as the stations are outside the Greater London boundary.

London Overground stations:

• Carpenders Park

West Coast Main Line stations:

• Kings Langley

Settlements

• Abbots Langley
• Chorleywood
• Croxley Green
• Loudwater
• Maple Cross
• Moor Park
• Rickmansworth
• Sarratt
• South Oxhey

Civil parishes

Three Rivers is partially parished. There are six civil parishes in the district:^[25]

• Abbots Langley
• Batchworth
• Chorleywood
• Croxley Green
• Sarratt
• Watford Rural

There are also two unparished areas in the district, both comprising parts of the former Rickmansworth Urban District which have not subsequently been added to a parish: one larger area including Maple Cross and Mill End, Rickmansworth; and a smaller area including part of Loudwater.^[25]