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Greater Manchester is a metropolitan county in England established in 1974 which covers an area roughly encompassing the conurbation of Manchester. It is situated in North West England. It borders onto the ceremonial counties of Cheshire (inc. Warrington), Derbyshire, West Yorkshire, Lancashire (inc. Blackburn with Darwen) and Merseyside. It is made up of ten Metropolitan boroughs - Bolton, Bury, Manchester proper, Oldham, Rochdale, Salford, Stockport, Tameside, Trafford and Wigan. Greater Manchester is not entirely built-up. Although Manchester forms a conurbation along with Salford, Trafford and Stockport, other boroughs, such as Wigan and Bury are clearly separate.
AdministrationThe county was originally run by the Greater Manchester County Council however this was abolished in 1986 and most of its powers were given to the metropolitan borough councils. Despite the abolition of the county council, several joint-authorities exist to run some services on a county-wide basis. Perhaps the most important of these, is the Greater Manchester Passenger Transport Executive (GMPTE) which is responsible for planning and co-ordinating public transport across the county, and owns the Manchester Metrolink light-rail system. There is also the Greater Manchester County Fire Service, and the Greater Manchester Police, who are overseen by a joint police authority. Other functions such as waste disposal and civil defence are also organised jointly. The joint-authorities are made up of appointed councillors from each of the metropolitan borough councils. The boroughs jointly own the Manchester Airport Group which controls Manchester Airport and several other UK airports. Other services are directly funded and managed by the local councils. Greater Manchester is still a Ceremonial County with a Lord-Lieutenant. History
Before 1974 the area of Greater Manchester was split between Cheshire and Lancashire with numerous parts being independent county boroughs. The area was informally known as 'SELNEC', for 'South East Lancashire North East Cheshire'. Also small parts of the West Riding of Yorkshire (around Saddleworth) and Derbyshire were covered. SELNEC had been proposed by the Redcliffe-Maud Report of 1969 as a 'metropolitan area'. This had roughly the same northern boundary as today's Greater Manchester, but covered much more territory in north-east Cheshire - including Macclesfield and Warrington. It also covered Glossop in Derbyshire. In 1969 a SELNEC Passenger Transport Authority was set up, which covered an area smaller than the proposed SELNEC, but different to the eventual Greater Manchester. Although the Redcliffe-Maud report was rejected by the Conservative Party government after it won the 1970 general election, it was committed to local government reform, and accepted the need for a county based on Manchester. Its original proposal was much smaller than the Redcliffe-Maud Report's SELNEC, but further fringe areas such as Wilmslow, Warrington and Glossop were trimmed from the edges and included instead in the shire counties. Greater Manchester was eventually established in 1974. It is possible that Greater Manchester will have a small expansion in coming years. If the 2004 referendum on devolution produces a "yes" vote for the North-West, and a vote for option 2 in Cumbria and Lancashire, then part of the West Lancashire district will be annexed to the metropolitan borough of Wigan. Towns and villages
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