Metropolitan Borough of Bury

Borough of Bury
Metropolitan borough
Bury Town Hall, the seat of Bury Council
Coat of Arms of the Borough Council
Bury shown in Greater Manchester and England
Sovereign state	United Kingdom
Constituent country	England
Region	North West England
Ceremonial county	Greater Manchester
Admin. HQ	Bury
Government
• Type	Bury Metropolitan Borough Council
• Leadership:	Leader & Cabinet
• Executive:	Labour
• MPs:	David Nuttall (C) Ivan Lewis (L)
Area
• Total	38.40 sq mi (99.46 km2)
Area rank	220th
Population (mid-2015 est.)
• Total	187,900
• Rank	Ranked 95th
• Density	4,900/sq mi (1,900/km2)
Time zone	Greenwich Mean Time (UTC+0)
• Summer (DST)	British Summer Time (UTC+1)
ONS code	00BM (ONS) E08000002 (GSS)
Ethnicity	92.1% White 5.4%% S. Asian or mixed 1.6% Black or mixed 0.8% Chinese or other
Website	bury.gov.uk

The Metropolitan Borough of Bury is a metropolitan borough of Greater Manchester, in North West England. Lying to the north of the City of Manchester, the borough is composed of six towns: Bury, Ramsbottom, Tottington, Radcliffe, Whitefield and Prestwich, and has a population of 181,900. On the north side Bury bounds the Lancashire districts of Rossendale and Blackburn with Darwen.

The Metropolitan Borough of Bury, which covers 24,511 acres (99 km²), was created on 1 April 1974, with the transfer of functions from the county borough of Bury and the boroughs of Prestwich and Radcliffe, along with the urban districts of Tottington and Whitefield, and part of the urban district of Ramsbottom. All were previously in Lancashire.

Prior to its creation, it was suggested that the metropolitan borough be named Bury Magna, but this was rejected in favour of Bury.

In 2006, facing a budget shortfall of over £10 million, Bury Metropolitan Council decided to sell its painting by L. S. Lowry called "A Riverbank". The work, which depicts the River Irwell and cost £175 in 1951, was expected to fetch between £500,000 and £800,000. Between the announcement and the sale at Christie's, the council was accused of "selling off the family silver". The authority, which had the painting on display at Bury Art Museum, said it was putting its people before a picture. The painting raised £1.25 million for the authority on 17 November 2006 at the auction in London, costing the bidder £1,408,000 including commission. Consequently, the council was deregistered by the Museums, Libraries and Archives Council, a quango that no longer exists.