Forest Heath District
Forest Heath was a local government district in Suffolk, England. Its council was based in Mildenhall. Other towns in the district included Newmarket. The population of the district at the 2011 Census was 59,748.
Forest Heath
Forest Heath District | |
|---|---|
Non-metropolitan district | |
Mildenhall | |
Forest Heath shown within Suffolk | |
| Sovereign state | United Kingdom |
| Constituent country | England |
| Region | East of England |
| Non-metropolitan county | Suffolk |
| Status | Non-metropolitan district |
| Admin HQ | Mildenhall |
| Incorporated | 1 April 1974 |
| Abolished | 31 March 2019 |
| Government | |
| • Type | Non-metropolitan district council |
| • Body | Forest Heath District Council |
| • Leadership | Alternative - Sec.31 ( ) |
| • MPs | Matthew Hancock |
| Area | |
| • Total | 145.8 sq mi (377.7 km2) |
| Population (mid-2018) | |
| • Total | 65,500 |
| • Density | 450/sq mi (170/km2) |
| • Ethnicity | 91.0% White 3.0% Black 1.3% S.Asian 3.1% mixed race |
| Time zone | UTC0 (GMT) |
| • Summer (DST) | UTC+1 (BST) |
| ONS code | 42UC (ONS) E07000201 (GSS) |
| OS grid reference | TL7156375032 |
| Website | www.westsuffolk.gov.uk |
The district's name reflected the fact that it contains parts of both Thetford Forest and the heathlands of Breckland. The district was formed on 1 April 1974, under the Local Government Act 1972, by a merger of Newmarket Urban District and Mildenhall Rural District. Forest Heath district was merged with the borough of St Edmundsbury on 1 April 2019 to form a new West Suffolk district.
Forest Heath was the home to two of the largest United States Air Force (USAF) airbases in the UK: RAF Lakenheath and RAF Mildenhall, as well as the headquarters of British horse racing, Newmarket Racecourse.
Forest Heath had had a high suicide rate when compared to the rest of Suffolk, to the East of England and to England overall. The reasons for this are unknown.
In the English indices of deprivation 2010 report published by the Department for Communities and Local Government, two parts of Forest Heath have the highest employment out of 32483 areas in England.