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Borough of Ashford

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The Borough of Ashford is a local government district with borough status in Kent, England. It is named after its largest town, Ashford, where the council is based. The borough also includes the town of Tenterden and an extensive surrounding rural area including numerous villages; with an area of 580 square kilometres (220 sq mi), it is the largest district in Kent. Parts of the borough lie within the designated Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty of High Weald and the Kent Downs.

Borough of Ashford
Non-metropolitan district and borough
Aerial view of Ashford Designer Outlet
Aerial view of Ashford Designer Outlet
Coat of arms of Borough of Ashford
Coat of arms
Ashford shown within Kent
Ashford shown within Kent
Sovereign stateUnited Kingdom
Constituent countryEngland
RegionSouth East England
Non-metropolitan countyKent
StatusNon-metropolitan district, Borough
Admin HQAshford
Incorporated1 April 1974
Government
 • TypeNon-metropolitan district council
 • BodyAshford Borough Council
 • MPsSojan Joseph
Area
 • Total
224.18 sq mi (580.62 km2)
 • Rank64th (of 296)
Population
 (2022)
 • Total
135,610
 • Rank172nd (of 296)
 • Density600/sq mi (230/km2)
Ethnicity (2021)
[1]
 • Ethnic groups
List
Religion (2021)
[1]
 • Religion
List
Time zoneUTC0 (GMT)
 • Summer (DST)UTC+1 (BST)
ONS code29UB (ONS)
E07000105 (GSS)
OS grid referenceTR005425

The neighbouring districts are (clockwise from west) Tunbridge Wells, Maidstone, Swale, Canterbury, Folkestone and Hythe, and Rother. The latter is in East Sussex, the rest are in Kent.

History

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The parish of Ashford was made a local government district in 1863, run by an elected local board. Such districts were converted into urban districts under the Local Government Act 1894.[2][3]

The modern district was created on 1 April 1974 under the Local Government Act 1972, covering the area of five former districts, which were all abolished at the same time:[4]

The new district was named Ashford after its largest town.[5] The district was awarded borough status from its creation, allowing the chair of the council to take the title of mayor.[6]

Governance

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Ashford Borough Council
 
Type
Type
History
Founded1 April 1974
Leadership
Lyn Suddards,
Labour
since 16 May 2024[7]
Noel Ovenden,
Ashford Independents
since 30 May 2023[8]
Tracey Kerly
since 2016
Structure
Seats47 councillors
Political groups
Administration (19)
  Ashford Ind. (10)
  Green (9)
Other parties (28)
  Conservative (17)
  Labour (10)
  Independent (1)
Elections
First past the post
Last election
4 May 2023
Next election
6 May 2027
Meeting place
 
Civic Centre, Tannery Lane, Ashford, TN23 1PL
Website
www.ashford.gov.uk

Ashford Borough Council provides district-level services. County-level services are provided by Kent County Council.[9] Much of the district is covered by civil parishes, which form a third tier of local government for their areas.[10]

Political control

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The council has been under no overall control since 2022.[11] Following the 2023 election a coalition of the Ashford Independents and the Green Party took minority control of the council, led by Ashford Independent councillor Noel Ovenden.[12]

The first elections to the council were held in 1973, initially operating as a shadow authority alongside the outgoing authorities until the new arrangements came into effect on 1 April 1974. Political control of the council since 1974 has been as follows:[13][14]

Party in control Years
No overall control 1974–1976
Conservative 1976–1979
No overall control 1979–1983
Conservative 1983–1995
No overall control 1995–2003
Conservative 2003–2022
No overall control 2022–present

Leadership

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The role of mayor is largely ceremonial in Ashford. Political leadership is instead provided by the leader of the council. The leaders since 1999 have been:[15]

Councillor Party From To
Paul Clokie Conservative 1999 13 May 2010
Paul Bartlett Conservative 13 May 2010 9 Nov 2010
Peter Wood Conservative 9 Nov 2010 1 Mar 2013
Gerry Clarkson Conservative 18 Apr 2013 7 May 2023
Noel Ovenden Ashford Independents 30 May 2023

Compositions

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Following the 2023 election, subsequent changes of allegiance and a by-election in October 2024, the composition of the council was:[16][17][18]

Party Councillors
Conservative 17
Labour 10
Ashford Independents 10
Green 9
Independent 1
Total 47

The next election is due in 2027.

Elections

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See also: Ashford Borough Council elections

Since the last full review of boundaries in 2019 the council has comprised 47 councillors representing 39 wards, with each ward electing one or two councillors. Elections are held every four years.[19]

Premises

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International House: Council's proposed headquarters

The council is based at the Civic Centre on Tannery Lane in Ashford, which was purpose-built for the council and opened in 1983.[20][21] The council has announced plans to move during 2024 to International House, a 1972 office building opposite Ashford International railway station, which the council bought in 2014.[22][23]

Population

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Expansion and growth

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In 1961, the population of the districts which make up the present borough was as follows:[24]

District Population
Ashford Urban District 27,996
East Ashford Rural District 10,610
Tenterden Municipal Borough 10,734
Tenterden Rural District 4,948
West Ashford Rural District 7,626
Total 61,914

Forty years later the population had almost doubled: the 2001 census recorded a population of 102,661.[25]

From the 1960s onwards Ashford has experienced phases of rapid urban growth, creating new suburbs such as Stanhope and, more recently, Singleton. Today's urban growth is partially shaped by the de facto corridors[26] created by the M20 motorway, the High Speed 1 line and several other rail lines which converge on the town's railway station.

The 2011 census reported Ashford as having:

  • 117,956 residents
  • 47,787 households (an increase of just under 6,000 since 2001)
  • 83% of residents describing their health as 'good' or 'very good'
  • 13% of residents describing their health as 'fair'
  • 16.8% of those over the age of 16 having no qualifications
  • an unemployment rate of 2.6% of all economically active people aged 16–74 (an increase since 2001 of 0.2%)

Economy and Infrastructure

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Village sign along the Greensand Way in Ashford borough

The area's economy, once strongly dominated by agriculture and associated activities such as brewing and food production as well as some quarrying of ragstone and brick manufacture, evolved into a centre for rail engineering in the 19th century, and is now primarily light industrial and commercial, with the notable exception of Hitachi's rail depot. The borough's local plan ("Local Plan to 2030") continues to plan for new housing in and around the town, such as the development at Finberry.[25]

From the historic town centre, roads radiate out in the following directions: NW to Charing and Maidstone and SE to Hythe and Folkestone (A20/M20 in each direction); south to Hamstreet, Lydd and Romney Marsh and then westwards to Hastings (A2070); SW to Tenterden and NE to Wye and Canterbury (A28) and finally north to Ashford's historic port at Faversham (A251).

Media

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Television

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The area is served by the regional news programmes:

Radio

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Radio stations that broadcast to the area are:

Historic buildings and landscape character

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There are more than 400 listed buildings in the district. This includes 33 churches listed in the highest grading in the national listing system (Grade I) as well as many oast houses and pubs dating from the 17th and 18th centuries, along with some even earlier buildings such as the Black Horse at Pluckley built in the 1470s as a dry-moated farmhouse by the Dering family (see also: Little Chart).

Well-known examples of Grade I listed buildings include: the Archbishop's palace at Charing, Chilham Castle and Godinton House, as well as more domestic examples such as the row of 17th century Flemish weavers' cottages which stretches the full length of the south side of Biddenden High Street.

See also the listings: Grade I listed buildings in Ashford (borough) .

Beyond the town of Ashford, most of the borough's land area is rural, with fields, woodland and fruit orchards. Much of the woodland is coppiced.[27] Changes in rural land use over the past century mirror those in the rest of the present County.[28] The north-east of the borough, including the villages of Wye and Chilham, is within the Kent Downs AONB, whilst the south-west, including Rolvenden and the Isle of Oxney, is part of the High Weald AONB. In addition to these national landscape areas, the borough has many smaller Local Nature Reserves such as Hothfield Common.

Towns and parishes

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Further information: List of civil parishes in Kent
 
High Street in Tenterden
 
Archbishop's Palace at Charing, one of the borough's villages

As of April 2023 there were 44 civil parishes within the borough. The parish council for Tenterden has declared that parish to be a town, allowing it to take the style "town council". Much of the built-up area of Ashford itself is unparished, although some suburbs fall within parishes.[10][29]

References

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  1. ^ Shares a grouped parish council with Bonnington
  2. ^ Shares a grouped parish council with Aldington
  3. ^ Shares a grouped parish council with Eastwell
  4. ^ Has a parish meeting rather than a parish council due to small population
  5. ^ Shares a grouped parish council with Boughton Aluph
  1. ^ a b UK Census (2021). "2021 Census Area Profile – Ashford Local Authority (E07000105)". Nomis. Office for National Statistics. Retrieved 5 January 2024.
  2. ^ "No. 22715". The London Gazette. 10 March 1863. p. 1417.
  3. ^ Kelly's Directory of Kent. 1913. p. 33. Retrieved 12 May 2024.
  4. ^ "The English Non-metropolitan Districts (Definition) Order 1972", legislation.gov.uk, The National Archives, SI 1972/2039, retrieved 12 May 2024
  5. ^ "The English Non-metropolitan Districts (Names) Order 1973", legislation.gov.uk, The National Archives, SI 1973/551, retrieved 3 March 2023
  6. ^ "District Councils and Boroughs". Parliamentary Debates (Hansard). 28 March 1974. Retrieved 12 May 2024.
  7. ^ "Council minutes, 16 May 2024". Ashford Borough Council. 16 May 2024. Retrieved 7 July 2024.
  8. ^ "Council minutes, 30 May 2023" (PDF). Ashford Borough Council. Retrieved 25 September 2023.
  9. ^ "Local Government Act 1972", legislation.gov.uk, The National Archives, 1972 c. 70, retrieved 31 May 2023
  10. ^ a b "Election Maps". Ordnance Survey. Retrieved 25 July 2023.
  11. ^ Jee, Alex (27 May 2022). "Conservatives lose control of Ashford Borough Council after Tenterden representative Callum Knowles becomes independent". Kent Online. Retrieved 12 May 2024.
  12. ^ Esson, Daniel (31 May 2023). "Ashford Independents and Greens take control of Ashford Borough Council after leadership vote shock for Conservatives". Kent Online. Retrieved 25 September 2023.
  13. ^ "Compositions calculator". The Elections Centre. 4 March 2016. Retrieved 9 September 2022.
  14. ^ "England council elections". BBC News Online. Archived from the original on 19 May 2011. Retrieved 22 May 2011.
  15. ^ "Council minutes". Ashford Borough Council. Retrieved 26 July 2022.
  16. ^ "Local elections 2023: live council results for England". The Guardian.
  17. ^ Boothroyd, David (9 June 2023). "In a Tisbury". Local Councils. Retrieved 12 May 2024.
  18. ^ "Ashford". Local Councils. Thorncliffe. Retrieved 7 July 2024.
  19. ^ "The Ashford (Electoral Changes) Order 2017", legislation.gov.uk, The National Archives, SI 2017/1066, retrieved 12 May 2024
  20. ^ "Council Chamber". Ashford Borough Council. Retrieved 12 May 2024.
  21. ^ "Dawn of a new era in borough's history". Kentish Express. 25 June 2015. Retrieved 12 May 2024.
  22. ^ "Council's move to International House". Ashford Borough Council. Retrieved 12 May 2024.
  23. ^ Castle, Liane (13 August 2023). "Ashford Borough Council considering moving HQ out of Civic Centre and into International House as consultation launched". Kent Online. Retrieved 12 May 2024.
  24. ^ "1961 and 1971 Censuses of England and Wales". A Vision of Britain through Time. GB Historical GIS / University of Portsmouth. Retrieved 12 May 2024.
  25. ^ a b Pettit, Carly. "New Local Plan to 2030 - Ashford Borough Council". ashford.gov.uk. Archived from the original on 31 January 2016. Retrieved 24 January 2016.
  26. ^ "Ashford, Kent". Map of Ashford. Retrieved 23 January 2016.
  27. ^ "Coppicing in the Kent Downs AONB" (PDF). kentdowns.org.uk. January 2016. Archived from the original (PDF) on 29 January 2016.
  28. ^ Yates, Nigel (2001). Kent in the Twentieth Century. Boydell & Brewe. pp. 71 ff. ISBN 9780851155876.
  29. ^ "Parish Councils". Ashford Borough Council. Retrieved 13 May 2024.
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51°08′47″N 0°52′03″E / 51.1465°N 0.8676°E / 51.1465; 0.8676

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