Borough of Ashford#Governance

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.{{London Gazette|issue=22715|page=1417|date=10 March 1863}}{{cite book |title=Kelly's Directory of Kent |date=1913 |page=33 |url=https://specialcollections.le.ac.uk/digital/collection/p16445coll4/id/61777 |access-date=12 May 2024}}

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:{{cite legislation UK|type=si|si=The English Non-metropolitan Districts (Definition) Order 1972|year=1972|number=2039|accessdate=12 May 2024}}

• Ashford Urban District
• East Ashford Rural District
• Tenterden Rural District
• Tenterden Municipal Borough
• West Ashford Rural District

The new district was named Ashford after its largest town.{{cite legislation UK|type=si|si=The English Non-metropolitan Districts (Names) Order 1973|year=1973|number=551|accessdate=3 March 2023}} The district was awarded borough status from its creation, allowing the chair of the council to take the title of mayor.{{cite web|url=https://api.parliament.uk/historic-hansard/written-answers/1974/mar/28/district-councils-and-boroughs#S5CV0871P0_19740328_CWA_145|title=District Councils and Boroughs|date=28 March 1974|work=Parliamentary Debates (Hansard)|access-date=12 May 2024}}

{{Infobox legislature

| name = Ashford Borough Council

| logo_pic = Ashford Borough Council.svg

| logo_res = 250px

| house_type = Non-metropolitan district

| body =

| foundation = 1 April 1974

| leader1_type = Mayor

| leader1 = Lyn Suddards

| party1 =
Labour

| election1 = 16 May 2024{{cite web |title=Council minutes, 16 May 2024 |url=https://ashford.moderngov.co.uk/ieListDocuments.aspx?CId=137&MId=4474&Ver=4 |website=Ashford Borough Council | date=16 May 2024 |access-date=7 July 2024}}{{cite web |title=Council minutes, 15 May 2025 |url=https://ashford.moderngov.co.uk/documents/g4688/Public%20minutes%2015th-May-2025%2019.00%20Council.pdf?T=11 |website=Ashford Borough Council |access-date=1 June 2025}}

| leader2_type = Leader

| leader2 = Noel Ovenden

| party2 =
Ashford Independents

| election2 = 30 May 2023{{cite web |title=Council minutes, 30 May 2023 |url=https://ashford.moderngov.co.uk/documents/g4250/Public%20minutes%2030th-May-2023%2019.00%20Council.pdf?T=11 |website=Ashford Borough Council |access-date=25 September 2023}}

| leader3_type = Chief Executive

| leader3 = Tracey Kerly

| party3 =

| election3 = 2016

| seats = 47 councillors

| structure1 =Ashford_Borough_Council_2021.svg

| structure1_res = 250

| structure1_alt =

| political_groups1 =

;Administration (18)

: {{nowrap|{{Color box|{{party color|Ashford Independents}}|border=darkgray}} Ashford Ind. (9)}}

: {{Color box|{{party color|Green Party of England and Wales}}|border=darkgray}} Green (9)

;Other parties (29)

: {{Color box|{{party color|Conservative Party (UK)}}|border=darkgray}} Conservative (17)

: {{Color box|{{party color|Labour Party (UK)}}|border=darkgray}} Labour (8)

: {{Color box|{{party color|Independent politician}}|border=darkgray}} Independent (3)

: {{Color box|{{party color|Reform UK}}|border=darkgray}} Reform UK (1)

| committees1 =

| joint_committees =

| term_length =

| voting_system1 = First past the post

| last_election1 = 4 May 2023

| next_election1 = 6 May 2027

| session_room = Ashford Civic Centre - geograph.org.uk - 2965665.jpg

| session_res = 260

| session_alt = Ashford Borough Council composition

| meeting_place = Civic Centre, Tannery Lane, Ashford, TN23{{nbsp}}1PL

| website = {{URL|www.ashford.gov.uk}}

| footnotes =

}}

Ashford Borough Council provides district-level services. County-level services are provided by Kent County Council.{{cite legislation UK|type=act|act=Local Government Act 1972|year=1972|chapter=70|access-date=31 May 2023}} Much of the district is covered by civil parishes, which form a third tier of local government for their areas.{{cite web |title=Election Maps |url=https://www.ordnancesurvey.co.uk/election-maps/gb/ |publisher=Ordnance Survey |access-date=25 July 2023}}

The council has been under no overall control since 2022.{{cite news |last1=Jee |first1=Alex |title=Conservatives lose control of Ashford Borough Council after Tenterden representative Callum Knowles becomes independent |url=https://www.kentonline.co.uk/ashford/news/tories-lose-control-of-council-as-ex-mayor-jumps-ship-267853/ |access-date=12 May 2024 |work=Kent Online |date=27 May 2022}} 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.{{cite news |last1=Esson |first1=Daniel |title=Ashford Independents and Greens take control of Ashford Borough Council after leadership vote shock for Conservatives |url=https://www.kentonline.co.uk/ashford/news/drama-as-tories-break-whip-and-independents-and-green-take-p-287670/ |access-date=25 September 2023 |work=Kent Online |date=31 May 2023}}

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:{{cite web |title=Compositions Calculator |url=https://www.electionscentre.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/composition_calc.html |access-date=5 March 2025 |website=The Elections Centre |publisher=University of Exeter}} (Put "Ashford" in search box to see specific results.){{cite news|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/special/election2011/council/html/29ub.stm|title=England council elections|publisher=BBC News Online|accessdate=22 May 2011| archiveurl= https://web.archive.org/web/20110519015140/http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/special/election2011/council/html/29ub.stm| archivedate= 19 May 2011 | url-status= live}}

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:

Following the 2023 election, subsequent changes of allegiance and by-elections up to March 2025, the composition of the council was:{{cite web|url=https://www.theguardian.com/politics/ng-interactive/2023/may/04/elections-2023-results-live-local-council-england#le-full-results|title=Local elections 2023: live council results for England|work=The Guardian}}{{cite news |last1=Boothroyd |first1=David |title=In a Tisbury |url=https://www.localcouncils.co.uk/2023/06/in-a-tisbury/ |access-date=12 May 2024 |work=Local Councils |date=9 June 2023}}{{cite web |title=Ashford |url=https://www.localcouncils.co.uk/councils/?council=ashford |website=Local Councils |publisher=Thorncliffe |access-date=5 March 2025}}

The next election is due in 2027.

{{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.{{cite legislation UK|type=si|si=The Ashford (Electoral Changes) Order 2017|year=2017|number=1066|access-date=12 May 2024}}

File:InternationalHouseAshford.JPG

The council has its main offices at International House, an office block built in 1972 opposite Ashford International railway station, which the council bought in 2014, initially renting it out to other organisations.{{cite web |title=Council's move to International House |url=https://www.ashford.gov.uk/your-council/council-projects/council-s-move-to-international-house/ |website=Ashford Borough Council |access-date=12 May 2024}}{{cite news |last1=Castle |first1=Liane |title=Ashford Borough Council considering moving HQ out of Civic Centre and into International House as consultation launched |url=https://www.kentonline.co.uk/ashford/news/council-hq-set-to-move-into-towns-tallest-building-291690/ |access-date=12 May 2024 |work=Kent Online |date=13 August 2023}} The council moved into International House in 2024.

The council was previously based at the Civic Centre on Tannery Lane in Ashford, which was purpose-built for the council and opened in 1983.{{cite web |title=Council Chamber |url=https://ashford.moderngov.co.uk/mgLocationDetails.aspx?RID=1 |website=Ashford Borough Council |access-date=12 May 2024}}{{cite news |title=Dawn of a new era in borough's history |url=https://www.pressreader.com/uk/kentish-express-ashford-district/20150625/281895886888048 |access-date=12 May 2024 |work=Kentish Express |date=25 June 2015}} As at March 2025, council meetings are still being held at the Civic Centre, pending works to incorporate a new council chamber into International House.{{cite web |title=Ashford Borough Council moves from Civic Centre to International House |url=https://www.ashford.gov.uk/news/latest-news/ashford-borough-council-moves-from-civic-centre-to-international-house/ |website=Ashford Borough Council |access-date=5 March 2025 |date=18 December 2024}}

In 1961, the population of the districts which make up the present borough was as follows:{{cite web |title=1961 and 1971 Censuses of England and Wales |url=https://visionofbritain.org.uk/census/table/EW1971COU1_M3?u_id=10073870&show=DB&min_c=1&max_c=6 |website=A Vision of Britain through Time |publisher=GB Historical GIS / University of Portsmouth |access-date=12 May 2024}}

Forty years later the population had almost doubled: the 2001 census recorded a population of 102,661.{{Cite web|title = New Local Plan to 2030 - Ashford Borough Council|url = http://www.ashford.gov.uk/local-plan-to-2030|website = ashford.gov.uk|access-date = 2016-01-24|first = Carly|last = Pettit|url-status = dead|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20160131051218/http://www.ashford.gov.uk/local-plan-to-2030|archive-date = 31 January 2016}}

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{{Cite web|title = Ashford, Kent|url = https://www.google.com/maps/d/u/0/viewer?mid=zoVMTLIVZJ5A.kK2kwghUhlpQ&hl=en_US|website = Map of Ashford|access-date = 2016-01-23}} 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{{cite web |title=2011 Census - Office for National Statistics |url=http://www.ons.gov.uk/ons/guide-method/census/2011/index.html |website=www.ons.gov.uk}} 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%)

Image:Hamstreet.jpg 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.

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).

The area is served by the regional news programmes:

• BBC South East Today
• ITV News Meridian

Radio stations that broadcast to the area are:

• BBC Radio Kent
• Heart South
• Gold Radio
• AHBS Community Radio broadcast from the William Harvey Hospital in Ashford.
• KMFM Ashford
• Radio Ashford, a community based station.

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 [http://www.biddendenkent.co.uk/localhistory4.php 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.{{Cite web|url = http://www.kentdowns.org.uk/uploads/documents/EN_Landscape_and_Nature_for_all_coppice_rfs.pdf|title = Coppicing in the Kent Downs AONB|date = January 2016|publisher = kentdowns.org.uk|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20160129072423/http://www.kentdowns.org.uk/uploads/documents/EN_Landscape_and_Nature_for_all_coppice_rfs.pdf|archive-date = 29 January 2016|url-status = dead}} Changes in rural land use over the past century mirror those in the rest of the present County.{{Cite book|title = Kent in the Twentieth Century|last = Yates|first = Nigel|publisher = Boydell & Brewe|year = 2001|isbn = 9780851155876|pages = 71 ff}} 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.

{{further|List of civil parishes in Kent}}

File:High Street, Tenterden - geograph.org.uk - 5060296.jpg

File:Archbishop's Palace, Charing 3.JPG 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.{{cite web |title=Parish Councils |url=https://ashford.moderngov.co.uk/mgParishCouncilDetails.aspx?bcr=1 |website=Ashford Borough Council |access-date=13 May 2024}}

{{div col|colwidth=15em}}

• Aldington{{efn|Shares a grouped parish council with Bonnington}}
• Appledore
• Bethersden
• Biddenden
• Bilsington
• Bonnington{{efn|Shares a grouped parish council with Aldington}}
• Boughton Aluph{{efn|Shares a grouped parish council with Eastwell}}
• Brabourne
• Brook
• Challock
• Charing
• Chilham
• Crundale{{efn|Has a parish meeting rather than a parish council due to small population}}
• Eastwell{{efn|Shares a grouped parish council with Boughton Aluph}}
• Egerton
• Godmersham
• Great Chart with Singleton
• Hastingleigh
• High Halden
• Hothfield
• Kenardington
• Kennington
• Kingsnorth
• Little Chart
• Mersham
• Molash
• Newenden
• North Willesborough
• Orlestone
• Pluckley
• Rolvenden
• Ruckinge
• Sevington with Finberry
• Shadoxhurst
• Smarden
• Smeeth
• South Willesborough and Newtown
• Stanhope
• Stone-cum-Ebony
• Tenterden
• Warehorne
• Westwell
• Wittersham
• Woodchurch
• Wye with Hinxhill

{{div col end}}

{{notelist}}

{{Reflist}}

• [http://www.ashford.gov.uk/ Ashford Borough Council]

{{Ashford}}

{{Ashford, Kent}}

{{Kent}}

{{SE England}}

{{Authority control}}

{{Coord|51.1465|N|0.8676|E|type:adm2nd_region:GB_dim:10000|display=title}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ashford, Borough of}}

Category:Non-metropolitan districts of Kent

Category:Boroughs in England