22-500: 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
44-576: A by-election in October 2024, the composition of the council was: The next election is due in 2027. 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. The council is based at the Civic Centre on Tannery Lane in Ashford, which was purpose-built for
66-711: 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
88-410: 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: 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
110-576: A two-tier arrangement. Non-metropolitan districts with borough status are known as boroughs , able to appoint a mayor and refer to itself as a borough council. Some shire counties now have no sub divisions so are a single Non-metropolitan district such as Cornwall. Typically a district will consist of a market town and its more rural hinterland. However districts are diverse with some being mostly urban such as Dartford, and others more polycentric such as Thurrock. Non-metropolitan districts are subdivisions of English non-metropolitan counties which have
132-461: A two-tier structure of local government. Two-tier non-metropolitan counties have a county council and several districts, each with a borough or district council. In these cases local government functions are divided between county and district councils, to the level where they can be practised most efficiently: Many districts have borough status , which means the local council is called a borough council instead of district council and gives them
154-476: Is served by the regional news programmes: Radio stations that broadcast to the area are: 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
176-604: The District Councils' Network , special interest group which sits within the Local Government Association . The network's purpose is to "act as an informed and representative advocate for districts to government and other national bodies, based on their unique position to deliver for local people." This is a list of two-tier non-metropolitan counties and their districts. All unitary authorities are also non-metropolitan districts, which, with
198-594: 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 . 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
220-594: The Local Government Act 1894 . 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: The new district was named Ashford after its largest town. The district was awarded borough status from its creation, allowing the chair of the council to take the title of mayor. Ashford Borough Council provides district-level services. County-level services are provided by Kent County Council . Much of
242-513: 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
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#1732779565176264-699: 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 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: 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
286-454: The areas for Wales and England had been enacted separately and there were no Welsh metropolitan areas, the term 'non-metropolitan district' does not apply to Wales. A similar system existed in Scotland , which in 1975 was divided into regions and districts, this was also abolished in 1996 and replaced with a fully unitary system . In England most of the district councils are represented by
308-596: The borough lie within the designated Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty of High Weald and the Kent Downs . 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. 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
330-419: The council and opened in 1983. 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. In 1961, the population of the districts which make up the present borough was as follows: Forty years later the population had almost doubled: the 2001 census recorded a population of 102,661. From
352-560: The district is covered by civil parishes , which form a third tier of local government for their areas. The council has been under no overall control since 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. The first elections to the council were held in 1973, initially operating as
374-542: The exception of those of Berkshire , are coterminous with non-metropolitan counties. For a full list of districts of all types including unitary authorities, metropolitan districts and London boroughs , see Districts of England . This is a list of former two-tier districts in England which have been abolished, by local government reorganisations such as the 2009 structural changes to local government in England . It does not include districts that still exist after becoming
396-401: 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 . Changes in rural land use over the past century mirror those in the rest of the present County. The north-east of the borough, including the villages of Wye and Chilham , is within
418-565: The right to appoint a mayor . Borough status is granted by royal charter and, in many cases, continues a style enjoyed by a predecessor authority, which can date back centuries. Some districts such as Oxford or Exeter have city status , granted by letters patent , but this does not give the local council any extra powers other than the right to call itself a city council . By 1899, England had been divided at district level into rural districts , urban districts , municipal boroughs , county boroughs and metropolitan boroughs . This system
440-498: The style "town council". Much of the built-up area of Ashford itself is unparished , although some suburbs fall within parishes. 51°08′47″N 0°52′03″E / 51.1465°N 0.8676°E / 51.1465; 0.8676 Non-metropolitan district Non-metropolitan districts , or colloquially " shire districts ", are a type of local government district in England. As created, they are sub-divisions of non-metropolitan counties (colloquially shire counties ) in
462-526: The two-tier structure, but reforms in the 1990s and 2009 reduced their number to 192. A further 55 non-metropolitan districts are now unitary authorities, which combine the functions of county and borough/district councils. In Wales , an almost identical two-tier system of local government existed between 1974 and 1996 (see Districts of Wales ). In 1996, this was abolished and replaced with an entirely unitary system of local government, with one level of local government responsible for all local services. Since
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#1732779565176484-620: Was abolished by the London Government Act 1963 and the Local Government Act 1972 . Non-metropolitan districts were created by this act in 1974 when England outside Greater London was divided into metropolitan counties and non-metropolitan counties. Metropolitan counties were sub-divided into metropolitan districts and the non-metropolitan counties were sub-divided into non-metropolitan districts. The metropolitan districts had more powers than their non-metropolitan counterparts. Initially, there were 296 non-metropolitan districts in
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