100-461: 51°22′53″N 01°20′17″E / 51.38139°N 1.33806°E / 51.38139; 1.33806 Westgate-on-Sea is a seaside town and civil parish on the north-east coast of Kent , England. It is within the Thanet local government district and borders the larger seaside resort of Margate . Its two sandy beaches have remained a popular tourist attraction since the town's development in
200-522: A London borough . (Since the new county was beforehand a mixture of metropolitan boroughs , municipal boroughs and urban districts, no extant parish councils were abolished.) In 1974, the Local Government Act 1972 retained rural parishes, but abolished most urban parishes, as well as the urban districts and boroughs which had administered them. Provision was made for smaller urban districts and boroughs to become successor parishes , with
300-496: A sea wall and groynes to prevent coastal flooding . Chalk cliffs are present in between the bays and either side of the bays. The whole of the northeast Kent coast has been designated a Site of Special Scientific Interest . The town lies on the Isle of Thanet , a separate island from mainland Kent until around two hundred years ago, when the channel in between silted up. The geology of Thanet consists mainly of chalk, deposited when
400-436: A European Blue Flag Award is shared between them due to their cleanliness and safety. The town centre has several Victorian canopied shops, a library and the three-screen Carlton Cinema. The Westgate Pavilion was formerly a venue for theatre, discos, yoga, indoor bowls and dance classes.It has been boarded up for several years Formed in 1896, Westgate and Birchington Golf Club has an 18-hole 4,889-yard (4,471 m) course on
500-515: A Special Expense, to residents of the unparished area to fund those activities. If the district council does not opt to make a Special Expenses charge, there is an element of double taxation of residents of parished areas, because services provided to residents of the unparished area are funded by council tax paid by residents of the whole district, rather than only by residents of the unparished area. Parish councils comprise volunteer councillors who are elected to serve for four years. Decisions of
600-576: A boundary coterminous with an existing urban district or borough or, if divided by a new district boundary, as much as was comprised in a single district. There were 300 such successor parishes established. In urban areas that were considered too large to be single parishes, the parishes were simply abolished, and they became unparished areas . The distinction between types of parish was no longer made; whether parishes continued by virtue of being retained rural parishes or were created as successor parishes, they were all simply termed parishes. The 1972 act allowed
700-477: A city council (though most cities are not parishes but principal areas, or in England specifically metropolitan boroughs or non-metropolitan districts ). The chairman of a town council will have the title "town mayor" and that of a parish council which is a city will usually have the title of mayor . When a city or town has been abolished as a borough, and it is considered desirable to maintain continuity of
800-462: A city council. According to the Department for Communities and Local Government , in England in 2011 there were 9,946 parishes. Since 1997 around 100 new civil parishes have been created, in some cases by splitting existing civil parishes, but mostly by creating new ones from unparished areas. Parish or town councils have very few statutory duties (things they are required to do by law) but have
900-559: A city was Hereford , whose city council was merged in 1998 to form a unitary Herefordshire . The area of the city of Hereford remained unparished until 2000 when a parish council was created for the city. As another example, the charter trustees for the City of Bath make up the majority of the councillors on Bath and North East Somerset Council. Civil parishes cover 35% of England's population, with one in Greater London and few in
1000-440: A civil parish is usually an elected parish council (which can decide to call itself a town, village, community or neighbourhood council, or a city council if the parish has city status). Alternatively, in parishes with small populations (typically fewer than 150 electors) governance may be by a parish meeting which all electors may attend; alternatively, parishes with small populations may be grouped with one or more neighbours under
1100-481: A civil parish which has no parish council, the parish meeting may levy a council tax precept for expenditure relating to specific functions, powers and rights which have been conferred on it by legislation. In places where there is no civil parish ( unparished areas ), the administration of the activities normally undertaken by the parish becomes the responsibility of the district or borough council. The district council may make an additional council tax charge, known as
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#17327764642541200-586: A common parish council. Wales was also divided into civil parishes until 1974, when they were replaced by communities , which are similar to English parishes in the way they operate. Civil parishes in Scotland were abolished for local government purposes by the Local Government (Scotland) Act 1929 ; the Scottish equivalent of English civil parishes are the community council areas established by
1300-582: A few pupils or closed within a few years. The largest of the schools were Streete Court School, Wellington House Preparatory School and St Michael's School. An early experiment with electric lighting took place in December 1878. Six Yablochkoff lamps – a type of arc light – were installed, they were powered by a Garrett engine and were lit for 96 hours. The running costs proved to be uneconomic: they cost £40 9s 5d compared to £16 15s 2d for gas lighting, and there were technical problems. A school, Westgate College
1400-661: A free skatepark at the Lymington Road recreation ground. Designed by local young people, the park caters for skateboarders and in line skaters of all ages and skill levels. There are four local weekly newspapers providing news on the Thanet district area. Isle Of Thanet KM Extra is owned by the KM Group , and the Isle of Thanet Gazette , Thanet Adscene and Thanet Times are owned by Trinity Mirror . Isle Of Thanet KM Extra and Thanet Adscene are free newspapers, whereas
1500-529: A new code. In either case the code must comply with the Nolan Principles of Public Life . A parish can be granted city status by the Crown . As of 2020 , eight parishes in England have city status, each having a long-established Anglican cathedral: Chichester , Ely , Hereford , Lichfield , Ripon , Salisbury , Truro and Wells . The council of an ungrouped parish may pass a resolution giving
1600-431: A new smaller manor, there was a means of making a chapel which, if generating or endowed with enough funds, would generally justify foundation of a parish, with its own parish priest (and in latter centuries vestry ). This consistency was a result of canon law which prized the status quo in issues between local churches and so made boundary changes and sub-division difficult. The consistency of these boundaries until
1700-708: A parish (a "detached part") was in a different county . In other cases, counties surrounded a whole parish meaning it was in an unconnected, "alien" county. These anomalies resulted in a highly localised difference in applicable representatives on the national level , justices of the peace , sheriffs, bailiffs with inconvenience to the inhabitants. If a parish was split then churchwardens, highway wardens and constables would also spend more time or money travelling large distances. Some parishes straddled two or more counties, such as Todmorden in Lancashire and Yorkshire. Old Boys The terms Old Boys and Old Girls are
1800-416: A parish council, and instead will only have a parish meeting : an example of direct democracy . Alternatively several small parishes can be grouped together and share a common parish council, or even a common parish meeting. A parish council may decide to call itself a town council, village council, community council, neighbourhood council, or if the parish has city status, the parish council may call itself
1900-465: A person aged 16 to 18 who was in full-time education. There was a high percentage of households made up of individuals, compared with the percentage for the whole of England. The average household size was 2.7. The town has a low proportion of non-white people compared to national figures; the ethnicity recorded in the 2001 census was 97.4% white, 1.0% mixed race, 0.4% Chinese, 0.6% other Asian, 0.3% black and 0.3% other. The number of foreign-born residents
2000-503: A population of between 100 and 300 could request their county council to establish a parish council. Provision was also made for a grouped parish council to be established covering two or more rural parishes. In such groups, each parish retained its own parish meeting which could vote to leave the group, but otherwise the grouped parish council acted across the combined area of the parishes included. Urban civil parishes were not given their own parish councils, but were directly administered by
2100-1079: A range of discretionary powers which they may exercise voluntarily. These powers have been defined by various pieces of legislation. The role they play can vary significantly depending on the size, resources and ability of the council, but their activities can include any of the following: Parish councils have powers to provide and manage various local facilities; these can include allotments , cemeteries, parks, playgrounds, playing fields and village greens , village halls or community centres , bus shelters, street lighting, roadside verges, car parks, footpaths, litter bins and war memorials. Larger parish councils may also be involved in running markets , public toilets and public clocks, museums and leisure centres . Parish councils may spend money on various things they deem to be beneficial to their communities, such as providing grants to local community groups or local projects, or fund things such as public events, crime prevention measures, community transport schemes, traffic calming or tourism promotion. Parish councils have
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#17327764642542200-537: A relatively minor role in local government. As of September 2023 , there are 10,464 parishes in England, and in 2020 they covered approximately 40% of the English population. For historical reasons, civil parishes predominantly cover rural areas and smaller urban areas, with most larger urban areas being wholly or partly unparished ; but since 1997 it has been possible for civil parishes to be created within unparished areas if demanded by local residents . In 2007
2300-409: A role in the planning system; they have a statutory right to be consulted on any planning applications in their areas. They may also produce a neighbourhood plan to influence local development. The Localism Act 2011 allowed eligible parish councils to be granted a " general power of competence " which allows them within certain limits the freedom to do anything an individual can do provided it
2400-426: A selection of trains run to London's Cannon Street station , primarily for business commuting. There is a Stagecoach bus service running to neighbouring Birchington and Margate, and a service running between Broadstairs and Canterbury via Westgate-on-Sea. The A28 road runs between Hastings and Margate via Ashford , Canterbury, Birchington and Westgate-on-Sea. 4 miles (6 km) southwest of Westgate-on-Sea,
2500-598: A set number of guardians for each parish, hence a final purpose of urban civil parishes. With the abolition of the Poor Law system in 1930, urban parishes became a geographical division only with no administrative power; that was exercised at the urban district or borough council level. In 1965 civil parishes in London were formally abolished when Greater London was created, as the legislative framework for Greater London did not make provision for any local government body below
2600-943: A small village or town ward to a large tract of mostly uninhabited moorland in the Cheviots, Pennines or Dartmoor. The two largest as at December 2023 are Stanhope (County Durham) at 98.6 square miles (255 km ), and Dartmoor Forest (Devon) at 79.07 square miles (204.8 km ). The two smallest are parcels of shared rural land: Lands Common to Axminster and Kilmington (Devon) at 0.012 square miles (0.031 km ; 3.1 ha; 7.7 acres), and Lands Common to Brancepeth and Brandon and Byshottles (County Durham) at 0.0165 square miles (0.043 km ; 4.3 ha; 10.6 acres). The next two smallest are parishes in built up areas: Chester Castle (Cheshire) at 0.0168 square miles (0.044 km ; 4.4 ha; 10.8 acres) (no recorded population) and Hamilton Lea (Leicestershire) at 0.07 square miles (0.18 km ; 18 ha; 45 acres) (1,021 residents at
2700-521: A spur to the creation of new parishes in some larger towns which were previously unparished, in order to retain a local tier of government; examples include Shrewsbury (2009), Salisbury (2009), Crewe (2013) and Weymouth (2019). In 2003 seven new parish councils were set up for Burton upon Trent , and in 2001 the Milton Keynes urban area became entirely parished, with ten new parishes being created. Parishes can also be abolished where there
2800-613: Is Ursuline College , a specialist Sports College and Roman Catholic aided comprehensive school, with nearly 800 pupils and facilities for boarding students. In 2005, 32% of its pupils gained at least five GCSEs at grades A*–C including English and maths, ranking it 71st out of Kent's 120 secondary schools. Many secondary students commute to schools in other nearby towns, especially to the grammar schools in Ramsgate and Broadstairs. The Westgate College For Deaf People for students aged 16 and over closed on 11 December 2015. An inspection
2900-583: Is a topic of local controversy. Westgate-on-Sea railway station is on the Chatham Main Line , which runs between Ramsgate in East Kent and London Victoria . Other stations on this line include Broadstairs, Margate, Herne Bay, Faversham, Gillingham, Rochester and Bromley South. Westgate-on-Sea is around 1 hour and 45 minutes to London by fast-service train. A National Express coach service runs between London Victoria and Ramsgate, and
3000-507: Is at present the only part of England where civil parishes cannot be created. If enough electors in the area of a proposed new parish (ranging from 50% in an area with less than 500 electors to 10% in one with more than 2,500) sign a petition demanding its creation, then the local district council or unitary authority must consider the proposal. Since the beginning of the 21st century, numerous parish councils have been created, including some relatively large urban ones. The main driver has been
3100-539: Is evidence that this is in response to "justified, clear and sustained local support" from the area's inhabitants. Examples are Birtley , which was abolished in 2006, and Southsea , abolished in 2010. Every civil parish has a parish meeting, which all the electors of the parish are entitled to attend. Generally a meeting is held once a year. A civil parish may have a parish council which exercises various local responsibilities prescribed by statute. Parishes with fewer than 200 electors are usually deemed too small to have
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3200-465: Is given a specific identification for each school. Some schools use an adjectival form of the school name, such as "Old Etonian", "Old Harrovian", or "Old Oundelian" (old boys of Eton College , Harrow School , and Oundle School ). Some use a Latin form derived from the Latin name of the school or its location as "Old Novaportan" (old boys of Adams' Grammar School , Newport, Shropshire). Some are based on
3300-405: Is not prohibited by other legislation, as opposed to being limited to the powers explicitly granted to them by law. To be eligible for this, a parish council must meet certain conditions such as having a clerk with suitable qualifications. Parish councils receive funding by levying a " precept " on the council tax paid by the residents of the parish (or parishes) served by the parish council. In
3400-557: Is owned by the church but run by Kent County Council . Chartfield School is an independent primary school, educating children from 3 to 11 years. The town has sandy beaches at both St Mildred's Bay and West Bay. The larger of the beaches is at St Mildred's Bay, where it is possible to hire beach huts, deck chairs and jet-skis . The beach is a short distance from tennis courts and a golf putting course. At West Bay, there are many small rock pools , which are popular with children. Each beach has nearby cafés, restaurants and public houses, and
3500-525: Is relatively low, with the place of birth of residents in 2001 being 94.5% United Kingdom, 1.0% Republic of Ireland, 0.5% Germany, 0.6% other Western Europe countries, 0.3% Eastern Europe, 0.8% Far East, 0.6% North America, 0.5% Africa, 0.4% South Asia, 0.2% Middle East and 0.2% Oceania. Religion was recorded as 75.8% Christian, 0.5% Muslim, 0.2% Hindu, 0.1% Buddhist and 0.3% Jewish. 14.4% were recorded as having no religion, 0.3% had an alternative religion and 8.3% did not state their religion. The age distribution
3600-504: The 'Standards Board regime' with local monitoring by district, unitary or equivalent authorities. Under new regulations which came into effect in 2012 all parish councils in England are required to adopt a code of conduct with which parish councillors must comply, and to promote and maintain high standards. A new criminal offence of failing to comply with statutory requirements was introduced. More than one 'model code' has been published, and councils are free to modify an existing code or adopt
3700-589: The 1997 general election , the Conservative majority in North Thanet was reduced to 2,766, with the Conservatives on 44.1% of the vote and Labour on 38.4%. The voter turnout during the past three general elections has been between 59.3% and 68.8%. The town is in the Thanet local government district . It is within the electoral ward of Westgate-on-Sea, which has three of the fifty-six seats on
3800-490: The Conservative Roger Gale . At the 2005 general election , the Conservatives won a majority of 7,634 and 49.6% of the vote in North Thanet. Labour won 32.2% of the vote, Liberal Democrats 14.4% and UK Independence Party 3.9%. At the 2001 general election , the Conservatives had a higher share of the vote with 50.3% but a lower majority of 6,650. During Labour's landslide victory at national level at
3900-761: The Local Government (Scotland) Act 1973 , which have fewer powers than their English and Welsh counterparts. There are no equivalent units in Northern Ireland . The parish system in Europe was established between the 8th and 12th centuries, and an early form was long established in England by the time of the Norman Conquest . These areas were originally based on the territory of manors , which, in some cases, derived their bounds from Roman or Iron Age estates; some large manors were sub-divided into several parishes. Initially, churches and their priests were
4000-1010: The Local Government Act 1894 ( 56 & 57 Vict. c. 73) to become the smallest geographical area for local government in rural areas. The act abolished the civil (non-ecclesiastical) duties of vestries . Parishes which straddled county boundaries or sanitary districts had to be split so that the part in each urban or rural sanitary district became a separate parish (see List of county exclaves in England and Wales 1844–1974 ). The sanitary districts were then reconstituted as urban districts and rural districts , with parishes that fell within urban districts classed as urban parishes, and parishes that fell within rural districts were classed as rural parishes. The 1894 act established elected civil parish councils as to all rural parishes with more than 300 electors, and established annual parish meetings in all rural parishes. Civil parishes were grouped to form either rural or urban districts which are thereafter classified as either type. The parish meetings for parishes with
4100-637: The Met Office weather station in Wye , around 25 miles (40 km) southwest of Westgate-on-Sea: Due to its climate and high grade agricultural soil, a range of cereal and vegetables can be grown in Westgate. In the past E. S Linington mainly grew cauliflower and raised dairy cattle. Quex Park in neighbouring Birchington now grows wheat, potatoes, maize and beans. Whether housing should be built on such high grade agricultural land in both Westgate and Birchington
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4200-877: The Thanet District Council . At the 2007 local elections , two of those seats were won by the Conservative Party and one by an independent candidate. Conservative candidates in the ward won 45.8% of the vote, independent candidates won 27.0%, Labour Party candidates 17.6% and a Grey Party candidate 4.6%. The turnout was 34.5%. In 2015 Thanet Council set up a parish council for the Westgate-on-Sea ward. The new council took office at its first meeting in May 2015 as Westgate-on-Sea Town Council. It used to meet in Westgate-on-Sea's Town Hall, but has now moved twice since then. The town's secondary school
4300-438: The ancient system of parishes , which for centuries were the principal unit of secular and religious administration in most of England and Wales. Civil and religious parishes were formally split into two types in the 19th century and are now entirely separate. Civil parishes in their modern form came into being through the Local Government Act 1894 ( 56 & 57 Vict. c. 73), which established elected parish councils to take on
4400-472: The break with Rome , parishes managed ecclesiastical matters, while the manor was the principal unit of local administration and justice. Later, the church replaced the manor court as the rural administrative centre, and levied a local tax on produce known as a tithe . In the medieval period, responsibilities such as relief of the poor passed increasingly from the lord of the manor to the parish's rector , who in practice would delegate tasks among his vestry or
4500-470: The (often well-endowed) monasteries. After the dissolution of the monasteries , the power to levy a rate to fund relief of the poor was conferred on the parish authorities by the Poor Relief Act 1601 . Both before and after this optional social change, local (vestry-administered) charities are well-documented. The parish authorities were known as vestries and consisted of all the ratepayers of
4600-761: The 1860s from a small farming community. The town had a population of 7,517 at the 2021 Census. The town is notable for once being the location of a Royal Naval Air Service seaplane base at St Mildred's Bay, which defended the Thames Estuary coastal towns during World War I . The town is the subject of Sir John Betjeman 's poem, "Westgate-on-Sea". Residents have included the 19th-century surgeon Sir Erasmus Wilson and former archbishop of Canterbury William Temple . The artist Sir William Quiller Orchardson painted several of his best-known pictures whilst living in Westgate-on-Sea. The British artist Louis Wain and his family. The British composer Arnold Cooke attended
4700-564: The 19th century is useful to historians, and is also of cultural significance in terms of shaping local identities; reinforced by the use of grouped parish boundaries, often, by successive local authority areas; and in a very rough, operations-geared way by most postcode districts. There was (and is) wide disparity in parish size. Writtle , Essex traditionally measures 13,568 acres (21 sq mi) – two parishes neighbouring are Shellow Bowells at 469 acres (0.7 sq mi), and Chignall Smealy at 476 acres (0.7 sq mi) Until
4800-553: The 2001 UK census, 6.9% of the population resided in a medical or care establishment, compared with the national average of only 0.8%. At the 2001 census, the economic activity of residents in the Westgate-on-Sea electoral ward was 32.9% in full-time employment, 12.3% in part-time employment, 7.8% self-employed, 4.3% unemployed, 2.1% students with jobs, 4.3% students without jobs, 18.1% retired, 6.2% looking after home or family, 9.5% permanently sick or disabled and 2.3% economically inactive for other reasons. The percentage of retired people
4900-591: The 2011 census, Newland with Woodhouse Moor and Beaumont Chase reported inhabitants, and there were no new deserted parishes recorded. Nearly all instances of detached parts of civil parishes (areas not contiguous with the main part of the parish) and of those straddling counties have been ended. 14 examples remain in England as at 2022, including Barnby Moor and Wallingwells , both in Nottinghamshire. Direct predecessors of civil parishes are most often known as "ancient parishes", although many date only from
5000-511: The 2021 census). The 2001 census recorded several parishes with no inhabitants. These were Chester Castle (in the middle of Chester city centre), Newland with Woodhouse Moor , Beaumont Chase , Martinsthorpe , Meering , Stanground North (subsequently abolished), Sturston , Tottington , and Tyneham (subsequently merged). The lands of the last three were taken over by the Armed Forces during World War II and remain deserted. In
5100-642: The A28 crosses the A299 road , which leads along North Kent towards London, becoming the M2 motorway at Faversham . At the 2001 UK census , the Westgate-on-Sea electoral ward had 6,594 residents and 2,845 households. Of those households, 38.0% were married couples, 8.4% were cohabiting couples and 9.4% were lone parents. 39.2% of all households were made up of individuals, and 21.9% had someone living alone at pensionable age. 23.6% of households included children aged under 16, or
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#17327764642545200-472: The KM Group and previously known as TLR (Thanet Local Radio). Community radio station Academy FM (Thanet) launched in 2010 on 107.8. Residents of the town have included: Civil parish In England, a civil parish is a type of administrative parish used for local government . It is a territorial designation which is the lowest tier of local government. Civil parishes can trace their origin to
5300-650: The Mayor of Margate and veterans' organisations on 27 April 2009 at the war memorial overlooking the crash site. In 1975, five historic church bells were transferred to St Saviour's Church from the Holy Cross Church in Canterbury, which had closed in 1972. Three of the bells date back to the early 17th century and one was cast in the 14th century. From the 1970s to the 1990s, the Westgate Pavilion
5400-540: The Old Boy forms may have been in use for a hundred years or more. Other more recently established schools have devised Old Boy names that are distinctive to prevent confusion with other schools. The tradition for many girls' schools has been to use the term "Seniors" rather than "Old Girls". Almost all of these schools have old boy associations that use the official name. Some schools have amalgamated or been renamed through various transformations, but they usually maintain
5500-606: The Ursuline Convent School, which in 1995 was re-established as Ursuline College . In 1910, a Swiss-Gothic styled town hall was built. However, it was soon decided that the building could be put to better use, and in 1912, it was transformed into the Town Hall Cinema . In 1932, it was renamed the Carlton Cinema. On 1 August 1914, after the outbreak of World War I , a Royal Navy seaplane base
5600-738: The administration of the poor laws was the main civil function of parishes, the Poor Law Amendment Act 1866 , which received royal assent on 10 August 1866, declared all areas that levied a separate rate or had their own overseer of the poor to be parishes. This included the Church of England parishes (until then simply known as "parishes"), extra-parochial areas , townships and chapelries . To have collected rates this means these beforehand had their own vestries, boards or equivalent bodies. Parishes using this definition subsequently became known as "civil parishes" to distinguish them from
5700-529: The area was below the sea. The Isle of Thanet was formed when the English Channel was formed by the sea breaking through, an island of chalk being left on the east side of the county. It was separated from the rest of Kent by the Wantsum Channel. In East Kent, the warmest time of the year is July and August, when maximum temperatures average around 21 °C (70 °F). The coolest time of
5800-399: The charter, the charter may be transferred to a parish council for its area. Where there is no such parish council, the district council may appoint charter trustees to whom the charter and the arms of the former borough will belong. The charter trustees (who consist of the councillor or councillors for the area of the former borough) maintain traditions such as mayoralty . An example of such
5900-598: The cliff tops between Westgate and Birchington. Based at Hawtreys Field, Westgate-on-Sea Cricket Club runs two Saturday teams and two Sunday teams. In the 2007 season, both Saturday teams played in the Kent Cricket Feeder League East; the Saturday 1st XI team in Division 1C and the Saturday 2nd XI in Division 2C. The Sunday teams do not play in competitive matches. In 2006, Thanet Council opened
6000-537: The council are carried out by a paid officer, typically known as a parish clerk. Councils may employ additional people (including bodies corporate, provided where necessary, by tender) to carry out specific tasks dictated by the council. Some councils have chosen to pay their elected members an allowance, as permitted under part 5 of the Local Authorities (Members' Allowances) (England) Regulations 2003. The number of councillors varies roughly in proportion to
6100-464: The council of the urban district or borough in which they were contained. Many urban parishes were coterminous (geographically identical) with the urban district or municipal borough in which they lay. Towns which included multiple urban parishes often consolidated the urban parishes into one. The urban parishes continued to be used as an electoral area for electing guardians to the poor law unions . The unions took in areas in multiple parishes and had
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#17327764642546200-466: The council will an election be held. However, sometimes there are fewer candidates than seats. When this happens, the vacant seats have to be filled by co-option by the council. If a vacancy arises for a seat mid-term, an election is only held if a certain number (usually ten) of parish residents request an election. Otherwise the council will co-opt someone to be the replacement councillor. The Localism Act 2011 introduced new arrangements which replaced
6300-459: The creation of town and parish councils is encouraged in unparished areas . The Local Government and Rating Act 1997 created a procedure which gave residents in unparished areas the right to demand that a new parish and parish council be created. This right was extended to London boroughs by the Local Government and Public Involvement in Health Act 2007 – with this, the City of London
6400-402: The crew that surrounded it. These were located beside the coast at St Mildred's Bay, named after Mildrith , Thanet's patron saint and a one-time Abbess of Minster . During the late 1860s, businessmen developed the area into a seaside resort for the upper to middle-classes. A stretch of sea wall, with promenade on top, was constructed around the beaches at St Mildred's Bay and West Bay, and
6500-463: The desire to have a more local tier of government when new larger authorities have been created, which are felt to be remote from local concerns and identity. A number of parishes have been created in places which used to have their own borough or district council; examples include Daventry (2003), Folkestone (2004), Kidderminster (2015) and Sutton Coldfield (2016). The trend towards the creation of geographically large unitary authorities has been
6600-439: The ecclesiastical parishes. The Church of England parishes, which cover more than 99% of England, have become officially (and to avoid ambiguity) termed ecclesiastical parishes . The limits of many of these have diverged; most greatly through changes in population and church attendance (these factors can cause churches to be opened or closed). Since 1921, each has been the responsibility of its own parochial church council . In
6700-404: The economy is mainly based around tourism; there are several hotels and guest houses near the seafront, to accommodate the influx of visitors during the summer. Many visitors often enjoy the coast, fields and shops. The High Street has a variety of shops and services, and there are a small number of factories. The elderly population has led to many health and social care jobs at local care homes. At
6800-534: The established English Church, which for a few years after Henry VIII alternated between the Roman Catholic Church and the Church of England , before settling on the latter on the accession of Elizabeth I in 1558. By the 18th century, religious membership was becoming more fractured in some places, due in part to the progress of Methodism . The legitimacy of the parish vestry came into question, and
6900-645: The gift and continued patronage (benefaction) of the lord of the manor , but not all were willing and able to provide, so residents would be expected to attend the church of the nearest manor with a church. Later, the churches and priests became to a greater extent the responsibility of the Catholic Church thus this was formalised; the grouping of manors into one parish was recorded, as was a manor-parish existing in its own right. Boundaries changed little, and for centuries after 1180 'froze', despite changes to manors' extents. However, by subinfeudation , making
7000-455: The government at the time of the Local Government Act 1972 discouraged their creation for large towns or their suburbs, but there is generally nothing to stop their establishment. For example, Birmingham has two parishes ( New Frankley and Sutton Coldfield ), Oxford has four, and the Milton Keynes urban area has 24. Parishes could not however be established in London until the law was changed in 2007. A civil parish can range in area from
7100-455: The land divided into plots to be sold for what would become an exclusive development by the sea for wealthy metropolitan families within a gated community, rather than for occasional tourists. The opening of a railway station, in 1871, led to the rapid expansion of the population, which reached 2,738 by 1901. The demands of the increasing population led to the building of the parish churches of St. James in 1872 and St. Saviour in 1884. St. Saviour's
7200-476: The late 19th century, most of the "ancient" (a legal term equivalent to time immemorial ) irregularities inherited by the civil parish system were cleaned up, and the majority of exclaves were abolished. The census of 1911 noted that 8,322 (58%) of "parishes" in England and Wales were not geographically identical when comparing the civil to the ecclesiastical form. In 1894, civil parishes were reformed by
7300-465: The mid 19th century. Using a longer historical lens the better terms are "pre-separation (civil and ecclesiastical) parish", "original medieval parishes" and "new parishes". The Victoria County History , a landmark collaborative work mostly written in the 20th century (although incomplete), summarises the history of each English "parish", roughly meaning late medieval parish. A minority of these had exclaves , which could be: In some cases an exclave of
7400-464: The name of the founder, such as "Old Wykehamist" and "Old Alleynian" (for old boys of Winchester College , founded by William of Wykeham , and Dulwich College , founded by Edward Alleyn ). Some are based on the school's location or street, such as "Old Gowers" (for University College School , originally in Gower Street ). Many of the schools have histories dating back several hundred years, and
7500-465: The new district councils (outside London) to review their parishes, and many areas left unparished in 1972 have since been made parishes, either in whole or part. For example, Hinckley , whilst entirely unparished in 1974, now has four civil parishes, which together cover part of its area, whilst the central part of the town remains unparished. Some parishes were sub-divided into smaller territories known as hamlets , tithings or townships . Nowadays
7600-488: The other conurbations. Civil parishes vary greatly in population: some have populations below 100 and have no settlement larger than a hamlet , while others cover towns with populations of tens of thousands. Weston-super-Mare , with a population of 71,758, is the most populous civil parish. In many cases small settlements, today popularly termed villages , localities or suburbs, are in a single parish which originally had one church. Large urban areas are mostly unparished, as
7700-550: The other two are paid-for. Kent on Sunday published newspapers covering this area until 2017. Local news and television programmes are provided by BBC South East and ITV Meridian . Television signals are received from the Dover TV transmitter and the Margate relay transmitter. Local radio stations are BBC Radio Kent on 104.2 FM, Heart South on 95.9 FM and KMFM Thanet is a radio station on frequency 107.2FM, owned by
7800-401: The parish the status of a town, at which point the council becomes a town council . Around 400 parish councils are called town councils. Under the Local Government and Public Involvement in Health Act 2007 , a civil parish may be given one of the following alternative styles: As a result, a parish council can be called a town council, a community council, a village council or occasionally
7900-404: The parish. As the number of ratepayers of some parishes grew, it became increasingly difficult to convene meetings as an open vestry. In some, mostly built-up, areas the select vestry took over responsibility from the entire body of ratepayers. This innovation improved efficiency, but allowed governance by a self-perpetuating elite. The administration of the parish system relied on the monopoly of
8000-562: The parish; the church rate ceased to be levied in many parishes and became voluntary from 1868. During the 17th century it was found that the 1601 Poor Law did not work well for very large parishes, which were particularly common in northern England. Such parishes were typically subdivided into multiple townships , which levied their rates separately. The Poor Relief Act 1662 therefore directed that for poor law purposes 'parish' meant any place which maintained its own poor, thereby converting many townships into separate 'poor law parishes'. As
8100-499: The perceived inefficiency and corruption inherent in the system became a source for concern in some places. For this reason, during the early 19th century the parish progressively lost its powers to ad hoc boards and other organisations, such as the boards of guardians given responsibility for poor relief through the Poor Law Amendment Act 1834 . Sanitary districts covered England in 1875 and Ireland three years later. The replacement boards were each entitled to levy their own rate in
8200-491: The period of April 2001 to March 2002, the average gross weekly income of households was £430 (£22,421 per year). The industry of employment of residents, at the 2001 census, was 16% retail, 16% health and social work, 13% manufacturing, 9% construction, 9% real estate, 9% education, 7% transport and communications, 5% public administration, 5% hotels and restaurants, 3% finance, 1% agriculture and 6% other community, social or personal services. Compared with national figures, there
8300-411: The population of the parish. Most rural parish councillors are elected to represent the entire parish, though in parishes with larger populations or those that cover larger areas, the parish can be divided into wards. Each of these wards then returns councillors to the parish council (the numbers depending on their population). Only if there are more candidates standing for election than there are seats on
8400-505: The previous month by the Care Quality Commission uncovered what the inspectors called "shocking examples of institutionalised failings and abuse" and the trust running the schools subsequently went into administration. The London House School of English provides English language courses for foreign students. The primary state schools are St Crispin's Infant School and St Saviour's Church of England Primary School, which
8500-438: The right to create civil parishes was extended to London boroughs , although only one, Queen's Park , has so far been created. Eight parishes also have city status (a status granted by the monarch ). A civil parish may be equally known as and confirmed as a town, village, neighbourhood or community by resolution of its parish council, a right not conferred on other units of English local government. The governing body of
8600-588: The sand at low tide. In later years Roman villa in the field surrounding Westgate has also been found with strong archaeological evidence of Roman activity between Quex Park East Side in Birchington and the Dent de Lion medieval gatehouse at Garlinge . Before the 1860s, Westgate consisted of only a farm, a coastguard station (built 1791 and still standing in Old Boundary Road) and a few cottages for
8700-450: The secular functions of the parish vestry . A civil parish can range in size from a sparsely populated rural area with fewer than a hundred inhabitants, to a large town with a population in excess of 100,000 . This scope is similar to that of municipalities in continental Europe, such as the communes of France . However, unlike their continental European counterparts, parish councils are not principal authorities , and in most cases have
8800-514: The town's Streete Preparatory School in the early 20th century, and Eton headmaster Anthony Chenevix-Trench spent the earliest few years of his education in the town. The town inherited its name from the Westgate Manor, which was located in the area in medieval times. In the early 20th century, the remains of a Roman villa were discovered in what is now Beach Road, where a stream once used to flow. Fresh water can still be seen rising from
8900-702: The usual expressions in use in the United Kingdom for former pupils of primary and secondary schools . While these are traditionally associated with independent schools , they are also used for some schools in the state sector. The term is also used for those who attended schools in the Commonwealth realm , a few universities in the UK and, to a lesser extent, schools in Australia , Canada , Republic of Ireland , South Africa and Spain . The Old Boy form
9000-480: The year is January and February, when minimum temperatures average around 1 °C (34 °F). The average of maximum and minimum temperatures are around 1/2 °C higher than the national average. East Kent's average annual rainfall is about 728 millimetres (29 in), with October to January being the wettest months, compared with the national average of 838 millimetres (33 in). These are average temperature and rainfall figures taken between 1971 and 2000 at
9100-415: Was 5% aged 0–4 years, 13% aged 5–15 years, 5% aged 16–19 years, 28% aged 20–44 years, 22% aged 45–64 years and 27% aged 65 years and over. There was a high percentage of residents over 65, compared with the national average of 16%, mainly due to seaside towns being popular retirement destinations. For every 100 females, there were 85.7 males. As a seaside resort and border rural,
9200-530: Was a bingo hall, after which it closed and became derelict. In 2001, a group of volunteers formed a charitable trust to repair the pavilion and it was eventually reopened as a theatre. Westgate-on-Sea is located in northeast Kent, on the coast of the Thames Estuary. It is bordered by the town of Margate to the east and the village of Birchington-on-Sea to the west. The town is built beside the two sandy bays of St Mildred's Bay and West Bay, which both have
9300-477: Was a relatively high number of workers in the construction and health and social care industries and a relatively low number in finance and real estate. Many residents commute to work outside the town; at the 2001 census, the town had 2,388 employed residents, but only 1,464 jobs. Since the constituency was created in 1983, the Member of Parliament for North Thanet , covering northern Thanet and Herne Bay, has been
9400-464: Was captured after being shot down and crash landing in a field adjacent to Linksfield Rd, just south of the town. On 27 April 1944 a Liberator aircraft from the 392nd USAAF bombing group based in East Anglia near Wendling, Norfolk, crashed off the beach, adjacent to the Westgate Pavilion, with five of the crew killed and four injured in the crash. A special memorial service was held for the crew by
9500-502: Was converted into sleeping quarters for use by the Royal West Kent Regiment. In 1925, the bandstand was refurbished and reopened as the 600-seat Westgate Pavilion theatre. By 1931, the town's population had reached 4,554. During World War II , several schools were evacuated to inland areas, with some, such as Streete Court School, leaving the town permanently. On 24 August 1942, a German fighter pilot, Herbert Bischoff,
9600-415: Was designed by the architect C.N. Beazley . In 1884 it was reported that Essex , on the other side of the Thames Estuary, was hit by a tremor so large that it caused the bells of St. James' Church to ring. In 1884, ownership of most of the resort passed to Coutts Bank, after the previous proprietors had gone bankrupt. Around twenty schools were opened during the late 19th century, although many had only
9700-513: Was established in 1877 by William Bullock. It was renamed Ringslow College in 1879 and closed in 1885. Two clergymen, the Bull brothers, opened Wellington House school in the same building in 1886. It closed in 1970 and was demolished in 1972. Old boys included Doctor Who actor Jon Pertwee and cabinet minister John Profumo , known for his involvement in the Profumo affair . Streete Court School
9800-581: Was opened by the coast to defend the Thames Estuary naval towns against attack. It was at first used for both seaplanes and landplanes, but due to landing problems, a separate landplane base was opened in Manston in 1916. After the war, the seaplane base was decommissioned, and the landplane base in Manston eventually became Kent International Airport . During the war, the Coronation Bandstand
9900-519: Was opened in 1894 by John Vine Milne, the father of the author A. A. Milne . In the 1890s, the school was attended by St John Philby, the father of the spy Kim Philby . The Coronation Bandstand was built by the cliff edge in 1903, at a cost of £350, to celebrate the coronation of King Edward VII . The following year, a group of French Ursuline nuns, who were banned from teaching in France, fled with some of their pupils to Westgate-on-Sea and established
10000-421: Was significantly higher than the national figure of 14% and the percentage of unemployed people was high compared with the national rate of 3.4%. The number of permanently sick or disabled people was much higher than the national figure of 5.3%. 12% of residents aged 16–74 had a higher education qualification or the equivalent, compared with 20% nationwide. The Office for National Statistics estimated that during
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