Borough of Ashford

Borough of Ashford
Non-metropolitan district, Borough
Coat of arms of Borough of Ashford Coat of arms
Ashford shown within Kent
Sovereign state	United Kingdom
Constituent country	England
Region	South East England
Non-metropolitan county	Kent
Status	Non-metropolitan district, Borough
Admin HQ	Ashford
Incorporated	1 April 1974
Government
• Type	Non-metropolitan district council
• Body	Ashford Borough Council
• Leadership	Leader & Cabinet (No overall control)
• MPs	Damian Green
Area
• Total	224.18 sq mi (580.62 km2)
• Rank	64th (of 296)
Population  (2022)
• Total	135,610
• Rank	172nd (of 296)
• Density	600/sq mi (230/km2)
• Ethnicity	95.0% White 1.5% S.Asian 1.4% Black 1.3% Mixed Race
Time zone	UTC0 (GMT)
• Summer (DST)	UTC+1 (BST)
ONS code	29UB (ONS) E07000105 (GSS)
OS grid reference	TR005425
Website	www.ashford.gov.uk

The Borough of Ashford is a local government district with borough status in Kent, England. It borders five other Kent districts as well as East Sussex to the South West. Ashford Borough council's main offices are in the town of Ashford. The borough was formed on 1 April 1974 by the merger of the then Borough of Tenterden with Ashford urban district, as well as the Rural Districts of East Ashford, West Ashford and Tenterden. By area, it is the largest district in Kent.

Beyond the town of Ashford, most of the Borough's land area is rural compromising 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 the Kent Downs AONB whist the South West of the district 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.

The Borough is divided into 39 civil parishes centred on its villages and the Town of Tenterden. Ashford itself has experienced phases of rapid urban growth from the 1960's onward creating new suburbs such as Stanhope and, more recently, Sevington. 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 and this has led to development pressure on, and the development of, greenfield sites. The second most populous settlement in the district is Kennington, which is centred 1 mile (1.6 km) north of Ashford.

Population

Expansion and Growth:

In 1961, the populations of the Districts which make up the present Borough's population were: Ashford U.D. : 28,000 East Ashford R.D. : 10,610,West Ashford R.D. :10,734 and the Borough of Tenterden : 7,626 giving a total of 56,970. Forty years later the population had almost doubled with the 2001 Census recording a population of 102,661. Ashford Borough Council predicts that the population will reach 141,100 by the year 2021.[1]Ashford Borough's Population 1801 - 2021 (Forecast)

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%)

Housing and architecture

Chilham Castle is in Ashford borough

The layout of the main town is one of a medieval-layout European village centre, largely re-built upon with housing a combination of low-rise apartments, semi-detached, terraced or detached homes with gardens. In the villages low-rise dominates: the incidence of flats exceeding two storeys is very rare.

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

The number of listed buildings in the district exceeds 400. This includes 33 churches listed in the highest grading in the national listing system (Grade I). Oast houses and listed public houses date typically to the 17th and 18th centuries with a minority built in the centuries to either side.

Examples at Grade I also include the Archbishop's palace at Charing and Chilham Castle. Smaller listed examples are original Tudor tall two-storeyed shop/restaurant buildings in Biddenden.

Local government

See also: Ashford local elections

There are 43 electoral wards in the Borough; 18 of those split up Ashford town broadly defined. The Conservative party has held control of the council for much of its history, apart from periods where no party had a majority and has had a majority since the 2003 election. The make-up can change quickly as it is elected as a whole (not one third at a time). For the four year from the election in 2011 the council became composed of councillors of these parties:-

Year	Conservative	Ashford Independent	Labour	Liberal Democrat	Independent
2011	30	5	5	2	1

There 39 civil parishes within Ashford District plus Tenterden which is the only town council:

Aldington Appledore Bethersden Biddenden Bilsington Bonnington Boughton Aluph and Eastwell Brabourne Brook Challock Charing Chilham Crundale

Egerton Godmersham Great Chart with Singleton Hamstreet/Orlestone Hastingleigh High Halden Hothfield Kenardington Kingsnorth Little Chart Mersham Molash Newenden

Pluckley Rolvenden Ruckinge Sevington Shadoxhurst Smarden Smeeth Stone-cum-Ebony Tenterden Warehorne Westwell Wittersham Woodchurch Wye with Hinxhill

Economy and Infrastructure:

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 ("New 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); South to Hamstreet, Lydd and Romney Marsh and then Westwards to Hastings (A2070); SW to Tenterden and NE to Wye and Canterbury (A28) and North to Ashford's historic port at Faversham (A251).

External links

• MyAshford.com - Ashford's Online Community
• Ashford Local - A website about Ashford Borough in Kent