Ashford · Local news you can trust
Ministers withdrew the Mid Kent Council decision on 29 October. Any new council now starts April 2029 at the earliest, and a Kent mayor is possible in 2028.
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Willesborough
Willesborough Halloween Display: Free Graveyard to 31 Oct
Flow Fright, a free Halloween graveyard in a Willesborough front garden, lights up every evening to 31 October, with sweets for trick-or-treaters 4pm to 9pm.
Local Info
Ashford Petrol Prices: Cheapest Unleaded and Diesel Today
Cheapest petrol in Ashford today: unleaded from 139.8p and diesel from 147.8p a litre, across 5 forecourts within 8 miles. Updated every morning from the...
Weather
Ashford Weather: 7-Day Forecast and Today's Hourly Outlook
Ashford weather today: partly cloudy, 14°C by day and 8°C overnight, with a 0% chance of rain and winds up to 8 mph. Seven-day forecast, updated every morning.
Christmas
Santa's Grotto Ashford 2026: Outlet Lodge £5, Dobbies £15
The Designer Outlet's Santa's Lodge opens 28 November at £5 a child, with no gift. Dobbies opens 22 November at £15 to £17; Rare Breeds Centre £29 a child.
Planning
Ashford Planning Appeals: 10 of 34 Lost, 32 Homes Allowed
Inspectors overturned 10 of Ashford's 34 refusals from January to June, including 32 homes at Bethersden and a drive-thru coffee shop at Sevington.
Planning
Kennington Road 180 Homes Approved for a Third Time
Ashford's Planning Committee backed up to 180 homes off Kennington Road, Willesborough, on 21 October, despite a failed flood test. A section 106 deal comes next.
Police
Rolvenden A28 Crash: Police Appeal After Motorcyclist Dies
A motorcyclist in his 50s died after a crash with a car on the A28 Hastings Road at Rolvenden on 10 October. Kent Police wants witnesses and dashcam footage.
Community
Bethersden Pub The George Opens Accessible Pétanque Pitch
The George, Bethersden's community-owned pub, has built a pétanque pitch in its beer garden for all ages and players with a disability, and plans a Kent league team.
Ashford International
Ashford International Trains: PM to Ask Transport Secretary
Andy Burnham told MPs on 12 October he would ask the Transport Secretary to look into Ashford's international trains. What that does and does not commit to.
Business
HMRC Petitions to Wind Up Ashford, Kent Truck Stop Operator
HMRC has petitioned to wind up GSE Truckstop Developments, its fifth petition this year against the truck stop operator or a GSE company. Heard 11 November.
Sport
Ashford's Kent Lions: £6,500 New Kit, Old Strips to Zimbabwe
Bellway Kent has paid £6,500 for new matchday kit for all 130 Kent Lions Disability FC players, and the club's old strips have gone to a school in Zimbabwe.
Tenterden
Tenterden Parking Petition Debated as Charges Freeze to 2028
Tenterden's 1,644-signature petition was debated on 15 October as councillors froze parking charges until 2028 and made Bridewell Lane free after 3pm.
This is the Ashford in Kent, the one on the high-speed line, not the Ashford near Staines. The borough runs from the town and Willesborough and Kingsnorth out through Charing, Hothfield, Bethersden and Wye, down to Hamstreet and the edge of the marsh, and across to Tenterden, Biddenden and Rolvenden in the Weald.
Ashford has grown quickly, and growth is mostly recorded in paperwork before anyone sees it on the ground. Ashford Borough Council publishes planning applications, licensing notices, committee papers and budgets, and those documents are where most of what changes here is decided. We read them and write down what they say, with a link to the original every time.
Every fact carries a link to the document behind it.