Work on an Ashford Town Council for April 2027 is paused after a 25 to 1 vote on 15 October. Councillors also backed HMO planning controls across the borough.

The new Ashford Town Council will not be set up next April as planned, at least for now. Borough councillors voted 25 to 1 on 15 October to pause all work on it until a full review has been done.

The same meeting agreed to bring planning controls on small shared houses, known as HMOs, to every part of the borough that does not already have them.

Both decisions are in the minutes of the meeting, published on 21 October (minutes of the Council meeting, 15 October 2026, minute 194).

What was paused

In July the borough council agreed to create a town council for the unparished part of Ashford, around 18,500 households. It was to have 16 councillors in five wards, a vesting day of 1 April 2027 and its first elections in May 2027. Its running costs would have come from a new precept on those households’ council tax bills. We set out the plan, and what other parishes in the borough charge, in our story on the motion.

The resolution passed on 15 October says:

  • all implementation work on the town council is paused until a full review is complete
  • the Selection and Constitutional Review Committee will reassess whether the July decision still holds now that local government reorganisation in Kent is on hold
  • that committee will consider whether residents need to be consulted again
  • it will report back to Full Council before anything else happens

The minutes do not say whether the April 2027 start or the May 2027 elections can still be met.

Why councillors voted for it

The motion came from Cllr Peter Feacey, the Conservative member for Godinton, seconded by Cllr Bernard Heyes. He said the consultation had asked residents about a town council on the “explicit premise” that the borough council would be abolished and replaced by a unitary authority. The Government has since paused that reorganisation, so Ashford Borough Council will remain “for the foreseeable future”.

He told councillors the precept “would not be means tested”. He said many households in the area already pay a grounds maintenance charge that “greatly exceeded the typical Parish Council precept”. He also said the plan was “only supported by just over 1% of the electorate in the affected area”.

Cllr Bill Barrett, an Independent, said fewer than 5% of the people sent the consultation had responded, and that there had been no ballot.

Cllr Steve Campkin, the Green deputy leader, said the first consultation drew so few responses that the council ran a second one, which was also low.

The council’s published result for that second consultation was 54.26% of respondents in favour, 37.03% against and 8.71% unsure (Community Governance Review).

The amendment that failed

The council’s planning and housing cabinet member, Cllr Linda Harman of the Ashford Independents, proposed a different version. It would also have paused the work, but handed the decision on restarting it to two senior officers, in consultation with the political group leaders. They could have restarted it if, in their view, reorganisation went ahead in a way that abolished the borough council.

Leader Cllr Noel Ovenden said it put the same pause “in a more acceptable light” for the legal department. Cllr Neil Bell, a Conservative, said a decision this important should not rest with group leaders, and had to be taken in the open.

Feacey asked for recorded votes. Harman’s amendment was lost by 20 votes to 12, with four abstentions. The original motion was then carried by 25 to 1.

Bar chart of the recorded vote on pausing the Ashford Town Council at Ashford Borough Council on 15 October 2026: 25 for, 1 against, 9 abstained and 3 did not vote.
The pause passed with nine abstentions, seven of them from the ruling Ashford Independents. Chart by The Ashford Times
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The only vote against was Cllr Katrina Giles of the Green Party. Seven Ashford Independents, including Harman and Ovenden, and two Greens abstained. Campkin voted for the motion.

HMOs: controls across the borough

Two motions on shared houses were tabled.

Cllr Barrett’s would have made an immediate Article 4 Direction for central Ashford only, inside West Street, Elwick Road, Station Road, Wellesley Road, Somerset Road and Forge Lane. Harman opposed it, warning that an immediate direction risked the council paying compensation. It was not carried.

Cllr Johnny Shilton, the Conservative group leader, then moved a revised version of his own motion, rewritten after talks with the other group leaders and Harman. It was passed.

An Article 4 Direction removes the right to turn a house into a small HMO, for up to six people, without planning permission. Shilton’s motion says Ashford has 189 licensed HMOs, 40 of them in Victoria ward, “though there are believed to be many more which are unregulated”. Directions already cover most of Beaver, Aylesford and East Stour, and Bybrook wards.

The council resolved:

  • to make a direction covering every part of the borough that does not already have one
  • that the Planning Committee decides where the evidence justifies it
  • that officers gather the evidence and report to the Planning Committee “at the earliest opportunity”
  • that the report says whether cover should be borough-wide or targeted, and whether it takes effect immediately or after notice

Shilton said councillors lose the option of calling in planning applications at the end of October. A direction would mean residents’ concerns about a new HMO could still be heard at the Planning Committee.

Cllr Sally Gathern, Labour, said a five-bedroom house in her road had been converted to seven bedrooms with nine people and nine cars.

What it means for you

  • No town council precept is coming in April 2027 for now. If you live in the unparished part of Ashford, your council tax bill will not carry a new town council line unless the review restarts the plan.
  • The question may come back to you. The review committee has been asked whether a fresh consultation is needed.
  • Small HMOs do not yet need planning permission across the borough. Nothing changes until a direction is made, and that needs a Planning Committee report first. Any direction then goes through a formal notice period when residents and landlords can comment.

Your borough, county, police and fire charges are on our council tax bands page. Planning decisions are on our planning news page.

The same meeting froze all parking charges until 2028 (our parking story).

Sources