Cllr. Heather Hayward

29/05/2026

Thank you KCC for getting this done. Originally this wasn't on their plans to be done until 2027+, but after much lobbying it was thankfully pulled forward.

27/05/2026

Great to be able to help connect Ashford Freeshop with some much needed fridge units today - with big thanks to Terry and the team at The Little Silver Country Hotel for their donation. The Ashford Freeshop opened last week in South Stour Avenue... And everything is free to those who need it. What a great community project!

27/05/2026

If you are having water supply issues then there is a water distribution station now in place at Kingsnorth Village Hall car park. Open until 9pm tonight.

21/05/2026

I’m hugely honoured to have been voted in as Deputy Mayor of Ashford Borough Council this evening.

I’m incredibly proud to continue serving and championing Roman Ward in this new role, and I want residents to know that I’ll still be here for them every step of the way. Looking forward to the year ahead and continuing to work hard for our community.

16/04/2026

For those who are concerned by the online scaremongering and fake news... Tonight at Cabinet the Leader of the Council confirmed the position relating to the Tank:

27/03/2026

Fabulous evening at Jasmin Vardimon supporting some amazing talent & performing arts here in Ashford!!

04/03/2026

A lot of comments have been made about ABC rising the cost of their portion of council tax by 2.99% to maintain services. This equates to an extra £5 a year and is far far less than the portion paid to KCC.

Your Council Tax - Where does it go?

The council tax you pay helps provide local public services, such as policing, education and recycling collections, but do you know exactly what it is spent on? Although Ashford Borough Council (ABC) collects your council tax, did you know we actually receive only 8 pence out of every £1?

This is shown by the breakdown below, which confirms that Kent County Council receives 73p of every £1 of council tax you pay to ABC:

• Kent County Council: 73p
• Ashford Borough Council: 8p
• Kent Police and Crime Commissioner: 12p
• Kent Fire and Rescue Service: 4p
• Parish Councils: 3p

Although your council tax bill has increased, the portion you pay to ABC has only increased by £5.79 (the rest of the increase comes from those services listed above). To ensure that we can continue to be able to deliver services at the current level, we need to increase our revenue of which council tax is forecast to contribute £9.8m in 2026/27, of the £22.3m needed by the council to run its services.

This means it costs around £429,000 a week to provide the services you need. Council tax contributes to approximately £189,000 of these costs so the eight pence that we receive out of every pound of your council tax doesn't fully fund the services we deliver to residents.

Some of the key services we provide include:

• A weekly food waste and alternate refuse or recycling collection
• Keeping our streets clean and emptying public bins and deterring and prosecuting environmental crimes, such as fly tipping
• Providing and maintaining playgrounds and supporting wider leisure facilities
• Grants and funding for community projects and support for the voluntary and community sector
• Supporting those homeless or at risk of homelessness through advice and support
• Electoral services, including voter registration
• Maintaining a local development plan to ensure development is made in a strategic manner within designated sites
• Promoting the delivery of projects and encouraging businesses to locate here to create local jobs and economic growth
• Public health duties, including food hygiene interventions of commercial properties
• Our communications channels (our websites, social media, telephone and face-to-face services)

The amount you have to pay depends on the property band that your home is placed in. This is based on the value of your property and is determined by the Valuation Office Agency, not ABC.

For more information on your council tax, including how to get in touch with us if you have any queries and to view some council tax FAQs, visit the link in the comments section 👇🏻

20/02/2026

New equipment in the Limes play area is looking great and ready for use! Including the new babyswing.

16/02/2026

Good news....New play equipment is coming to Westhawk (Knight's Park) Play area.....this means pretty much every piece of play equipment will now have been replaced over the past couple of years.
Bad news,...work starts tomorrow....which means the play area will be out of action. Yes *I do know its half term*.
The recent wet weather has meant the Complan installation team have had to move jobs around as they just can't got onto some of the more grassy play areas due to the soaking ground conditions.....which means this has been pulled forward in the plan of work.
The central timber climbing unit will be going...and replaced with a solid zip line (I'm told its the first of its kind in the borough) and climbing equipment. Indicative pictures below:

16/02/2026

A long awaited selection of new play equipment is being installed in The Limes play area today to replace some of the wooden life expired items. Just in time for half term!