Town Council

Introduction

Faversham Town Council has existed in its present form since local government reorganisation in 1974, and is the successor to the previous Faversham Borough Council.

The town council serves as the main link between the people of Faversham and the district authority, Swale Council.
Town and parish councils form the lowest tier of local government and Faversham comes under Swale Council and Kent County Council.

The town council’s main source of income is from the annual precept, a small part of the Council Tax collected by Swale Council.
It also derives some income from the town jetty at Front Brents and from its historic Guildhall, which may be hired for meetings and functions.

Faversham is a member of the Confederation of the Cinque Ports, being a limb of Dover, the town’s head port.
The Mayor of Faversham and the Town Clerk attend confederation meetings on behalf of the town council.

Council Members

Faversham Town Council consists of 14 members. It had 16 members until June, 2004, when its electoral wards were adjusted in line with a reduction in the town’s number of Swale councillors from eight to seven.
The whole of Faversham Town Council stands for election on a four-yearly basis.

The last election was on 1 May, 2008 and the next town council elections should be in May, 2012.

To see the list of Councillors, please go to our Faversham Town Councillors page.

Faversham is divided into four wards. Three wards have four town councillors. The smaller Davington Priory Ward electorate has two. Six of the 14 members are also Swale councillors and one member, Cllr Tom Gates, is the town’s Kent county councillor.

Mayor of Faversham

The Mayor of Faversham is chairman of the town council and successor in a line of civic heads going back to Robert Dod, who, in 1255, became the first person to bear the title of Mayor of Faversham.
The mayor is elected at the town council’s mayor making meeting in May each year.
The present mayor is Cllr Ted Wilcox.

Council Employees

The town council has part-time employees, these being the Town Clerk (Mrs Susan Brockman), a Secretary to the Mayor and the Town Clerk, a Town Sergeant and a Caretaker/Deputy Town Sergeant. Mr John Sell, CBE, is the Town Council's Planning Consultant.

Freedom of Information

Faversham Town Council supports the freedom of information to its electorate. Please see
Freedom of Information for how to obtain such information.

Minutes of council meetings are given below. Other information available is the 2009/10 Budget and the Annual Return as at 31 March 2008.

Council Meetings

The town council meets on Monday evenings at four-weekly intervals in the Guildhall, Market Place. Meetings are open to the press and the public, who may question the council before formal business.
The council’s work is also carried out through committee and working party meetings.

To see the dates of meetings in 2009/10 please go to our Faversham Town Council Meetings page.

Council Meetings Minutes

To see the minutes of recent Town Council meetings please click on the appropriate meeting date below.
These are available to read, download and/or print from this website in .pdf file format. To be able to read, download and/or print .pdf files you require Adobe Reader. If you do not have this free reader, please download it for free.

• Budget 2010 -2011
• 11 January Finance 2010
• 21 December 2009
• 23 November 2009
• 26 October 2009
• 28 September 2009
• 1 September 2009
• 3 August 2009
• 6 July 2009
• 8 June 2009
• Finance, 29 June 2009
• End of Year Accounts, 08/09
• 11 May 2009, Mayor Making
•  

If you would like to see the minutes of earlier meetings, these are available at the library or the Town Clerk.

Council Newsletters

• Newsletter Summer 2008
• Newsletter Autumn 2008
• Newsletter Winter 2009
• Newsletter Spring 2009

Faversham Council Wards

Faversham has four electoral wards for Swale Council and Faversham Town Council. These are Abbey Ward, Davington Priory Ward, St Ann’s Ward and Watling Ward.

• Abbey Ward is the eastern part of the town north of the London-Canterbury railway (but excluding Tin Bridge). It includes the Love Lane estate, the Millfield estate, the Recreation Ground, Dorset Place (the ward’s western boundary), much of the town centre and Abbey Street and Belvedere Road.
• Davington Priory Ward is the north-west area bounded by Faversham Creek and Stonebridge Pond, by Dark Hill and Bysing Wood Road (both of which it includes on both sides of the road), and by Oare Creek. As well as the Brents and Wells Way, it takes in Ham Marshes and Hollowshore.
• St Ann’s Ward includes Briton Road, Roman Road and the Cottage Hospital in the east and stretches past the Western Link Road. The railway is the southern boundary for part of the ward, whose northern boundary runs just south of Bysing Wood Road and Dark Hill. The ward includes the Nat West Bank side of Market Street and upper West Street, plus lower West Street, the St Ann’s estate, Alexander Drive, The Knole, Hazebrouck Road and Wildish Road and roads off Wildish Road. It includes Ospringe Road and the eastern end of Lower Road as far as Lion Field.
• Watling Ward is located around the A2, the Romans’ Watling Street. It includes all of Faversham south of the London-Canterbury railway line. It also includes, north of that line, the Tin Bridge area and the west end of Lower Road, from its junction with Lion Field to its end at Sumpter Way, plus the roads reached from turnings off that stretch of Lower Road (such as Lion Field, St Nicholas Road and Cress Way).
  

Party make-up

The 14-seat town council elected in 2008 is 13 Conservative and 1 Faversham First.
The record of party make-up returned at town council elections since 1988 is:

Further Information