Swale

Borough of Swale
Non-metropolitan district
Swale shown within Kent
Sovereign state	United Kingdom
Constituent country	England
Region	South East England
Non-metropolitan county	Kent
Status	Non-metropolitan district
Admin HQ	Sittingbourne
Incorporated	1 April 1974
Government
• Type	Non-metropolitan district council
• Body	Swale Borough Council
• Leadership	Leader & Cabinet (Conservative)
• MPs	Helen Whately Gordon Henderson
Area
• Total	144.2 sq mi (373.4 km2)
Area rank	110th (of 326)
Population (mid-2014 est.)
• Total	140,836
• Rank	142nd (of 326)
• Density	980/sq mi (380/km2)
• Ethnicity[1]	96.1% White 1.3% S.Asian 1.1% Black 1.0% Mixed Race
Time zone	GMT (UTC0)
• Summer (DST)	BST (UTC+1)
ONS code	29UM (ONS) E07000113 (GSS)
OS grid reference	TQ9018863720
Website	www.swale.gov.uk

The Kingsferry Bridge

Swale is a local government district with borough status in Kent, England and is bounded by Medway to the west, Canterbury to the east, Ashford to the south and Maidstone to the south west. Its council is based in Sittingbourne. The district is named after the narrow channel called The Swale, a channel that separates the mainland of Kent from the Isle of Sheppey, and which occupies the central part of the district.

The Roman Watling Street passed through the area, as witness the straightness of the A2 main road, now by-passed by the M2 motorway. Apart from the northern coast of the Isle of Sheppey, and the town of Sittingbourne, it is a mainly rural borough, containing a high proportion of the UK's apple, pear, cherry and plum orchards (the North Kent Fruit Belt), as well as many of its remaining hop gardens. Most of the southern half of the Borough lies within the Kent Downs Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, whilst Sittingbourne and the Isle of Sheppey forms the concluding part of the Thames Gateway growth area.^[2]

The district was formed in 1974 under the Local Government Act 1972, from the Borough of Faversham; the Borough of Queenborough-in-Sheppey, which covered the whole of Sheppey; the Sittingbourne and Milton Urban District; and Swale Rural District.

Swale railway station is at the southern end of the Kingsferry Bridge.

There are four towns in the borough: Sittingbourne and Faversham on the mainland, and Sheerness and Queenborough on Sheppey.

Governance

Swale Borough Council is elected every four years, with currently 47 councillors being elected at each election. After the Conservatives had a majority on the council from 1976 to 1986, no party had overall control from 1986 until the 2002 election when the Conservatives regained control. The Conservatives have held their majority since then and as of the last election in 2015 the council is composed of the following councillors:-

Parishes

The district contains the following civil parishes:

References

External links

• Bored In Swale - an information site listing activities for the youth in Swale.

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Borough of Swale.

Districts of South East England Berkshire Bracknell Forest Reading Slough West Berkshire Windsor and Maidenhead Wokingham Buckinghamshire Aylesbury Vale Chiltern Milton Keynes South Bucks Wycombe East Sussex Brighton and Hove Eastbourne Hastings Lewes Rother Wealden Hampshire Basingstoke and Deane East Hampshire Eastleigh Fareham Gosport Hart Havant New Forest Portsmouth Rushmoor Southampton Test Valley Winchester Isle of Wight Isle of Wight Kent Ashford Canterbury Dartford Dover Gravesham Maidstone Medway Sevenoaks Shepway Swale Thanet Tonbridge and Malling Tunbridge Wells Oxfordshire Cherwell Oxford South Oxfordshire Vale of White Horse West Oxfordshire Surrey Elmbridge Epsom and Ewell Guildford Mole Valley Reigate and Banstead Runnymede Spelthorne Surrey Heath Tandridge Waverley Woking West Sussex Adur Arun Chichester Crawley Horsham Mid Sussex Worthing

Coordinates: 51°20′24.73″N 0°43′51.32″E / 51.3402028°N 0.7309222°E / 51.3402028; 0.7309222