The majority of Ashford residents do NOT want to form community councils in their areas, according to a recent survey.

As part of a review into community governance, residents were asked whether they wanted to form new local councils in Central Ashford, Kennington, North Willesborough, South Ashford and South Willesborough/Newtown.

But after totting up the votes of more than 11,000 residents – only two of the five wards voted in favour of the changes.

The majority of residents in Kennington and South Willesborough/Newtown voted yes but Central Ashford, North Willesborough and South Ashford residents said no.

Cllr Neil Bell, Ashford Borough Council’s (ABC) deputy leader, said: "The purpose from the outset was to review the way communities in the borough are represented.

"I would like to stress again that the ballot results, either way, do not necessarily reflect what the council’s final decision will be but we felt it was important to let everyone know now what the feedback was to date."

Creating a community council was just one of the options offered by ABC’s community governance review and is only one step in the consultation process.

The results of the ballot are non-binding on the council but will help to inform the decision of council members when they decide the next step in December.

For the full story and reaction see next week’s Kentish Express.