Years of confusion over where a boundary lies in part of a borough looks set to come to an end.

At present, there is no ward for Tovil on Maidstone Council, but all that is about to change.

The Local Government Boundary Commission for England has been re-drawing the map of the borough in an attempt to make the number of voters per councillor more equal.

Yet although the commission is reducing the number of councillors overall – from 54 to 49 – Tovil is to get its own named representatives for the first time.

Previously, the existing parish of Tovil has formed one part of the three-member South Ward – along with North Loose.

The Coombe Farm estate, which most people regard as being in Tovil, has in fact come under the High Street ward.

The commission is expected to announce its final proposals in November, which will see Tovil established as a two-seat ward, and North Loose joined with Loose, also in a two-seat ward.

The existing parish of Tovil extends much farther – and is much 'greener' – than most people suppose.

It stretches from parts of Lower Road and Dean Street in the west, which most people think of as being East Farleigh, to Pympes Court Farm in the south, which most people think of as being Loose, to Saxon Way in the east, which many people refer to as North Loose.

But as far as the Coombe Farm estate is concerned, Tovil has included only 30 even-numbered homes at the top of Courtenay Road.

Quarry Road, Coombe Road and most of Courtenay Road all fall outside the parish.

That is also likely to change in the future. Once the ward boundary review is out the way, a parish boundary review will follow on, and the parish of Tovil is almost certain to be extended to reflect the new ward area.

While residents on Coombe Farm may like to become officially Tovil, it does mean they will then have to start paying a council tax precept to Tovil Parish Council.

At present the estate falls within an unparished area and so they pay no extra.

The misconception over where the boundary of Tovil lies has caused many problems over the years.

The former Tovil parish clerk Alison Chew would demand a correction whenever the media, the police, or anyone else wrongly attributed a road to being in the parish – and for very practical reasons.

She explained that funding organisations might turn down requests for assistance from Tovil Parish Council because they thought they had already made donations to "Tovil" – though these were actually in Coombe Farm.

Cllr Brian Clark (Lib Dem) is one of the three ward councillors representing South Ward.

He said: "There were some issues during the worst of Covid when the parish council was operating a support system for vulnerable residents.

"The parish received some referrals from MBC's Covid Call Centre to assist residents of several roads outside the Tovil boundary – Coombe Road, for instance, and I believe one referral for a resident on King Edward Road.

"MBC really should be aware of its own boundaries, but under the extreme circumstances, perhaps the confusion was understandable.

"There was also in the past an organisation called the Coombe Farm and Tovil Development Group, which didn't help end the confusion."

In addition, police frequently refer to "the Coombe Farm estate in Tovil".

In future, they will be correct to do so.