Smarden

8°CPartly Cloudy

• Today: 10° / 6° · 12% rain
• Tomorrow: 10° / 5° · Overcast

Source: WeatherAPI

Sunrise 06:56Sunset 16:24

9h 28m of daylight today

Next bank holiday: Christmas Day, Fri 25 Dec

Source: sunrise-sunset.org · gov.uk

25US AQI · Good

Main pollutant: fine particles (PM2.5)

Source: WAQI · Chatham Roadside, United Kingdom

• 6.8 µg/m³ average fine-particle (PM2.5) concentration
• 5.1% of adult (30+) deaths estimated attributable to fine-particle pollution

Lower is better for both figures.

Source: OHID Fingertips · 2024

2 reported · August 2026▲ 100% YoY

• Other theft2

Neighbourhood team: Weald North · Kent

Source: data.police.uk (within ~1 mile)

256 reported road collisions (2025)

78 killed or seriously injured · 356 casualties · 19.3 collisions per 10,000 residents

Source: DfT reported road collisions (STATS19)

13 food businesses within 2 miles

• 12 rated 4–5 ★ (11 top)
• 0 rated 0–2 (poor)

Source: Food Standards Agency

• Nearest station: Pluckley (4.2 km)
• 4 bus stops within ~½ mile

Source: OpenStreetMap, National Rail

£340,991 average▼ 0.8% YoY

Across Ashford · to 2026-08

Source: UK House Price Index (HM Land Registry)

£1,248 average monthly rent▲ 3.1% YoY

• 1 bed £894
• 2 bed £1,143
• 3 bed £1,407

Source: ONS Price Index of Private Rents · to 2026-08

10.2× house price to earnings

A typical home costs 10.2 times median annual pay (10.3× for cheaper homes vs lower pay).

Source: ONS house price to workplace earnings ratio · 2025

1,776 property sales in the last 12 months

12 months to May 2026

A busier or quieter market is not by itself good or bad. Monthly counts are small and volatile, so only the annual total is shown.

Source: HM Land Registry UK HPI, 12 months to 2026-05

• Cheapest petrol: 158.9p · Esso (7.4 km)
• Cheapest diesel: 192.9p · Esso (7.4 km)

2 stations within ~8 miles

Source: CMA fuel price scheme

2 charging locations within ~8 km

• Fastest nearby: 22 kW
• Nearest: Bloomsburys Biddenden (5.7 km)

Source: Open Charge Map

• Swimming pools11
• Sports pitches10
• Playgrounds2

Source: OpenStreetMap (within ~1 mile)

132,747 residents in Ashford · 229/km²

• Under 16: 20%
• 16–64: 61%
• 65+: 20%

Source: ONS Census 2021 (local authority)

• Moves in from elsewhere in the UK7,767
• Moves out to elsewhere in the UK6,999
• Net moves+768

Residential moves between local authorities (counts of moves, not people) · ONS Internal migration, YE Jun 2025

Around the average in England

Ranked 133 of 296 English local authorities (1 = most deprived)

4% of neighbourhoods are in England’s most deprived 10%

Source: English Indices of Deprivation 2025

£2,410 a year · Band D, 2026-27

Most homes here are Band B (23% of 59,330)

Source: VOA council-tax stock · MHCLG band levels 2026-27

62 schools · 22,861 pupils

43 primary · 7 secondary · 12 other

Ofsted: 19 of 19 graded schools rated Good or Outstanding (100%)

53 inspected under Ofsted’s 2024+ framework (graded by area, no single overall grade)

Source: DfE Get Information about Schools · Ofsted · Ashford

1,676 CQC-registered services

• Care homes503
• GP practices222
• Dentists360
• Homecare agencies415
• Hospitals & hospices47

CQC ratings: 87% of rated services Good or Outstanding · 20 Inadequate

Source: Care Quality Commission · Kent

• In a conservation area (Smarden)
• Not in the Green Belt
• 96 listed buildings within ~1.5 km

Source: planning.data.gov.uk (England)

251 applications decided

92% granted · 231 granted, 20 refused

Source: MHCLG planning statistics (PS2) · 2026 Q2

Katie Lam

Conservative

Weald of Kent

Source: UK Parliament

Independent / Green coalition

• Lab 7
• Con 17
• Grn 12
• Oth 11

Source: Open Council Data UK (CC BY-SA)

• Schools1
• Parks & greens14

Source: OpenStreetMap (within ~1 mile)

7,540 active business enterprises in the area

Source: ONS UK Business Counts (2026)

5 jobs advertised · £42,978 avg

e.g. Head of Commercial & Project Delivery, Customer Operations Manager, Warehouse Operative / FLT Driver

Source: Adzuna

£743 median full-time weekly pay

3% of residents aged 16–64 claim unemployment-related benefits

£26,868 disposable income per head (2024)

Source: ONS / Nomis (claimant count · ASHE) · ONS regional GDHI

52% of homes rated EPC C or above

Most common band: C · 62,944 certificates

9.9% of households were in fuel poverty (2023)

Source: MHCLG EPC statistics · DESNZ sub-regional fuel poverty

57% low-carbon electricity

Gas 42% · Wind 40% · Nuclear 10% · Biomass 7%

173 gCO₂/kWh · high intensity

Latest estimate for South East England · National Grid ESO

Life expectancy: 83.9 yrs women · 81.6 yrs men

Healthy life expectancy (Kent): 63.9 women · 62.5 men

61% of adults overweight or obese

Source: OHID Fingertips · 2025

• Life satisfaction7.3
• Feeling worthwhile8.0
• Happiness yesterday7.6
• Anxiety yesterday (lower is better)3.5

Average rating out of 10 · ONS personal well-being 2022-23

5 GP surgeries · 2 pharmacies in TN27

• Charing Surgery
• Charing Urology
• Apcos Headcorn Eye Centre

Source: NHS Organisation Data Service

Open UK Parliament petitions most signed in Weald of Kent:

• Mandatory suicide risk assessment for adolescents in hospital who express intent354 local signatures · 18,972 nationwide
• Permanent driving ban on intoxicated drivers guilty of causing death318 local signatures · 29,985 nationwide
• Hold a UK-wide briefing on climate and nature risks252 local signatures · 127,144 nationwide
• Protect legal right to support for children with SEND233 local signatures · 111,357 nationwide
• Make catapult attacks against animals a standalone criminal offence203 local signatures · 55,084 nationwide

Source: petition.parliament.uk · as of 2026-10-05

• Lashenden Air Warfare Museum · 2.9 km

  Lashenden Air Warfare Museum is an aviation museum at Lashenden (Headcorn) Airfield in Kent in southeast England.

• 
  Chart Hills Golf Club · 3.2 km

  Chart Hills Golf Club is a championship golf club in England, located in Biddenden, Kent.

• 
  Headcorn Aerodrome · 3.2 km

  Headcorn Aerodrome is a private airfield in Kent, England. The airfield is located 8 NM south of Maidstone; about 32 miles (51 km) southeast of London.

• 
  RAF High Halden · 3.3 km

  Royal Air Force High Halden or more simply RAF High Halden is a former Royal Air Force Advanced landing ground in Kent, England. The airfield is located approximately 8 miles (13 km) west-southwest of Ashford.

• 
  RAF Headcorn · 3.7 km

  Royal Air Force Headcorn or more commonly known as RAF Headcorn is a former Royal Air Force Advanced landing ground located 2 miles (3.2 km) northeast of Headcorn, Kent, England.

• 
  Frittenden Road railway station · 4.1 km

  Frittenden Road was a railway station on the Kent and East Sussex Railway which closed in January 1954. The wooden station building lay derelict for years and was destroyed by fire in October 2003.

Source: Wikipedia (text under CC BY-SA)