The town of Tunbridge Wells had been governed by improvement commissioners from 1835.[1] The commissioners' district was reconstituted as a local government district in 1860, which in turn became a municipal borough in 1889.[2][3] That first borough of Tunbridge Wells was renamed "Royal Tunbridge Wells" in 1909 following a petition from the borough council to Edward VII.[4]
The modern district was created on 1 April 1974 under the Local Government Act 1972, covering the whole area of three former districts and parts of a fourth, which were all abolished at the same time:[5]
The new district was named Tunbridge Wells after the area's largest town, but without the Royal prefix.[6] The district was not initially granted borough status.[7] The council resolved to petition for it in June 1974 and a borough charter was received on 20 December 1974, allowing the chair of the council to take the title mayor.[8][9]
The first election to the council was held in 1973, initially operating as a shadow authority alongside the outgoing authorities before coming into its powers on 1 April 1974. Political control of the council since 1974 has been as follows:[18][19]
The role of mayor is largely ceremonial in Tunbridge Wells. Political leadership is instead provided by the leader of the council. The leaders since 1998 have been:[20]
Since the last boundary changes in 2003 the council has comprised 48 councillors representing 20 wards, with each ward electing one, two or three councillors. Elections are held three years out of every four, with a third of the council being elected each time for a four year term of office. Kent County Council elections are held in the fourth year of the cycle when there are no borough council elections.[26]
In the 2016 European Union referendum, Tunbridge Wells was the only district in Kent that voted to remain in the EU (54.89%).
Premises
The council is based at Tunbridge Wells Town Hall on Mount Pleasant Road, which had been completed in 1941 for the old Royal Tunbridge Wells Borough Council.[27]
Geography
The borough of Tunbridge Wells lies along the south western border of Kent, partly on the northern edge of the Weald, the remainder on the Weald Clayplain in the upper reaches of the rivers Teise andBeult.
The Weald Clay plain along the northern edge of the borough forms part of the so-called Garden of England, named for its extensive orchards and former hop farms, sheep and cattle. A string of villages lies across this plain, from Brenchley and Horsmonden to Benenden and Headcorn.
Transport
The main roads through the borough are the A21 London to Hastings road and in the east, the A229, which runs from the A21 at Hurst Green through Cranbrook to Maidstone.
There is a railway line across the clay plain in an almost unbroken straight line between Redhill, Tonbridge and Ashford, Kent. The SER line to Hastings passes through Tunbridge Wells; here there was once a further branch connection south-eastwards to Groombridge, and at Paddock Wood is the southern terminus of the Medway Valley Line to Maidstone.
Places of interest
Apart from Tunbridge Wells itself, places of interest in the Borough include:
