Dartford

Borough of Dartford
Shown within Kent
Geography
Status:	Borough
Region:	South East England
Admin. County:	Kent
Area: - Total	Ranked 278th 72.77 km²
Admin. HQ:	Dartford
ONS code:	29UD
Demographics
Population: - Total (2008 est.) - Density	Ranked 246th 92,000 1264 / km²
Ethnicity[1]:	91.6% White 3.5% S.Asian 2.1% Black 1.7% Mixed Race 1.2% Chinese or Other
Politics
Dartford Borough Council http://www.dartford.gov.uk/
Leadership:	Leader & Cabinet
Executive:	Conservative
MP:	Howard Stoate

Note that this article discusses the local government district as a whole: see Dartford (town) for more specific information on the town itself

Dartford is the name given to a local government district and borough in north west Kent, England, which takes its name from its administrative capital. It bounders Thurrock, to the north across the River Thames; to the west lies the London Borough of Bexley; to the south Sevenoaks district; and the borough of Gravesham to the east. The population of the borough recorded in the 2001 census was 85,911.

The borough was formed on 1 April 1974 by the merger of the Municipal Borough of Dartford, Swanscombe Urban District, and part of Dartford Rural District.

Government

Since 1997, Dartford's MP is Howard Stoate (Labour). The Mayor for the year May 2009 to May 2010 is Councillor Jenny Rickwood. The Leader of the Council, from February 2006, is Councillor Jeremy Kite (Conservative). Councillors represent the following seventeen wards, as amended in 2001:^[2]

• Bean and Darenth
• Brent
• Castle
• Greenhithe
• Heath
• Joyce Green
• Joydens Wood
• Littlebrook
• Longfield, New Barn and Southfleet
• Newtown
• Princes
• Stone
• Sutton-at-Hone and Hawley
• Swanscombe
• Town
• West Hill
• Wilmington

NB the boundaries of these wards do not necessarily coincide with the parish boundaries, which follow

The following civil parishes are also included in the borough:

• Bean
• Darenth
• Longfield and New Barn
• Southfleet
• Stone
• Sutton-at-Hone and Hawley
• Swanscombe and Greenhithe
• Wilmington

In addition to the settlements named above, there is also the urban village of Joydens Wood to the south-west of the town.

Communications in the borough

Railways

Ebbsfleet International

There are six railway stations in the borough: at Stone; Greenhithe (for Bluewater); Swanscombe and Dartford, all on the North Kent Line; and Longfield and Farningham Road on the Victoria - Chatham Main Line. From Dartford there are three lines serving London and one to Gravesend, the Medway Towns and eastern Kent. For many services Dartford is the terminus.

The new Ebbsfleet International railway station opened in the east of the borough on 19 November 2007. High-speed services to Paris and five to Brussels run daily from here by Eurostar. The station will also carry commuters to St Pancras station in London in only 16 minutes, and to Stratford International (next to the 2012 Summer Olympics site) in just 10 minutes.

Roads

Fastrack in Dartford town centre

Three of the county’s main roads pass through the borough boundaries: the M25 and M20 motorways and the A2 road. The A20, A225 and the A226 roads also cross the borough, among others.

The first of the Fastrack bus services, using a combination of ordinary roads and dedicated 'bus tracks' commenced in March 2006. The service runs from the Temple Hill area of Dartford, through the town centre and on to Bluewater Shopping Centre, Greenhithe, Ebbsfleet station and Gravesend.

Dartford gives its name to the Dartford Crossing of the River Thames, a pair of road tunnels (1963 and 1980), and the Queen Elizabeth II Bridge (October 1991), linking Kent and Essex and linking sections of the London Orbital M25 motorway.

Employment

Exterior of Bluewater

Although many of area’s traditional industries of papermaking, cement, and pharmaceuticals are in decline or closing down, and many of borough’s inhabitants travel away from the borough by rail and road (many commuting to London and other areas for work), there is still a large industrial and commercial base. Included among those areas include 'The Bridge' and Crossways to either side of the Queen Elizabeth II Bridge, areas around Greenhithe and a 740-acre (3.0 km²) site planned to contain five separate 'villages' in the Eastern Quarry near Bluewater Shopping Centre, itself a large employer.

Sister cities

Namyangju, South Korea

References

External links

• The borough website

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