Gravesham

Borough of Gravesham
—  Non-metropolitan district, Borough  —
Gravesham shown within Kent
Sovereign state	United Kingdom
Constituent country	England
Region	South East England
Non-metropolitan county	Kent
Status	Non-metropolitan district, Borough
Admin HQ	Gravesend
Incorporated	1 April 1974
Government
• Type	Non-metropolitan district council
• Body	Gravesham Borough Council
• Leadership	Leader & Cabinet (Conservative)
• MPs	Adam Holloway
Area
• Total	38.23 sq mi (99.02 km2)
Area rank	221st (of 326)
Population (2010 est.)
• Total	99,600
• Rank	226th (of 326)
• Density	2,600/sq mi (1,000/km2)
• Ethnicity	87.8% White 8.5% S.Asian 1.4% Black 1.3% Mixed Race 1.0% Chinese or Other
Time zone	GMT (UTC0)
• Summer (DST)	BST (UTC+1)
ONS code	29UG
OS grid reference	TQ647740
Website	www.gravesham.gov.uk

Gravesham ( /ˈɡreɪvʃəm/ GRAYV-shəm) is a local government district and borough in North West Kent, England. It has borders with the River Thames to the north; the former city of Rochester and Medway to the east; the borough of Tonbridge and Malling (to the south); and the boroughs of Sevenoaks and Dartford to the west.

Its council is based at the Town Hall in Gravesend, and the borough shares similar borders with the Gravesham constituency. As well as the parishes listed below, the area of the former urban district of Northfleet was also included in the borough when it was formed in 1974 under the Local Government Act 1972. It is the successor to the Gravesend Municipal Borough, Northfleet Urban District, and part of Strood Rural District. Gravesham is twinned with Cambrai.

Name

Robert H Hiscock, Chairman of the Gravesend Historical Society, in the foreword to his book, 'A History of Gravesend' (Phillimore, 1976) wrote:

"The name Gravesham appears only in the Domesday Book, 1086, and was probably the error of a Norman scribe. It was 'Gravesend' in the Domesday Monarchorum c.1100, and 'Gravesende' in the Textus Roffensis c.1100. It is strange that this "clerical error" should now have been adopted as the name of the new Council".

Governance

See also: Gravesham local elections

Gravesham Borough Council is elected every four years, with currently 44 councillors being elected at each election. From the first election in 1973 the council has alternated between Labour and Conservative control. Since 1995 Labour has controlled the council apart from 4 years between the 2007 and 2011 elections. As of the 2011 election the council is composed of the following councillors:-

Party		Councillors
	Labour Party	25
	Conservative Party	19

There are eighteen wards represented on the Borough Council:

• Those serving Gravesend town:
  • Central
  • Pelham
  • Riverside
  • Singlewell
  • Whitehill
  • Woodlands
• Other urban areas:
  • Northfleet (2 wards - North & South)
  • Coldharbour
  • Istead Rise
  • Painters Ash
  • Riverview
  • Westcourt
• Outlying villages:
  • Chalk
  • Higham
  • Meopham: (2 wards - North & South)
  • Nurstead
  • Shorne, Cobham & Luddesdown
  • Vigo is part of the Meopham South ward

see also List of civil parishes in Kent

External links

• Gravesham Borough Council YouTube channel
• About Gravesend website