The Town Council

Hawkinge Parish Council requested a review of its status in 2011 as this had not been done since 1968 and given the growth of Hawkinge at that time it was felt that the Parish Council might not have been properly representing the local community, or being effective in local administration

The Shepway report addressed a number of issues for the Parish Council and set out the preparation which would be needed in order for the Community Governance Review to be effective and highlighted that the Council needed to be clear about what it wanted to achieve from the review in relation to the style and name for the Council that would accurately reflect its situation at that time, and its views on warding, the number of Councillors required, and working relationships with surrounding parishes.

The report also asked the Shepway District Council General Purposes Committee to consider whether the Council should adopt the status of a “Town”. The issue of styling and renaming needed to be resolved by the Council before the Review in 2012. This was achieved by passing a resolution under section 245(6) Local Government Act 1972 to adopt the required status.

At this time Hawkinge had a population in excess of 9000 people with an electorate of 5381, with numbers set to increase. It had the facilities of a small town – two supermarkets, a bank, health centre, doctor’s surgery, dentist, community centre, two primary schools, nursing home, museum, council offices, sports pavilion and cricket pavilion and good public transport to local towns.