Government ministers have confirmed that Kent and Medway’s 14 existing councils will be abolished and replaced by four single-tier authorities from 1 April 2028, with Tonbridge and Malling falling into a new West Kent council alongside Sevenoaks, Maidstone and Tunbridge Wells.
From April 2028, residents in Tonbridge, West Malling and across the borough will deal with one council — not two — for everything from bin collections and libraries to schools, social care and road repairs. Kent County Council, Medway Council and all 12 district, borough and city councils will be wound up and replaced by four new unitary authorities. The biggest shake-up of local government in Kent in roughly 50 years. Nobody’s pretending it’ll be straightforward.
Tonbridge and Malling Borough Council will be absorbed into a new West Kent unitary authority covering the areas currently served by Sevenoaks, Maidstone and Tunbridge Wells. One council, the lot of it. Local facilities including the Angel Centre in Tonbridge — currently caught between borough and county-level oversight — will fall entirely under the new body’s remit.
The decision follows a statutory consultation in which around 3,000 responses were received on how many new councils there should be and where the boundaries should fall. The Secretary of State selected the four-council option from proposals put forward by the existing Kent councils.
The timetable runs as follows:
- Elections to all four new unitary councils scheduled for 2027
- New councils operate as shadow authorities — running in parallel with existing councils — after those elections
- Full transfer of powers and abolition of all current councils from 1 April 2028
Until then, Tonbridge and Malling Borough Council and its counterparts across Kent must manage the transition of staff, assets, contracts and services into the new structures. That’s no small task — these are organisations that between them currently handle everything from planning decisions in Tonbridge to highways maintenance across the whole county.
And it’s part of something bigger. The reorganisation sits within a national programme to scrap the two-tier system, where county and district councils have long shared responsibility for different services, and replace it with single authorities that handle everything under one roof.
The new West Kent unitary council formally comes into existence on 1 April 2028.
Four new councils to replace Kent's current structure by 2028 Quiz
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