THANET

Thanet District
Thanet ''Shown within Kent''
Geography
Status:	District
Region:	South East England
Admin. County:	Kent
Area: - Total	Ranked 241st 103.30 km²
Admin. HQ:	Margate
ONS code:	29UN
Demographics
Population: - Total () - Density	Ranked / km²
Ethnicity:	97.7% White
Politics
Thanet District Council http://www.thanet.gov.uk/
Leadership:	Leader & Cabinet
Executive:
MPs:	Roger Gale, Stephen Ladyman

'Thanet' is a local government district of Kent, England which was formed under the Local Government Act 1972, and came into being on 1 April 1974. It occupies the area known as the Isle of Thanet and is governed by Thanet District Council. The main towns in the district are Margate, Ramsgate and Broadstairs.
The district is located on the north eastern tip of Kent, and is predominantly coastal, with north, east and south facing coastline. The district is bordered by the City of Canterbury district to west, and the Dover district to the south.

Contents

Towns and parishes

Development and communication

Politics

Health

Media

Famous people

See also

References

External links

Towns and parishes

The district was formed by the merger of Margate and Ramsgate municipal boroughs with Broadstairs and St Peter's urban district and part of Eastry Rural District. An Isle of Thanet Rural District had existed from 1894 and the Local Government Act 1894 until it was abolished in 1935 to form part of Eastry RD.
The district is divided into 23 wards, some of which are included in the three traditional coastal resorts of Margate, Broadstairs and Ramsgate. The civil parishes located in the district are:

★ Acol

★ Birchington

★ Broadstairs and St Peter's (town)

★ Cliffsend

★ Manston

★ Minster

★ Monkton

★ St Nicholas at Wade and Sarre
Margate and Ramsgate are unparished areas, though there are attempts to parish Ramsgate.^[1]

Development and communication

Because of the three towns, almost the entire coastal area is built on. From Birchington, via Westgate-on-Sea, Margate, Cliftonville, Kingsgate to Ramsgate there is scarcely any unused seafront. Where it is not built upon, the coastline is slightly higher - for example at North Foreland.
Railway lines enter the district from three directions:^[2]

★ Coastal route through Whitstable and Chatham to London

★ Land route through Canterbury and Ashford (international station for Eurostar) to London

★ Coastal route to Dover and Folkestone
The key road links are:^[3]

★ The A299 Thanet Way, which approaches from the North Kent coast, and eventually joins with the M2.

★ The A28 Canterbury Road, which links with the city of Canterbury

★ The A256 which links the district to Dover
There is an airport at Manston, formerly RAF Manston, but since renamed by its commercial operators as Kent International Airport.
Ferry services (predominantly freight) are operated by Transeuropa ferries to the Continent from Port Ramsgate.^[4]

Politics

Thanet District Council is held by a Conservative majority, who hold 33 seats, compared to the 19 seats held by Labour, who are the second party.^[5]
There are two MPs for Thanet; Roger Gale, a Conservative for North Thanet, and Stephen Ladyman, a Labour MP for South Thanet.

Health

Overall indicators of health are poor for Thanet.^[6]

★ Life expectancy is increasing but on average is less than for England

★ People on means-tested benefits: 21,400

★ Children in low-income households: 6,800

★ Teenage pregnancies are high compared to the England average

★ Violent crime is more frequent in Thanet than in England

★ Estimated smoking rates are high as are death rates from smoking

★ Early deaths from cancer are higher than the England average

★ Healthy eating, physical activity, and adult obseity are similar to the national average

★ Binge drinking is below the national average

★ Higher than average number of people admitted to hospital for alcohol-specific conditions

★ Higher than average rate of diabetes

★ Higher than average rate of mental health problems
The whole district suffers from seasonal unemployment, in spite of its proximity to London.
Contributory factors are:

★ inward migration

★ high numbers of old people

★ low numbers of affluent people

Media

Local newspapers are the Thanet Extra, part of the Kent Messenger group, Thanet Adscene, Isle of Thanet Gazette and Thanet Times, all owned by Trinity Mirror.
Local radio stations are Kmfm (Thanet Local Radio) owned by Kent Messenger group and the county wide Invicta FM.

Famous people

Thomas Webster Rammell

See also

★ List of clubs and societies in Thanet

References

1. Parish and town Council function
2. National Rail Network London and South East
3. Map of Thanet key road links
4. TransEuropa Ferries
5. 2007 Election Results
6. [1]

External links

★ Local Maritime Volunteer Service

★ District website