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Local Information

This is our general information page, let us know if there is anything you think should be included here.

General Information

www.upyourstreet.co.uk is a very useful information site. You type in your postcode and then it offers a variety of local information, you can for example find the nearest florist or garage to your home. It also has statistics like council performance, crime rates; and you can also find out how advertisers see your road in the Acorn area profiles.

Advice

The Community Legal Service (0845 345 4345) contains a lot of advice and links to other sites on subjects such as Benefits, Consumer Affairs, Employment, Housing, Law, Health and Social Care and Taxation. The Community Legal Service aims to bring together such bodies as the Citizens' Advice Bureaux and Legal Aid.

The Citizens' Advice Bureau website has a lot of information on day-to-day issues such as benefits, housing, employment, tax, eduction and civil rights.

Council Tax Benefit advice is available from the Kent Benefits Partnership, Contact Centre, Invicta House, Maidstone, ME14 1XX (0845 345 0310). You may be eligible if you get the state pension and have less than £16,000 in savings.

Buses

For routes 423 (New Ash Green - Hartley - Longfield - Darent Valley Hospital - Bluewater - Dartford) and 489 (New Ash Green - Hartley - Longfield - Southfleet - Gravesend) see the Arriva website.

Occasional buses also run to Bluewater from Hartley on routes K14 and K15.

There is also a commuter coach service from New Ash Green to London via Hartley run by Lewis Travel UK PLC. They can be contacted on 020 8858 0031 for more details.

Census

The detailed area statistics for Hartley (and any other council ward) are now available on the Office for National Statistics Website.

For an article about the results for Hartley, Longfield and Ash please click on the link.

Crime

Figures published by KCC for the year ended 31 March 2001 show Hartley to be a relatively low crime area for Kent. Overall the then ward of Fawkham and Hartley ranked 253 out of the 331 wards in Kent. That is, only 78 wards had lower levels of crime.

For an article about the results for the then Fawkham and Hartley council ward, click on the link.

Current crime information is to be found on the Kent Caddie website run by Kent County Council.

Health

The local NHS website contains information about doctors, dentists, hospitals and chemists.

The local surgery is Kent House Surgery, 36 Station Road, Longfield (they also have a surgery in New Ash Green).

Local Community Websites

Ash cum Ridley Parish
West Kingsdown Community Pages

Maps

The Ordnance Survey website has a free site where you can view their maps of an area up to the 1 inch to 1 mile scale. They have also published historical maps. For example for Hartley, you can see the large scale map published in 1869.

There are several sites offering street maps. One of the best known is www.streetmap.co.uk - the simplest way to use this site is to type in a postcode and then you will get a map centred on that address.

If you're planning a journey by car, try the AA routeplanner. For those who travel on foot, Kent County Council has published a map of local footpaths.

News

There are several local papers circulating in the area:
News Shopper
Kentish Times Group - Dartford Times, Gravesend Reporter
Kent Messenger Group - Dartford Messenger, Gravesend Messenger
Town and Country Post - published in Hartley

Statistics for circulation and readership of our local papers are to be found on the JICREG website (Joint Industry Committee for Regional Press Research). You can search by area or title. They have a Hartley - Longfield area which also includes New Ash Green and Fawkham.

And don't forget our own news page!

Police, Fire, Ambulance

Kent Police
Kent Fire Brigade
Kent and Medway Ambulance Trust
Kent Air Ambulance Trust

Kent County Council publish emergency services statistics at www.kentcaddie.org.uk by council area and ward.

Roads

Click here for details of highway maintenance in the Hartley area.

You can report problems with roads eg. potholes, overhanging vegetation on the Highways Helpline (0845 303 2500) or you can report them online

Schools

Hartley's two primary schools both have their own websites:
Hartley County Primary School, Round Ash Way
Our Lady of Hartley RC Primary School, Stack Lane

Hartley also has a special school - The Milestone School, Ash Road, which has 145 pupils from 2 to 19 years old, with severe, profound and multiple learning difficulties and autism

Trains

For timetable information on all routes go to the Railtrack website. Details of our local train operator South Eastern Trains Limited are available on their website.

Utilities

Mains water is supplied by Mid Kent Water, while drainage is dealt with by Thames Water. Mid Kent Water has covered Hartley since 1901, and their website has a history of the company and water supply in Hartley.

Gas, Electricity and Telephones are supplied by many companies. You can find out who may be the best supplier for you at the independent website u-switch.com