Residents are calling for the creation of a town council.

Voters in Tonbridge fear the government’s planned reorganisation of local authorities will leave them without easy access to a councillor.

The town centre is the only part of the borough of Tonbridge and Malling that does not already have a parish or town council to represent it.

There have long been complaints of a “democratic deficit” for urban residents, with no say in decisions.

However, the need has become more pressing since the government’s announcement in December of major reforms to the local authorities.

The changes will see the existing two-tier system of borough and county councils swept away and replaced with one authority covering at least 500,000 people.

The current speculation is that Tonbridge and Malling will be amalgamated with Maidstone, Tunbridge Wells and Sevenoaks councils.

Mary Arigho is from the newly formed non–party-political Town Council Campaign Group.

She said: “The reforms will do away with borough councils and replace them with ‘super councils’, concentrating power in the hands of very few people, the complete opposite of localism.”

The campaign group points out that town centre residents are already paying a Special Expenses bill of £76.82 (for a Band D house) to Tonbridge and Malling borough council, on top of their council tax. Money, it says, that could fund the town council.

Ms Arigho said: “Residents would have more control over how their council tax was spent.”

The group points out that the £1,068,610 currently gathered through special expenses is spent by the borough council’s cabinet members, who are not town centre residents.

Ms Arigho said: “At the moment, almost every decision affecting our town is made by a borough council cabinet with a membership which comes from Walderslade, Borough Green, Wrotham, East Peckham and Kings Hill, where the council is also based.

“A voluntary, non-party political council could speak for local residents and put the interests of the town first.

“There is currently no town centre management in Tonbridge and we have no functioning chamber of commerce, either.

“A town council could fill this gap. It would be based in the town and easily accessible for drop-in visits.”

As a first step, the group has launched a petition calling on the borough to create a town council.

The e-petition is live online and voters in the town are asked to add their names before March 3 this year.

There are also hard copies to be signed at farmers’ markets and at events around the town and which are also being taken door to door.

Once the petition has been signed by 7.5% of voters in the town area - which equates to 2,075 people - the group can submit a written request for a community governance review to the electoral registration officer. Once the review has begun, it must be completed within a year.

Any change would ultimately need to be supported by a majority of those voting in a local referendum.

If you are a resident of Tonbridge town centre, you can sign the petition here.

The Tonbridge Town Council Campaign Group has a Facebook page here.

There are already a number of town councils in Kent - notably Sevenoaks, Folkestone, Ramsgate, Dover, Deal and Broadstairs.

Maidstone borough council is looking to carry out a community governance review to see if there is support for a town council there once the borough council is abolished in a few years’ time

A town council has exactly the same powers as a parish council, except that it can appoint its own mayor.

At the time of writing, the town council petition had gathered 950 signatures online and 1,000 signatures had been garnered on paper petitions.