ShepwayVox Dissent is not a Crime

Four Companies Registered at Folkestone and Hythe Council Homes Raise Tenancy Fraud Audit Questions

July 15, 2026 // 0 Comments

A new Cabinet Office agreement with Airbnb will allow participating councils to compare social-housing records with holiday-let listings to identify possible illegal [...]

South Brooks Solar Farm: FHDC Officers Raise Concerns Over Heathrow-Sized Romney Marsh Scheme

July 15, 2026 // 0 Comments

Back in May, The Shepway Vox Team wrote that Romney Marsh isn’t empty land beside a handy National Grid socket. It’s a vast, man-made water system held together by [...]

Exclusive: Royal British Legion Says Reform UK Fundraising at Hythe Armed Forces Day Was Unauthorised

July 14, 2026 // 2 Comments

The Royal British Legion says Reform UK wasn’t authorised to claim any connection with the charity or fundraise on its behalf at Hythe Armed Forces Day. The local branch [...]

Folkestone Footfall Data: FHDC’s Own Figures Show Visits Peaked in 2023

July 14, 2026 // 0 Comments

Folkestone & Hythe District Council says Folkestone’s town centre grew beyond the national trend, reached a five-year footfall peak in 2024 and then settled into a [...]

Saga Enbrook Park Housing Plan: Can Saga Fix The Pavilion Without Building Homes?

July 13, 2026 // 0 Comments

Saga wants residents at Enbrook Park on Monday 13 July 2026, from 4pm to 7pm, at the Main Reception, Saga Building, Enbrook Park, Sandgate. That’s the consultation, and if [...]

NHS Kent and Medway Job Cuts: 430 Posts Go as ICB Faces £50.8m Deficit

July 12, 2026 // 0 Comments

What follows isn’t Adam Doyle’s actual words, and it’s not some leaked chinwag from the snug. It’s our straight-talking take on NHS Kent and Medway’s board papers [...]

Former Aldi Hythe Plan: No Affordable Housing, 43 Parking Spaces at Risk – The Long Read

July 12, 2026 // 0 Comments

For seven years, Hythe has had a hole in its High Street where the old Aldi used to trade. The shutters came down in 2019, the supermarket moved to Kengate Industrial Estate, [...]

Ship Street Folkestone: Old Gasworks Still Looking For A Buyer While Affordable Homes Remain On Paper

July 10, 2026 // 0 Comments

Still for sale. Still fenced off. Still no affordable homes. Ship Street is one of those Folkestone promises that’s been round the houses without building any. The live [...]

Otterpool Park Update: Hillhurst Farm Homes Rise From 300 To 500 As Homes England Hides Land Price

July 9, 2026 // 0 Comments

In a response under the Environmental Information Regulations, Homes England has confirmed it has bought part of the Hillhurst Farm/Hillhurst Green land at Otterpool Park. [...]

Kent’s Housing Crisis: 47,839 Approved Homes, But Councils Still Fail The Delivery Test

July 8, 2026 // 1 Comment

Kent hasn’t run out of planning permissions. It’s got plenty of paper foundations. The latest Kent housing land supply audit shows 47,839 homes with planning permission [...]

Free School Meals In Folkestone & Hythe Rise From One In Five Pupils To Almost One In Three

July 7, 2026 // 0 Comments

The free-school-meals (FSM) line in Folkestone & Hythe doesn’t wobble. It climbs. All-schools district data shows the rate rising from 19.8% in 2020 to 32.6% in 2026. [...]

Folkestone & Hythe Council HR Reports Show Staff Sickness, Stress And Long-Term Absence Rising Under Green-Led Rule

July 6, 2026 // 1 Comment

Folkestone & Hythe District Council’s HR reports between 21/22 – 25/26 read like a match of two halves. The Conservatives left the pitch with a governance mess [...]

FHDC Public Money: 46 Contract Red Flags Raise Questions Over Council Spending

July 5, 2026 // 0 Comments

There’s no point dressing this up in committee-room cotton wool. Folkestone & Hythe District Council’s public data shows 46 confirmed 2025/26 contract red flags and [...]

Sunflower House And One Folkestone: Public Money, Vulnerable People And Missing Safeguards

July 3, 2026 // 4 Comments

Sunflower House says it’s about community. One Folkestone says it’s about partnership. Both talk in the soft language of help, hope, joining-up and civic renewal. But [...]

Cllr Jim Martin Held 18 Meetings With Sir Roger De Haan — FHDC Says No Notes Were Kept

July 3, 2026 // 0 Comments

Folkestone & Hythe District Council has confirmed that its Leader, Cllr Jim Martin, attended 18 meetings with Sir Roger De Haan between March 2024 and May 2026. No great [...]

Leas Pavilion Folkestone: £4m Hole, Receivers And Vanishing Buyers Leave Rescue On The Brink

July 2, 2026 // 0 Comments

The latest Friends Of The Leas Pavilion meeting points to a Leas Pavilion scheme that isn’t easing back to life, but wobbling badly: the historic fabric is said to be safe, [...]

Otterpool Park Design Brief To Be Submitted With Outline Planning Application Update

July 2, 2026 // 0 Comments

Otterpool Park where FHDC got a council resolution to grant outline permission in April 2023. Three years later, the actual permission still hasn’t been issued. Now the [...]

FHDC Gives Residents Just 256 Characters To Ask About The Public’s Money

July 1, 2026 // 2 Comments

Folkestone & Hythe District Council’s public inspection form now limits residents to 256 characters when asking for accounting records. That’s less than X. Less than [...]

KCC DOLGE: Reform UK’s Waste Hunt Finds “No Obvious Wasteful Spending” After £22.7m Overspend

July 1, 2026 // 1 Comment

Reform arrived at County Hall promising to hunt waste. Then KCC’s own DOLGE paper said the job was to check “there was no obvious wasteful spending”. That’s the [...]

Councillor Home Addresses: Why the New Privacy Law Matters

June 29, 2026 // 1 Comment

Today, 29 June 2026, the law changes.Councils in England must no longer publish councillors’ home addresses in public registers of interests unless the councillor [...]

East Kent Maternity Safety: Warning Signs Still Flash

June 28, 2026 // 1 Comment

Donna Ockenden’s Nottingham Maternity report, published on Wednesday last week, should make uncomfortable reading in East Kent. Not because Nottingham and East Kent are the [...]

Otterpool Park First Homes: Hillhurst Costs and North Downs Views

June 26, 2026 // 3 Comments

Homes England has bought Hillhurst farmland. The first 300 Otterpool homes are being aimed at sites HF2 and HF3, where the public plans show buildings up to 12–15 metres. [...]

FHDC Housing Account: Millions Unspent on Council Homes

June 26, 2026 // 0 Comments

Folkestone & Hythe District Council’s council-housing account ended 2025/26 with a much bigger reserve than expected. That’s the good news. The less comfortable [...]

Folkestone & Hythe District Council Spent Less, Delivered Less, But Borrowed More

June 25, 2026 // 1 Comment

Folkestone & Hythe District Council’s capital programme ended 2025/26 with a headline underspend of £3.649m, but that doesn’t mean the council simply saved money. [...]

Oliver Davis, Dace Environmental and the £6.68m Creditor Question

June 25, 2026 // 0 Comments

Kent’s new green housing fix is being sold with drone footage, widened ditches and the promise of thousands of homes. But behind the clean-river sales pitch sits a very [...]

	Angela on Exclusive: Royal British Legio…
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	A Council Employee on Folkestone & Hythe Counci…
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