Kent Police and the Dover Blockade: Too Busy Policing Facebook?
There are mornings when everything comes at once. The washing machine packs up. Somebody leaves the milk out. Hundreds of men dressed almost identically in black, many [...]
Folkestone & Hythe Local Plan 2045: Can 15,600 New Homes Be Supported by Water, GPs and Infrastructure?
Folkestone & Hythe may need to plan for around 15,600 new homes by 2045, but the challenge isn’t simply finding enough land. The district must also prove it can deliver [...]
Folkestone & Hythe Local Plan 2045 Consultation: 15,600 Homes and More Development Sites Likely
Folkestone & Hythe may need to plan for around 15,600 new homes between now and 2045, according to documents published as the district council begins preparing its new [...]
Kent County Council Register of Interests: Questions Extend Beyond Reform UK
Byline Times says it’s “not politically partisan” and promises to follow stories “wherever” they go, “without fear or favour”. Yet its investigation into [...]
Kent and Medway LGR Paused as Government Reviews Option 4B and Orders Councils to Stop Work
Kent and Medway’s Local Government Reorganisation hasn’t been cancelled. But Whitehall has now told councils to stop implementing July’s decision because ministers may [...]
Kent County Council Staff Suspensions: Seven Cases Lasted a Year or More as Average Hit 166 Days
Kent County Council says disciplinary issues should be dealt with through a “swift and effective process”. Yet its latest figures show staff suspensions averaging 166 [...]
Folkestone & Hythe: 155 Children in Temporary Accommodation as Costs Double and Out-of-Area Placements Soar
The number of children living in temporary accommodation arranged by Folkestone & Hythe District Council has more than doubled in two years. Now, as the Government [...]
Part 3: Hodson’s Chilmington Green Collapse — £211.9m in Creditor Claims, Six Administrations and 5,750 Homes at Stake
Chilmington Green was supposed to be much more than a housing estate. Ashford planned for a new community of up to 5,750 homes, schools, shops, parks and roads, backed by [...]
Get Off the Pavement: The Law Cyclists Ignore and Pedestrians Pay For
Guest contributor Alan has had enough of cyclists treating the pavement as an escape lane. He’s looked beyond the muttering and arm-waving to find out what the law actually [...]
Kent Local Government Reorganisation: KCC Considers Judicial Review of Option 4B
Reform-led Kent County Council says the Government selected a financially weaker model for reorganising Kent and failed to address serious concerns about the county’s [...]
Part Two: Hodson Developments — From Building Disputes to a £5 Million NHBC Claim
In Part One, we traced Alan Hodson (pictured) and Hodson Developments from Sunningdale through decades of housebuilding, land acquisition and secured finance. Part Two [...]
Bradstow School Closed — Now Kent and Wandsworth Are Fighting Over £4.58m in SEND Fees
Bradstow School in Broadstairs educated and cared for children with some of the most complex special educational needs and disabilities. Kent County Council didn’t merely [...]
Plug-In Solar Panels in Folkestone & Hythe: What Renters Need to Know About Landlord Permission and Planning
Plug-in solar could finally allow renters to generate some of their own electricity. But there’s an awkward catch: the person paying the electricity bill may still have [...]
Part One: Alan Hodson and Hodson Developments — The Rise of the Property Business Behind Chilmington Green
This is the first of a three-part investigation into property developer Alan Derek Hodson (pictured), Hodson Developments and associated companies, prompted by the [...]
Kent LGR Secrecy: FHDC Withholds MoU Figures Under FOI Section 22 — Even Though They’re Already Public
An FoI request submitted to Folkestone & Hythe District Council on 30 July 2026 asked for the Local Government Reorganisation Implementation Reserve Memorandum of [...]
Southern Water Sewage Spills Hit Folkestone and Hythe as Sea-Swimming Health Concerns Grow
By Claire, guest contributor I’ve got to the point where going anywhere near the sea seems to require three checks before leaving the house: what’s the weather doing, [...]
Allard and Dunlop: Five Liquidations, £705,820 in Creditor Exposure and a Trail of Failed Companies
Update: 4/09/26 10:05am – See bottom of article. Between October 2016 and March 2026, five companies linked to William Dunlop entered creditors’ voluntary liquidation [...]
Petticoat Lane Emporium Folkestone: ‘No Refund’ Sign, £77,580 Loss and £246,787 Short-Term Creditors
“Sorry — NO REFUND — ALL SALES FINAL.” That’s the notice facing customers at Petticoat Lane Emporium. The photograph supplied to The Shepway Vox Team shows it [...]
Folkestone & Hythe Complaints Surge 88% as 60 Residents Demand a Second Answer
Folkestone & Hythe District Council makes residents a pretty clear promise on its website: “We aim to resolve any complaint at stage one.” Yet in 2025/26, 60 [...]
Hythe Imperial Planning Objection Guide: What Residents Need to Know About GSE’s £120m, 291-Home Plan
This is a Guest Post After reading The Shepway Vox Team’s examination of planning application 26/1290/FH, I spent a fair bit of time going through the application papers [...]
Nepal Disaster: Folkestone & Hythe Sends Messages of Hope and Comfort to Those Affected
The terrible events unfolding in Nepal and the wider Himalayan region will feel a very long way from Kent. But for many families across Folkestone & Hythe and the county, [...]
Folkestone & Hythe District Council’s £1.26m Fraud Report Doesn’t Say How Much Was Fraud — or Error
There’s a rather important word hiding inside Folkestone & Hythe District Council’s latest £1.26 million fraud figure. “Or.” FHDC says its investigations team [...]
GSE’s £120m Hythe Imperial Plan: 291 Homes, a 25m Pool — and a Planning File That Doesn’t Quite Add Up
GSE’s Imperial Gardens scheme promises 291 homes, around 73 “affordable homes”, a new 25m swimming pool and substantial private investment on Hythe seafront. [...]
KCC’s £100m AI Surveillance Framework: The GDPR Guide That Thinks It’s About Electric Cars
Kent County Council’s national surveillance framework can help public bodies buy facial-recognition cameras, artificial-intelligence surveillance, biometrics, ANPR, thermal [...]
Kent Council Debt: Borrowing Reaches £2.45bn as Medway Overtakes KCC Ahead of Local Government Reorganisation
New Government figures show nine of Kent’s 14 councils borrowing more than two years ago. With four new unitary councils due in 2028, those liabilities aren’t simply [...]