ShepwayVox Dissent is not a Crime

Stodmarsh Sewage Crisis: Southern Water, Otterpool Park and East Kent

March 10, 2026 // 1 Comment

At Canterbury’s scrutiny committee on 4 March (from1hr 46m 44s onwards), Stodmarsh kept popping up like the blinking red light on a dashboard that everyone hopes belongs to [...]

Councils Cry Poverty — While Quietly Lending Each Other £Millions

March 9, 2026 // 0 Comments

We’ve just been handed a neat little window into how modern local government really works. On Tuesday 10 March, Folkestone & Hythe District Council’s Finance and [...]

Hamstreet Sewage Scandal: Why FHDC Failed to Act While Ashford Investigated

March 8, 2026 // 2 Comments

Residents raised a serious complaint about suspected foul contamination moving from Hamstreet towards Hythe and the sea. One council replied with site visits, [...]

Southern Water in Kent: Bailiffs, Sewage and Beaches Closed for Swimming.

March 7, 2026 // 2 Comments

Fresh parliamentary papers have put an ugly new number on an old public grievance. On 6 March, the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Committee published debt-collection [...]

Reform UK KCC Cabinet Member David Wimble’s Looker Accused of Misleading Readers on Kent County Council Debt

March 6, 2026 // 3 Comments

The Shepway Vox Team went back to the documents. What we found was not a careful picture of Kent County Council’s current debt costs, but an old snapshot repackaged as a [...]

Kent Wood-Burner Pollution: 78,380 Estimated Stoves and the Clean Air Powers Councils Aren’t Using

March 5, 2026 // 0 Comments

A set of EPC-based estimates, circulated via a British Medical Jornal (BMJ) rapid response and now re-summed and charted, suggests there are roughly 78,380 domestic [...]

Hythe Wood-Burner Pollution: Folkestone & Hythe District Council Challenged Over UCL Data

March 5, 2026 // 0 Comments

At Tuesday 3 March’s Overview & Scrutiny Committee, a revealing exchange played out over domestic wood burners and air quality in Hythe. Councillor Paul Thomas recalled [...]

Leas Pavilion Folkestone: Off-Plan Flat Buyers Left Exposed as Receivers Sell the Freehold

March 3, 2026 // 2 Comments

Folkestone’s stalled Leas Pavilion scheme has spent long enough as a visual punchline: hoardings, silence, and two concrete cores that look less like “luxury living” [...]

East Kent Sewage Pollution: Southern Water, Five Councils and the Statutory Nuisance Law

March 3, 2026 // 2 Comments

We’re The Shepway Vox Team, and over the past few weeks we’ve watched the same pattern play out again and again. Residents complain that sewage-contaminated discharges [...]

Rough Sleeping in Kent: Snapshot Trends and District Hotspots

March 2, 2026 // 2 Comments

On one night each autumn, Kent’s 12 district councils go out and record how many people are sleeping rough. Not in hostels. Not in night shelters. Not sofa-surfing. Just [...]

Water UK’s Storm Overflows Plan: A 25-Year Delay in England’s Sewage Scandal

March 1, 2026 // 0 Comments

Water UK’s National Storm Overflows Plan for England was launched with the kind of self-congratulation you usually hear just before someone asks you to be patient. It was [...]

Folkestone & Hythe Customer Access Strategy: Digital by Choice or Digital Exclusion?

February 27, 2026 // 1 Comment

Folkestone & Hythe District Council has approved a new Customer Access Strategy 2026 -29, built around a simple promise: residents should be able to access council [...]

Kent Fly-Tipping: Incidents Rise While Enforcement Varies Widely Between Councils

February 26, 2026 // 0 Comments

Kent is the Garden of England. It is also, judging by the latest Defra flytipping data for 24/25, a place where far too many people treat hedgerows, lay-bys and quiet [...]

FHDC Homelessness Spending: Temporary Accommodation Costs Soar as Prevention Fund and Private Sector Offer Payments Rise

February 26, 2026 // 0 Comments

If you want to understand the housing pressure in Folkestone & Hythe, start with the bit that hurts: the emergency bill. Between April 2025 and January 2026, Folkestone [...]

Folkestone & Hythe Council Budget: Council Tax Rise, Reserves Drawdown and Debt Repayment Shake-Up

February 26, 2026 // 0 Comments

Folkestone & Hythe District Council’s budget debate yesterday evening didn’t hinge on a big, obvious “cuts list”. It hinged on something far less [...]

Folkestone & Hythe’s Risborough Barracks Deal: Taylor Wimpey Payments Revealed as Temporary Accommodation Costs Soar

February 25, 2026 // 1 Comment

Folkestone & Hythe District Council has so far paid Taylor Wimpey £2,390,013.56 towards the Risborough Barracks affordable homes scheme, based on supplier payment data [...]

Mandatory DBS Checks for District and Parish Councillors: The Russell Tillson Case

February 24, 2026 // 1 Comment

In the long shadow of the “Epstein files” debate — where public trust has again been tested by questions about powerful men, elite networks and who knew what — the [...]

Folkestone & Hythe’s Emissions and Biodiversity Record Was Built Under Conservative Leadership

February 24, 2026 // 0 Comments

A new Folkestone & Hythe District Council scrutiny report gives a detailed picture of carbon emissions and biodiversity policy. It also raises an important point of [...]

Folkestone & Hythe District Council: Councillors Challenge Youth Football Fees, Hythe Pool Spend, Princes Parade Delay and Southern Water

February 23, 2026 // 2 Comments

Folkestone & Hythe District Council meets in Full Council on Wednesday 25 February at 7pm, and councillors have published a set of questions that range from the price of [...]

	Andrew on Stodmarsh Sewage Crisis: South…
	Amanda on Hamstreet Sewage Scandal: Why…
	Andrew on Hamstreet Sewage Scandal: Why…
	John on Southern Water in Kent: Bailif…
	Briskly Tiger on Southern Water in Kent: Bailif…

Stodmarsh Sewage Crisis: Southern Water, Otterpool Park and East Kent

Councils Cry Poverty — While Quietly Lending Each Other £Millions

Hamstreet Sewage Scandal: Why FHDC Failed to Act While Ashford Investigated

Southern Water in Kent: Bailiffs, Sewage and Beaches Closed for Swimming.

Reform UK KCC Cabinet Member David Wimble’s Looker Accused of Misleading Readers on Kent County Council Debt

Kent Wood-Burner Pollution: 78,380 Estimated Stoves and the Clean Air Powers Councils Aren’t Using

Hythe Wood-Burner Pollution: Folkestone & Hythe District Council Challenged Over UCL Data

Leas Pavilion Folkestone: Off-Plan Flat Buyers Left Exposed as Receivers Sell the Freehold

East Kent Sewage Pollution: Southern Water, Five Councils and the Statutory Nuisance Law

Rough Sleeping in Kent: Snapshot Trends and District Hotspots

Water UK’s Storm Overflows Plan: A 25-Year Delay in England’s Sewage Scandal

Kent Fly-Tipping: Incidents Rise While Enforcement Varies Widely Between Councils

FHDC Homelessness Spending: Temporary Accommodation Costs Soar as Prevention Fund and Private Sector Offer Payments Rise

Folkestone & Hythe Council Budget: Council Tax Rise, Reserves Drawdown and Debt Repayment Shake-Up

Folkestone & Hythe’s Risborough Barracks Deal: Taylor Wimpey Payments Revealed as Temporary Accommodation Costs Soar

Mandatory DBS Checks for District and Parish Councillors: The Russell Tillson Case

Folkestone & Hythe’s Emissions and Biodiversity Record Was Built Under Conservative Leadership

Folkestone & Hythe District Council: Councillors Challenge Youth Football Fees, Hythe Pool Spend, Princes Parade Delay and Southern Water

Folkestone & Hythe District Council: Cash Withdrawals on Purchase Cards, Weak Evidence, No Questions Asked

Southern Water Legal Action: Folkestone & Hythe District Council Escalate Sewage Pollution Fight

Dymchurch Dippers Poem Calls Out Southern Water Sewage in the Bay

Madeira Walk Landslide: Folkestone Leas Playground Cliff Stabilisation Cost Rises to £400,000

Southern Water Sewage: The Hidden Cost to Kent’s Sea Swimmers and Seaside Businesses

FHDC Budget 2026/27: Paying £63,000 a Year for Empty, Unlettable Otterpool Homes