ShepwayVox Dissent is not a Crime

Folkestone & Hythe District Council Credit Card Audit Hidden Behind Criminal Investigation FOI Exemption

May 30, 2026 // 0 Comments

Folkestone & Hythe District Council’s own auditors found weaknesses in corporate credit card controls. When the full report was requested, the council confirmed it held [...]

Folca: The £5.6m Former Debenhams Bill and the 25-Year Payback Question

May 29, 2026 // 0 Comments

Folkestone & Hythe District Council bought the former Debenhams building in May 2020 for £2.05m. Six years later, the public trail points to at least £2.419m paid or [...]

The Long Read: South Brooks Solar Farm Consultation Opens as Romney Marsh Drainage Fight Deepens

May 28, 2026 // 1 Comment

EDF power solutions UK and PS Renewables say South Brooks Solar Farm could power more than 140,000 homes a year. Campaigners say residents are being asked how to soften the [...]

Martello Lakes Pool Promise Replaced by Hythe Leisure Plan

May 28, 2026 // 0 Comments

Scrutiny councillors backed further work on Martello Lakes and Hythe Pool, but the message was clear: no token container, no unaffordable racket-sport vanity project, and no [...]

Folkestone Town Centre Plan: Can New Markets Bring Shoppers Back?

May 28, 2026 // 3 Comments

A new Town Centre Operating Model aims to turn Folkestone’s public-realm works into a living, trading, event-filled town centre. Scrutiny councillors liked the idea, but [...]

Why Move East Kent’s Top-Rated Stroke Unit Back to Ashford?

May 27, 2026 // 0 Comments

Kent & Canterbury’s “temporary” stroke unit is now producing nationally impressive results. NHS bosses still want to move it to William Harvey Hospital in Ashford. [...]

Folkestone & Hythe Free Parking Plan Sent Back After £356k Warning

May 27, 2026 // 1 Comment

A proposal for 20 minutes’ free parking in Folkestone & Hythe town-centre car parks hasn’t been killed off. But scrutiny councillors want the Cabinet member to look [...]

KCC Paid PCAS Kent £16.5m As Director Loans and Inadequate Care Rating Raise Questions

May 26, 2026 // 0 Comments

Kent County Council has paid millions to a supported-living care provider now rated Inadequate by the Care Quality Commission. The company’s accounts don’t show [...]

KCC Paid £549m to Care Firms Linked to Poor CQC Ratings

May 24, 2026 // 2 Comments

KCC has paid tens of millions to adult social care suppliers whose linked services include CQC ratings of Requires Improvement or Inadequate. The question now is not who [...]

The Long Read: Martello Lakes Pool Promise: Where the £5.5m S106 Money Went

May 24, 2026 // 0 Comments

Folkestone & Hythe’s own papers show the Martello Lakes swimming pool dream has vanished. The money has gone elsewhere, the land decision is still coming, and the [...]

East Kent Hospitals Crisis: NHS Recovery Programme Exposes Leadership Clear-Out

May 22, 2026 // 0 Comments

East Kent Hospitals was put into NHS intensive recovery because of long waits, financial pressure and leadership churn. Now the chief executive has gone, the chair has gone, [...]

KCC Prayers Row: Reform’s Flag-Waving Won’t Fix Kent’s Failing Services

May 22, 2026 // 2 Comments

Kent County Council will now begin full council meetings with the Lord’s Prayer and end them with the national anthem. It will not, sadly, repair a single pothole, reduce [...]

Folca 1 Flats: New £100 Arcvelop Company Raises Questions Over Folkestone Landmark Sale

May 21, 2026 // 3 Comments

Folkestone’s former Debenhams has moved one step closer to becoming flats. But the planning decision is only half the story. The sharper question now is who, exactly, is [...]

Folkestone Folca 1 Flats Approved as Council-Owned Building Sale Questions Remain

May 21, 2026 // 0 Comments

Folkestone’s former Debenhams has taken another step out of limbo. On Tuesday evening, Folkestone & Hythe District Council’s Planning and Licensing Committee approved [...]

Kent County Council Sits on £126m Developer Contributions as Schools and Roads Wait

May 21, 2026 // 0 Comments

Kent County Council’s latest available data shows more than £126m in developer contributions received or invoiced but not yet spent. Reform didn’t create the pile. But [...]

Taxpayer Toast and Lazy Parents: Linden Kemkaran’s Breakfast Club Problem

May 20, 2026 // 1 Comment

Kent County Council’s Reform UK leader promised to put “the people of Kent at the heart of everything we do”. Then came breakfast clubs, hungry children, and a warning [...]

Folkestone & Hythe GP Waiting Times: The Surgery Access Lottery

May 20, 2026 // 0 Comments

Folkestone & Hythe’s GP picture isn’t one simple story of good surgeries and bad surgeries. It’s a patchwork: some practices are turning round large numbers of [...]

Saga’s Enbrook Homes Plan Revives Folkestone Redevelopment Row

May 19, 2026 // 1 Comment

Saga says homes on “under-utilised” land at Enbrook Park could help fund the repair of The Pavilion and keep the Sandgate headquarters sustainable. But this is not [...]

Dirty Air, Green Silence: Folkestone & Hythe’s PM2.5 Failure

May 19, 2026 // 0 Comments

Folkestone & Hythe is above the World Health Organization guideline for PM2.5. The council doesn’t directly monitor PM2.5. It has no Smoke Control Areas. It logged 129 [...]

Folkestone & Hythe Free Parking Plan Could Cost £356k

May 18, 2026 // 2 Comments

A proposal to give drivers 20 minutes’ free parking in Folkestone & Hythe town centre car parks has obvious public appeal. But a council report says the idea could cost [...]

Lib Dems And Greens Break Martello Lakes Pool Promise

May 18, 2026 // 0 Comments

The Liberal Democrats said they’d “immediately start work” on a swimming pool at Martello Lakes. The Greens said the Conservatives could have built one there by now. [...]

Folkestone & Hythe Ward Budgets: £1m Local Grants, But £133k Unspent

May 17, 2026 // 1 Comment

Small grants. Local projects. Real money. Folkestone & Hythe’s ward-budget scheme is back for 2026/27 with a bigger pot — and community groups should be getting ready [...]

The Long Read: Cllr David Wimble’s Register of Interests: FHDC’s Address Trail

May 17, 2026 // 1 Comment

Cllr David Wimble, also recorded in company papers as William David Wimble, has a growing trail of company names, registered offices, trading addresses, council property [...]

Folkestone Folca 1 Flats Plan: Planning Law and Noise Risks

May 15, 2026 // 2 Comments

Folca 1 is heading towards retail and flats, not the medical centre once promised. But this isn’t a normal planning application. It’s a narrow Class MA prior approval [...]

David Wimble Helicopter Gift: The Alcaline Flights, KCC Register and Looker Adverts

May 14, 2026 // 0 Comments

Cllr David Wimble’s KCC declaration says his September Alcaline Aviation helicopter lift was a gift. His Facebook trail points to three 2025 flights. Now The Looker, the [...]

	shepwayvox on Folkestone Town Centre Plan: C…
	Rexel on Saga’s Enbrook Homes Plan Revi…
	Stephen on Folkestone Town Centre Plan: C…
	Graham on The Long Read: South Brooks So…
	Martin on Folkestone Town Centre Plan: C…