ShepwayVox Dissent is not a Crime

Eamonn Rooney (1944–2026): The Man Who Knew Folkestone’s History Like No Other

October 26, 2026 // 1 Comment

Folkestone has lost one of its great keepers of memory. With the passing of Eamonn Rooney (pictured), the town says goodbye to a man whose knowledge of its history was second [...]

Folkestone’s Folca 2: £13.2m to Bring Debenhams Back to Life — But Who’s Picking Up the Bill?

October 26, 2026 // 0 Comments

Folkestone’s former Debenhams has acquired another eye-watering price tag. On 19 October, Folkestone & Hythe District Council (FHDC) advertised a £9 million contract [...]

Folkestone & Hythe Council’s Halloween Nightmare: The Night Councillors Were Forced to Tell the Truth

October 25, 2026 // 0 Comments

The following is a work of satire. All events and dialogue are fictional, although the councillors named are real. Folkestone & Hythe District Council held an [...]

Every Penny Counts? Kent Councillors Reject Urgent Review Amid £19.8m Children’s Care Overspend

October 23, 2026 // 0 Comments

“Can anyone explain to me why these very expensive contracts shouldn’t be reviewed, as Mr. Rayner suggested.” It was a straightforward question from Liberal [...]

Folkestone & Hythe’s Temporary Accommodation Scandal: Can the Council’s Figures Be Trusted?

October 22, 2026 // 0 Comments

On 8 May 2025, Folkestone & Hythe District Council (FHDC) closed two Freedom of Information requests about temporary accommodation — the rooms, flats and houses it uses [...]

Kent’s Childhood Lottery: £23.20 a Year, and a Generation Falling Through the Cracks

October 21, 2026 // 0 Comments

£23.20. That’s how much Kent County Council (KCC) reported spending on youth services in 2024/25 for every young person aged between 13 and 19. Not £23.20 a week. Not [...]

Hythe Imperial’s 291-Home Plan: FHDC Owns the Royal Military Canal — Will It Speak Up?

October 20, 2026 // 1 Comment

Folkestone & Hythe District Council owns the historic canal beside the proposed Imperial Gardens development. Its planning and property departments are headed by [...]

£267m in KCC Payments to Care Providers as One in Five Kent and Medway Homes Require Improvement or Are Inadequate

October 19, 2026 // 0 Comments

Nearly £267 million. That’s how much Kent County Council (KCC) recorded in residential and nursing-care payments between April 2022 and June 2026 to suppliers linked [...]

My Garden Shed Is Worth £475,000. Can Someone Lend Me a Fiver?

October 18, 2026 // 1 Comment

This is an entirely fictional Sunday satire. Any resemblance to an actual property company, its directors, financial forecasts or unusually enthusiastic valuations is purely [...]

Oportunitas Ltd: How £2.7m in Paper Gains Masked £254k in Trading Losses at Folkestone & Hythe Council

October 17, 2026 // 0 Comments

At Folkestone & Hythe District Council’s Cabinet meeting on 14 October, Councillor Jeremy Speakman asked a rather sensible question. How had the council’s [...]

Every Penny Watched? Reform UK’s Kent County Council Gets Three Red Audit Warnings as Public Webcast Goes Dark

October 16, 2026 // 0 Comments

When Reform UK swept to power at Kent County Council in May 2025, its newly appointed leader, Linden Kemkaran, told BBC Politics South East she’d approach running the [...]

Kent and the Slave Trade: Who Owned the Ships, Who Made the Money and Who Fought Back

October 15, 2026 // 0 Comments

From the merchants of Deal to the shipyards of Folkestone and Gravesend, Kent and Medway were part of Britain’s transatlantic slave trade. Newly examined records reveal [...]

Justice by Postcode: Legal Aid Deserts Affect One in Three People Across Kent and Medway

October 12, 2026 // 0 Comments

A woman trying to escape an abusive relationship in Maidstone, a defendant looking for criminal legal help in Tunbridge Wells, or a family in Swale trying to resolve a [...]

Stodmarsh: The River’s in Trouble, but There’s Money in the Pollution Crisis

October 12, 2026 // 0 Comments

Six years after Natural England raised the alarm over pollution at Stodmarsh, a market in nutrient credits is helping developers move forward. Millions in public funding have [...]

Hythe Imperial: Come for the Spa, Stay for the Housing Estate

October 11, 2026 // 3 Comments

This is a satirical take on planning application 26/1290/FH. All conversations and scenarios are fictional. There are, broadly speaking, three ways of improving a golf [...]

Otterpool Park: £500m at Stake — and No Meetings on the S106 Financial Package

October 9, 2026 // 0 Comments

There are two numbers worth remembering when looking at Otterpool Park: £250 million and more than £500 million. The first is our best estimate of the potential value of [...]

Kent and Medway Fuel Prices Exposed: 29p a Litre Difference Between Cheapest and Most Expensive Pumps

October 8, 2026 // 2 Comments

Updated 08/10/26 @12:57 A litre of petrol for 166.9p in one part of Kent. A reported price of 195.9p at a motorway service area. That’s a difference of 29p a litre — [...]

The Pollution They Don’t Measure: Folkestone & Hythe’s PM2.5 Blind Spot From Wood Burners to Otterpool Park

October 8, 2026 // 1 Comment

Folkestone & Hythe District Council can tell residents what nitrogen dioxide was beside a particular road to a tenth of a microgram. What it still cannot tell them is how [...]

Cllr David Wimble: A Stranger to the Truth? The False Claims Behind His Immigration Speech

October 8, 2026 // 4 Comments

“A lie gets halfway around the world before the truth gets its boots on.” At Folkestone & Hythe District Council full council last night, Cllr David Wimble delivered [...]

Otterpool Park Targets 2028 Start as Homes England’s Hillhurst Farm Is Fast-Tracked for First 300 Homes

October 7, 2026 // 1 Comment

Construction of the first homes at Otterpool Park is now targeted to begin in 2028, with the first 38 homes forecast to be completed the following year. But before a brick [...]

Historic England Says Scrap 291 Homes Beside Hythe’s Royal Military Canal

October 7, 2026 // 0 Comments

Historic England has delivered an unusually blunt warning over Planning Application 26/1290/FH for up to 291 homes at the Hythe Imperial Hotel and golf course beside the [...]

£4.135m Apart: Why Folkestone & Hythe Council’s 2025/26 Accounts Won’t Add Up

October 6, 2026 // 0 Comments

Folkestone & Hythe District Council’s 2025/26 accounts are not final audited accounts. They are still draft, Grant Thornton’s audit opinion is still to come, and [...]

The £9.769m That Doesn’t Add Up in Folkestone & Hythe Council’s Audited Accounts

October 6, 2026 // 0 Comments

There’s a figure in Folkestone & Hythe District Council’s 2024/25 audited accounts that should stop any reader cold. The Group Comprehensive Income and Expenditure [...]

Benefits Fraud Gets the Headlines — Local Government Fraud Is Estimated at £6.7bn

October 5, 2026 // 0 Comments

Benefit fraud gets plenty of attention. But figures in the latest Annual Fraud Indicator show that estimated fraud against local government is running at almost the same [...]

Folkestone & Hythe’s Cost-Cutting Elephant Takes Off — Literally

October 4, 2026 // 0 Comments

A work of satire, inspired and adapted from Sławomir Mrożek’s short story “The Elephant”. The events described below are entirely fictional. It had been six months [...]

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