Folkestone School for Girls Builds £1.5m Reserve, While Pupils Stay Home
Continuing our theme of examining school finances, we turn to Folkestone School for Girls. Today, we shine a light on the accounts 2015 – 2024 – behind the [...]
Council Progress Report: Folca, Coast Drive Beach Huts, Waste Water Works, and Road of Remembrance Make Strides
At the Full Council meeting of Folkestone & Hythe District Council on 2 April 2025, Cabinet Members will update Cllrs on progress made since the 26 Feb. The progress [...]
Hythe Gets 26 New Affordable Homes—But Council’s Housing Budget Runs Thin
Twenty-six new affordable, energy-efficient homes are set to transform Hythe’s Boundary Road (site below in orange, as the council advances its pledge to address housing [...]
The Harvey Grammar Academy: A Decade of Surpluses, Yet Where’s the Vision?
The Harvey Academy in Folkestone has quietly accumulated more than £2.2 million in cumulative reserves between 2015 and 2024. While the school has never run a deficit in [...]
Turner Free Schools: A Financial Analysis 2017 – 2024
This week, we turn our attention to a topic often overlooked in discussions about education: school finances. While much ink is spilled on GCSE results, attendance rates, and [...]
Otterpool Park LLP: Financial Trajectory Analysis (2020-2024)
Otterpool Park LLP is the master developer responsible for delivering the Otterpool Park Garden Town project on behalf of the site landowner, Folkestone & Hythe District [...]
Folkestone and Hythe Council’s Property Firm, Oportunitas, Marked by Decade of “Paper Gains” and Operational Losses
When Folkestone & Hythe DCs Cabinet convene on 26 March to review Oportunitas’s decade-long performance, the numbers paint a dire fiscal portrait. Since its [...]
Kent councils with the biggest debts
Several Kent councils have significantly increased their debt levels in recent months, raising concerns about the potential impact on local services and the local economy. [...]
Kent Local Government Reorganisation.
Kent is on the brink of a seismic shift in its local governance structure, as council leaders unveil an ambitious interim plan for local government reorganisation (LGR). With [...]
“Schrödinger’s Councils, Heisenberg’s Chaos: Kent’s Quantum Local Government Restructure Dooms (or Saves?) All”
In a nutshell, Local Government Reorganisation (LGR) is about how the powers and funding that sit with local government are organised between councils. Think of it like [...]
Outcome: Kingston Homes’ Hythe Plan: Luxury Builds, Zero Affordable Housing
Chairman Jackie Meade (with the patience of a saint): “Alright folks, let’s dive into Application 21/0553/FH – Land oppiste 24 Station Road Hythe CT21 5PW – [...]
The Outcome – From Bus Stops to Botanicals: Council’s Bold Park Plan
Application Number 24-1650-FH: Bus Station, Bouverie Square, Folkestone. Heard by planning committee: 18 March, 2025. In a riveting display of democracy in action, [...]
Doodle Doom Outcome: Sam Cox’s Shingle Showdown in Dungeness
Dungeness Log Cabin Application: 24/0653/FH – The Log Cabin Dungeness Road Dungeness Romney Marsh Applicant: Architect Guy Holloway for “Mr. Doodle” (Sam [...]
Princes Parade: A Financial Dunkirk Of His Own Making!
The air in the Folkestone & Hythe District Council’s chamber was thick—thicker than the Channel’s infamous fog, a suffocating mix of bureaucratic inertia, impending [...]
From Bus Stops to Botanicals: Council’s Bold Park Plan
Application Number 24-1650-FH: Bus Station, Bouverie Square, Folkestone. To be heard by planning committee tomorrow: 18 March Folkestone & Hythe District Council have a [...]
Doodle Doom: Sam Cox’s Shingle Showdown in Dungeness
Application Ref: 24/0653/FH – The Log Cabin, Dungeness Road Dungeness Romney Marsh In the windswept, shingle-strewn purgatory of Dungeness—a place where nuclear power [...]
Kingston Homes’ Hythe Plan: Luxury Builds, Zero Affordable Housing
Ladies and Gentlemen of the Planning Committee, (18 March 2025) Gather ’round, for we have a mystery on our hands—a mystery so baffling, so ludicrous, that even [...]
Leas Pavilion: “The Final Balance Sheet”
Leas Pavilion Development Ltd (LPD Ltd), the firm behind the ambitious revival of the historic Leas Pavilion—a project featuring 91 luxury apartments with coveted views of [...]
KCC Elections Part 1: The Care of Children and Young Adults
Kent County Council (KCC), like all local authorities in England, has a weighty responsibility: to care for children and young adults. Under the Children Act 1989, KCC is [...]
Local Government Reorganisation: “The Bin Men Cometh: A Tale of Debt, Dysfunction, and Murder in Folkestone & Hythe District Council”
“Monsters exist, but they are too few in number to be truly dangerous. More dangerous are the common men, the functionaries ready to believe and to act without asking [...]
Folkestone & Hythe District Council Unveils New Corporate Plan: “Third Time Lucky… Right?”
In a move that has left residents both hopeful and mildly amused (like watching a toddler attempt to parallel park), Folkestone & Hythe District Council has unveiled its [...]
Persistent School Absence Trends For Primary & Secondary Schools in Folkestone & Hythe 20/21 – 23/24
Data spanning four years reveals significant disparities in persistent absence rates across schools in Folkestone & Hythe. Since the Covid-19 pandemic, trends have varied [...]
Mylecke NV’s Surprise Over Leas Pavilion Sale Raises Questions
It should come as no surprise to Mylecke NV that the Leas Pavilion site is now listed for sale on Rightmove. The circumstances leading to this outcome are clear and [...]
Deeply Concerning Persistent Absence Rates in Folkestone & Hythe Schools Post-Covid
Since the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic, Folkestone & Hythe has experienced a significant surge in persistent absence rates across both primary and secondary schools. [...]
Seven-Year Wait for Affordable Homes, But Finally They Arrive
After a mere seven-year wait, the Council has finally managed to get their hands on a whopping nine affordable homes and five shared ownership properties on the land at [...]