Council release largely unredacted Otterpool Park Viability Assessment
It’s done! It’s official, Folkestone & Hythe District Council have unredacted vast swathes of information contained within the Otterpool Financial Viability [...]
Housing
Claire’s story and the scandal of fuel poverty in Kent
“I worried about her especially as winter was setting in. She wasn’t here for the books but the warmth .” says Julia a librarian in Kent (not her real [...]
Planning permission for 86-88 Tontine Street was unlawful
Last night (20th Oct) six Cllrs stuck two fingers up to the courts, as did planning officers of Folkestone & Hythe District Council. Cllrs considered planning application [...]
Otterpool Park Update: Priest Under Pressure
The courts say they must release it. The Information Upper Tier tribunal say they must release it. But still Folkestone & Hythe District Council, led by Dr Susan Priest, [...]
Otterpool Park Update: £800 million profit for Otterpool Park Development
Given all the documents available in the public domain regarding the Otterpool Park development, even the redacted Viability Assessment, it’s clear Folkestone & [...]
Otterpool Park Update: Release the unredacted Viability Assessment
While transparency reduces corruption, good governance goes beyond transparency in achieving openness. Openness means involving residents and other stakeholders in the [...]
No Go or Go decision to be made in Jan 2021 on new Civic Centre at Otterpool Park
The Chief Exec of Folkestone & Hythe District Council – Dr Susan Priest, made it clear that the discussion around a new civic centre at Otterpool Park was to give [...]
The Long Read: The Leas Pavillion – The Way Forward
Following on from “The Long Read: Is our Heritage for Ransom?” we, the Friends of the Leas Pavilion, would like to let people see how things are from our point of view [...]
Brave New World of Council Housing in East Kent
Updated: 07/10/20 – @ 08:00 East Kent Housing is dead, just like that parrot. At midnight (30th Sept) it ceased to be. All its functions and responsibilities have now [...]
Otterpool Park Update: More property purchased
While the covid-19 virus has risen and fallen and risen again, those charged with keeping Otterpool Park Garden Town – where up to 10,000 homes may be built if planning [...]
The Long Read: Is our heritage for ransom?
Updated 03/10/20 @9:48 After a decade of neglect and uncertainty and a 5-year campaign by Friends of the Leas Pavilion (FLP), the Leas Pavilion is finally looking set to be [...]
Cllr Goddard Recuses Himself & Other Planning Matters
So, Cllr Clive Goddard, Chairman of Folkestone & Hythe Planning Committee recused himself and did not vote on either of the planning applications related to the Royal [...]
Is Cllr Clive Goddard committing a criminal offence?
It is simple, so so simple yet he has failed to comply. A discosable pecuniary interest (DPI) is set out in Chapter 7 of the Localism Act 2011 and in the secondary [...]
The Long Read: The Strange Tale of the Folkestone Leas Lift Company CIC
It is unlikely many readers will have missed the publicity announcing that the Leas Lift booking office has once again opened its doors, albeit as a café. The Folkestone [...]
Images Emerge of Cllr Clive Goddard Working on RVH Site owned by Leo Griggs.
Updated 18:12 – 18/09/20 Images have emerged of Cllr Clive Goddard – the Chairman of the Planning Committee at Folkestone & Hythe District Council, working on [...]
FHDC pass Local Plan and Central Govt propose 1043 homes per year for our district.
So it’s done. After five years and three public consultations, Folkestone & Hythe District Council passed its Places and Policies Local Plan (Local Plan) at an [...]
More tales of the unexpected from the Royal Victoria Site owned by Leo Griggs
On the 8th Sept, 2020, Cllr Patrica Rolfe (Con) informed the Overview & Scrutiny Committee, that all four directors of Oportunitas Ltd – a company wholly owned by [...]
Council fail to declare they were to buy 37 properties on Royal Victoria Hospital site owned by Leo Griggs
Updated 11.35am 9/09/2020 So it’s just as we said way back on Nov 28th 2018: We also understand from well placed council sources, the Council’s company Oportunitas [...]
Otterpool Park Update: Land Assemby for Otterpool Park cost £37.7 million to date
On the 4th Feb 2020 it was announced Cllr Ian Meyers (UKIP) had stepped down from his Cabinet position “to allow him more time to care for family members.” [...]
Something is Rotten in the District of Folkestone & Hythe
There’s more to this than meets the eye. Yes the facts surrounding the Leo Griggs Royal Victoria Site gets murkier. Not only has the site been closed by the Health [...]
The Long Read: Planning excites passion.
Planning has always been the hottest of all local government topics. It’s the one most likely to stir the passions of local people and yet no sooner have those passions [...]
EKH spend £3.7 million on Temporary Staff and 146 Gas Safety Checks Outstanding
Updated: 9.30am 24/04/20 On the 27th May, Folkestone & Hythe District Council Cabinet met over Zoom to discuss Report Number:C/20/06, the East Kent Housing (EKH) Single [...]
Kent County Council & Dover District Council support Port of Dover’s proposals for Free port (Offshore) for East Kent.
On the 13th July, Cllr Trevor Bartlett, Leader of Dover District Council, said: “Dover District Council wholeheartedly supports the Port of Dover’s proposals for Freeport [...]
Land Banking Leads to a Grand Cayman Lifestyle
“Buy land,” said Mark Twain. “They’re not making it any more.” “Then once you’ve bought it, sit on it for a while, apply for planning permission, and sell it on [...]
Folkestone & Hythe District Council to Consult On Homelessness Strategy
During the covid-19 pandemic, the street homeless in Folkestone all but disappeared. The government funded a scheme called “Everyone In” which housed homeless people [...]