Double helping of cock ups at last night’s full council
So it was a cock up, another one, but not the only one on last night’s agenda at the final full Council, before the elections on 4 May 2023. Cllr Keen (Lab) asked her [...]
Oportunitas Limited
Oportunitas update: True & Fair Bulls**t
Updated 28 March @ 11:05am How, how could this happen? How can the directors of Oportunitas be employees of the Council, and be elected Cllrs, when that’s not [...]
Council company Oportunitas will not generate sufficient profit to meet its operating costs until 2031
Updated 23/03/23 @ 18:30 Back in Sept 2022 we pointed out that Oportunitas Limited a company wholly owned by Folkestone & Hythe District Council was incorporated [...]
Council are acting beyond its powers by giving £16m plus to the two companies it owns
Folkestone & Hythe District Council have acted beyond their powers (ultra vires) by allowing in excess of £16 million to be paid to companies in which they allege they [...]
Cllrs need to step up their game understanding council finances.
In the 10 years Folkestone & Hythe District Council have been publishing their spend data, £179m or 48% of the spend has been on premises related expenditure, as the [...]
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 [...]
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 [...]
Royal Victoria Hospital sells for £1.25 million
EXCLUSIVE Back in March 2018, we brought you the post: Do you believe in coincidence? This speculated that a company by the name of RVH Folkestone Limited owned and [...]
Your councillors allowances & expenses Apr 17 – Mar 18
Once again for the third time in four years there are anomalies in our Cllrs allowances & expenses. The people who are responsible for ensuring Folkestone & Hythe [...]
The Long Read: Could Computer Algorithms & Robots Run SDC More Effectively & Efficiently?
At the start of April 2016 Shepway District Council (SDC) employed 385 people; by March 2017 this had slightly reduced to 374. SDC will soon be in a position where it will [...]
How To Investigate Companies.
Would you like to learn how to ‘Investigate a Company’? Would you like to learn about Shepway District Council’s company Oportunitas, Cozumel Estates, MF & L Ltd [...]
Value For Money?
Cllr Monk, Cllr Hollingsbee & the Chief Executive of Shepway District Council have been enjoying themselves at the Local Government Association Conference in Birmingham [...]
Do Shepway District Council Own Oportunitas Ltd? Maybe Not.
In an FOI request made by our public face to Shepway District Council (SDC), the response was a little strange. The request was simple: Please provide me with all [...]
19 Castle Hill Avenue Part 3
Oportunitas Ltd a company 100% owned by Shepway District Council, has as you may or may not know, purchased 19 Castle Hill Avenue for £1.2 million pounds on the 19th May [...]
19 Castle Hill Avenue Part 2
A little over a year ago, the Shepwayvox Team brought you a story about 19 Castle Hill Avenue, (pictured) we informed you that Shepway District Council (SDC) had invested [...]
SDC Plugging the Funding Gap with Property Investments.
Oportunitas Ltd purchased 82 and 84 Leyburne Road Dover Kent CT16 1SH (pictured) for the sum of £810,000 according to the land registry on Dec 21st 2016. Shepway [...]