Princes Parade: What did they know and when did they know it?
What did they know and when did they know it? It turns out Folkestone & Hythe District Council knew quite a lot. They withheld it from Cllrs and residents alike. This is [...]
Princes Parade
Council will borrow £60.2 million in 2024/25, while debt repayments will rise by 44%
Ninety percent of politics is deciding who to blame – Meg Greenfield When you borrow money you normal set aside money to repay what you have borrowed, this generally [...]
Hoarding at Princes Parade will be down by Easter 2024
It is the beginning of the end for the hoarding on Princes Parade. On Monday 20 Nov 2023, Folkestone & Hythe District Council placed a tender for the removal of the [...]
Sunningdale House Developments Ltd & Princes Parade
In the sunniest January since 1959, Folkestone & Hythe District agreed Sunningdale House Developments Ltd (Sunningdale House) had won the contract to deliver the proposed [...]
Part 2: More Homes for Sellindge?
In our last post about more homes for Sellindge, we made it clear that Quinn Homes are proposing to build 105 homes at Elm Tree Farm in Sellindge. The land is currently owned [...]
Council to extend Princes Parade Planning Permission
The current planning permission for Princes Parade, Y17/1042/SH must be implemented by 17 July 2023, otherwise it lapses. However, the Council have made a recommendation to [...]
If not now, then when: 24 years on and still no new pool for Hythe
They have been looking for a site for a new swimming pool/leisure centre for Hythe for the last 24 years. Since 1999, when former Cllr Rory Love (pictured) was the leader of [...]
Princes Parade saved, but Council deficit magically increases by £2m.
Before we begin our report by our public face, who attended the Annual General Meeting of Folkestone & Hythe District Council meeting last night, 24 May 2023, which saw [...]
Is this the end game for Sunningdale House who want to buy Princes Parade?
David Richard Pownceby (pictured), the owner of Sunningdale House Developments Limited, the company who has offered Folkestone & Hythe District Council, somewhere in the [...]
Housing, Housing, Housing we need more affordable housing
There is no doubt we need to build more affordable homes in our district. I expect every candidate in this election, whether they belong to a party or not, would agree we [...]
Part 2: Council invoiced for £4m with no contract in place
This is a guest post Yesterday, I let it be known Folkestone & Hythe District Council had made 650 retrospective purchase orders (RPO) in 2021/22, with a total value of [...]
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 [...]
Solutions to lower your Council Tax by £128
This is a Guest Post Hello peps, today I am going to explain how it is possible to lower your Council Tax, and put some money away into the Council’s piggy bank more [...]
Princes Parade: Financial mismanagement of Faithful & Gould contract
Updated 6 March @ 07:40am According to the Council’s procurement guide under Value for Money it states: Value for money is a balance of quality, price and delivery and [...]
Sunningdale House Developments Ltd make offer to buy Princes Parade.
Updated: 26 Feb 23 @09:15am We can confirm that Sunningdale House Developments Limited, are the company who have made an offer to buy Princes Parade, from Folkestone & [...]
Council Tax: Is it excessive to ask – Where’s all the money gone?
The last item on the agenda to go before full council, today, the 22 February is, Report number A/22/31 The last recommendations in the report states: To determine that the [...]
Princes Parade Update: Possible solutions to discover the lost £5m.
Updated 6 March @ 07:55am How does Folkestone & Hythe District Council lose £5m on Princes Parade? Cllr Jim Martin doesn’t know, nor does Cllr Lesley Whybrow. Cllr [...]
Council look to sell Princes Parade to Property Developer & possibly Otterpool Park as well
“Do what ever it takes to make it stack up” Cllr Martin was of Course refering to Princes Parade at the Overview & Scrutiny Committee on Valentines Day. He [...]
Part 42: Princes Parade – further evidence of incompetence by Council
It never rains around here it just comes pouring down, says Mark Knopfler on the song It Never Rains, from the Love Over Gold album. And after today’s installment of a [...]
Do Sunningdale House Developments Ltd have growing cashflow issues?
Word has reached the Shepway Vox Team, that various companies within the Sunningdale House Developments group of companies, owned by David Pownceby (pictured), are having [...]
Princes Parade: A hat trick of contract irregularities
One has to hand it to Folkestone & Hythe District Council. They have single handedly awarded three contracts to companies who were working on Princes Parade, six months [...]
Council has cost ratepayers millions when it was not necessary
The portfolio he overseas as Cabinet Member for Transport and Digital Transformation, includes Traffic management, on and off street Parking, Information technology, Customer [...]
Is Sunningdale House Developments Ltd in financial difficulty?
Update Jan 6 @15:12 Update – At 14:00 today, ninety minutes after we published our report, Sunningdale have filed accounts with Companies House. They are not currently [...]
Review of 2022: Trial dates, Prison Sentences, Financial Irregualrities and Damp & Mould
It’s been a tumultuous year by anyone’s standards. A war in Europe, a cost of living crisis, the death of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II; Liz Truss lasting just [...]
Council to press on with controversial Princes Parade redevelopment
Members should note however that there is a critical path which would need to be followed and this does not allow for any slippage, delay, or process frustration. Ever since [...]