Council Updates
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Council Updates Kent SEND services show progress but remain patchy, inspectors find
Ofsted and the Care Quality Commission have rated Kent’s special educational needs and disabilities services as “inconsistent” — an…
19 September 2026 -
Council Updates Brigade of Gurkhas given Freedom of Kent after cross-party council vote
Kent County Council voted on 17 September 2026 to award the Freedom of the County of Kent to the Brigade of Gurkhas, formally recognising…
19 September 2026 -
Council Updates Grand Burstin Hotel fire brings 26 engines to Folkestone seafront
Grand Burstin Hotel fire brings 26 engines to Folkestone seafront Firefighters tackled a basement blaze at the Grand Burstin Hotel in…
19 September 2026 -
Council Updates Sevenoaks park to close for nine months as Bradbourne Lakes restoration begins in September
Bradbourne Lakes in Sevenoaks will shut to the public from 28 September 2026 until early summer 2027 while the district council carries out…
18 September 2026 -
Council Updates Maidstone Council Objects to Quarry Plan That Could Destroy Ancient Woodland
Maidstone Borough Council has formally objected to Kent County Council’s draft mineral extraction plan, warning that proposed quarrying…
18 September 2026 -
Council Updates Nearly £179,000 spent upgrading Tonbridge Racecourse Sportsground facilities
Tonbridge & Malling Borough Council’s Communities and Environment Scrutiny Select Committee received an update on 17 September 2026 on a…
18 September 2026 -
Council Updates Heathlands garden community scoping opinion approved with strengthened requirements for water and railway station
Maidstone’s planning committee voted unanimously to issue an environmental scoping opinion for the proposed 5,000-home Heathlands Garden…
18 September 2026 -
Council Updates Dartford board backs council’s position in Green Belt enforcement appeal at Green Street Green Road
Dartford’s Development Control Board voted seven to one at its July meeting to support the council’s approach in defending an enforcement…
18 September 2026 -
Council Updates Dartford board grants permission for three homes on former industrial site at Southfleet
Dartford’s Development Control Board voted unanimously at its July meeting to approve the demolition of light industrial buildings at…
18 September 2026 -
Council Updates More than one in four new Medway Council staff leave within their first year, workforce report reveals
Medway Council’s annual workforce report showed overall staff turnover fell to 9.7% in 2025/26, but first-year turnover remained high at…
18 September 2026 -
Council Updates Four Canterbury groups win wildlife grants — including the district’s first funding for adder habitat
Canterbury City Council has awarded biodiversity grants totalling £9,264 to four local organisations, with two further projects backed by…
17 September 2026 -
Council Updates Whitstable Harbour gets £1.6m quay rebuild to cut flood risk
An 85-metre stretch of Whitstable Harbour’s east quay wall, corroded after more than 60 years in seawater, is being replaced in a £1.6…
17 September 2026