Kent Morning Briefing
Saturday, 1 August 2026
The day in Kent · The government has blocked the 3,500-home Northfleet Harbourside development, ruling that the permanent loss of Robins Wharf as a working aggregate wharf on the Thames outweighs the housing benefits. The decision is a significant moment for planning policy in north Kent, where pressure to build on industrial riverside land has intensified in recent years.
The day ahead in Kent
Weather
Today: Mostly clear morning, high 26°C, low 16°C.
Tomorrow: Mostly clear morning, becoming cloudy in the afternoon, high 26°C, low 14°C.
Travel
Roads (1 incident): M25 — M25 Clockwise Jct 13 to Jct 14 carriageway closure.
Rail: All Kent services running to schedule.
As of 01:30 from National Highways + National Rail.
Coastal tides
Dover: High 01:22 (6.25m) · Low 08:41 (1.26m) · High 13:38 (6.50m) · Low 21:04 (1.13m)
Margate: High 02:34 (4.55m) · Low 08:29 (0.88m) · High 14:43 (4.66m) · Low 21:05 (0.56m)
Tides via tidetimes.co.uk.
5 things to know
- Alan Davies, 45, jailed 21 years at Maidstone Crown Court for filming 39 victims
- Sevenoaks District Council consults on 17,460 new homes by 2042
- Visit Medway publishes summer 2026 events guide for Rochester and Chatham
- UK retail footfall rises 7% year-on-year, ONS weekly dashboard shows
Top Kent Stories
- ONS Weekly Dashboard Shows UK Retail Footfall Up 7 Per Cent Year-on-Year
Published 23:51 BST
The Office for National Statistics has updated its real-time economic dashboard for the week to 12 July 2026, showing retail footfall rising 7 per cent compared with the same week in 2025 and… - Northfleet Harbourside refused: government blocks 3,500-home plan to protect Thames wharf
Published 21:51 BST
The Secretary of State has refused planning permission for the Northfleet Harbourside development, ruling that the permanent loss of Robins Wharf a working aggregate wharf on the River Thames… - Sevenoaks District Council plans 17,460 new homes across the district by 2042
Published 19:52 BST
Sevenoaks District Council is asking residents to comment on a new Local Plan that would see around 17,460 homes built across the district between 2027 and 2042 — a 63% increase on the previous… - Gravesend man jailed for 21 years after secretly filming 39 people including children over two decades
Published 19:52 BST
Alan Davies, 45, pleaded guilty to 73 offences and was sentenced at Maidstone Crown Court on 31 July 2026 after Kent Police found hundreds of covert recordings dating back to 2004. A former Gravesend…
Crime & Justice
No additional crime stories in the last 12 hours.
Business & Economy
No additional B&E stories in the last 12 hours.
Kent Sport
No additional sport updates in the last 12 hours.
Financial markets
Bank of England (last 7 days):
- Minutes of the Meeting of the Court of Directors held on 4 June 2026
- Bank Rate maintained at 3.75% – July 2026 Monetary Policy Summary and Minutes
Markets via Yahoo Finance; ONS + BoE via official feeds.
What’s on today
No public events scheduled today.
Coming up tomorrow
No public events scheduled tomorrow.
“Rochester Castle’s keep, built around 1127, is one of the tallest and best-preserved Norman keeps in England.”
Kent fact of the day