Kent Weekend Briefing
Saturday, 19 September 2026
10 stories · 4-minute read
2022: The state funeral of Queen Elizabeth II was held at Westminster Abbey, London, watched by billions worldwide.
On this day in history
The weekend in Kent · Maidstone Borough Council has formally objected to a Kent County Council quarrying plan that could permanently destroy ancient woodland at Oaken Wood — a rare and irreversible threat to one of Kent’s most significant natural habitats. Elsewhere in the county, Canterbury City Council has broken ground on a £1.6 million flood wall rebuild at Whitstable Harbour, and Sevenoaks prepares to close Bradbourne Lakes for nine months of restoration. It is a weekend dominated by questions about what Kent’s landscape will look like for future generations.
The day ahead in Kent
Weather
Today: Cloudy morning, high 22°C, low 17°C.
Tomorrow: Cloudy morning, clearing in the evening, high 19°C, low 12°C.
Travel
Roads: All major Kent routes clear.
Rail: Thameslink: Disruption between Redhill and Gatwick Airport..
As of 01:30 from National Highways + National Rail.
Coastal tides
Dover: High 05:01 (5.32m) · Low 11:25 (2.38m) · High 17:35 (5.16m) · Low 23:55 (2.58m)
Margate: High 05:30 (3.91m) · Low 11:47 (1.51m) · High 18:08 (3.85m) · Low 00:18 (1.75m)
Tides via tidetimes.co.uk.
5 things to know
- Maidstone objects to quarry plan threatening ancient Oaken Wood woodland permanently
- Whitstable Harbour’s £1.6m flood wall rebuild begins, protecting homes from coastal flooding
- Bradbourne Lakes in Sevenoaks closes 28 September for nine-month restoration overhaul
- Hare coursing suspect arrested in Faversham after Kent Police deploy stinger device
- NICE recommends new saliva test for endometriosis at GP surgeries nationwide
£1.6m
spent rebuilding Whitstable Harbour’s east quay flood wall to protect the town
Kent number of the day
Top Kent Stories
- Maidstone Council Objects to Quarry Plan That Could Destroy Ancient Woodland
Published 09:52 BST
Why it matters · Irreversible loss of ancient woodland would permanently alter Kent’s natural heritage. - Canterbury council starts £1.6m Whitstable Harbour flood wall rebuild
Published 09:52 BST
Why it matters · Coastal flood protection directly affects Whitstable residents and harbour businesses. - Sevenoaks park to close for nine months as Bradbourne Lakes restoration begins in September
Published 15:52 BST
Why it matters · Popular Sevenoaks green space closes for nearly a year; affects weekend plans now. - Hare coursing suspect arrested in Faversham after police use stinger device
Published 21:51 BST
Why it matters · Rural poaching remains a persistent problem across Kent’s farmland communities. - Saliva Test for Endometriosis Recommended for NHS Primary Care
Published 07:52 BST
Why it matters · Faster endometriosis diagnosis at GPs could benefit thousands of Kent women.
Weekend reads — the week’s best of KLN
- Kent’s water, Part A: the demand nobody in Whitstable voted for
Published Sun 06:00 BST
South East Water plans for 550,000 more people by 2050. Per-person use is falling, leakage is meant to halve and business use is flat, so every litre of new demand is a new resident. This part… - Hare coursing suspect arrested in Faversham after police use stinger device
Published Fri 21:51 BST
Hare coursing suspect arrested in Faversham after police use stinger device Kent Police stopped a vehicle on Stalisfield Road using a stinger device and arrested a suspected hare courser following… - Suspected hare courser arrested after police pursuit in Faversham
Published Fri 19:51 BST
An 18-year-old man from Tonbridge was arrested and bailed after Kent Police used a stinger device to stop a fleeing vehicle on the A2 following a report of poaching near Faversham on 8 September… - Sevenoaks park to close for nine months as Bradbourne Lakes restoration begins in September
Published Fri 15:52 BST
Bradbourne Lakes in Sevenoaks will shut to the public from 28 September 2026 until early summer 2027 while the district council carries out what it describes as the most extensive overhaul of the… - Canterbury council starts £1.6m Whitstable Harbour flood wall rebuild
Published Fri 09:52 BST
Canterbury City Council has begun replacing a deteriorating section of Whitstable Harbour’s east quay in a £1.6 million project aimed at protecting the town from coastal flooding. What it means for…
Crime & Justice
- Hare coursing suspect arrested in Faversham after police use stinger device
Published 21:51 BST
Hare coursing suspect arrested in Faversham after police use stinger device Kent Police stopped a vehicle on Stalisfield Road using a stinger device and arrested a suspected hare courser following… - Suspected hare courser arrested after police pursuit in Faversham
Published 19:51 BST
An 18-year-old man from Tonbridge was arrested and bailed after Kent Police used a stinger device to stop a fleeing vehicle on the A2 following a report of poaching near Faversham on 8 September…
Business & Economy
- UK mortgage sales hit four-year high in 2025 but remain a third below pre-crisis peak
Published 23:51 BST
ONS figures show 717,519 mortgage sales in the UK in 2025 — up 16 per cent on 2024 and the highest annual total since 2021, yet still 34.5 per cent below 2006 levels. The UK recorded 717,519 mortgage… - One in four UK adults struggling financially despite GDP growth, ONS data shows
Published 21:51 BST
New quarterly well-being figures from the Office for National Statistics reveal uneven progress across seven headline measures, with economic output rising but financial difficulty, trust and… - Cost of living named top UK concern by 89 per cent of survey respondents
Published 19:52 BST
The Office for National Statistics found the cost of living, the NHS and the economy were the three most commonly reported issues facing Great Britain in the period 5 to 30 August 2026. Eight in nine…
Financial markets
Bank of England (last 7 days):
- Minutes of the Transaction and Post-trade Reporting Harmonisation Taskforce – July 2026
- Transcript of the Governor’s pooled broadcast interview given on 17 September 2026
- Monetary Policy Committee dates for 2027
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.
“Kent’s Oaken Wood near Maidstone is one of England’s largest remaining ancient coppiced woodlands, estimated to be over 400 years old and home to rare dormice and nightingales.”
Kent fact of the day