Local News

Swale’s popular beaches have earned top marks again after last year’s monitoring by the Environment Agency.

Minster Leas, Sheerness and Leysdown all achieved the highest rating of Excellent, bringing the beaches one step closer to earning a blue flag in time for summer.

The ratings from the Environment Agency are based on more than 30 monitored measures at over 400 bathing waters in England between May and September every year.

Julian Saunders, cabinet member for environment at Swale Borough Council, told SFM News: “We’re really proud of our beaches. Minster Leas and Sheerness have now held an excellent rating for five years, and Leysdown has been excellent for two years. The iconic Blue Flag is one of the world’s most recognised awards and we have to meet a series of stringent environmental, educational, safety, and accessibility criteria to qualify and achieving this excellent water quality rating gets us one step closer to achieving the coveted blue flag again this summer.”

Cllr Monique Bonney, cabinet member for economy and property at the council, told SFM News: "We’ve worked closely with Southern Water and the Environment Agency to maintain our excellent bathing water quality at our award-winning bathing beaches. We’re part of Southern Water’s bathing water enhancement programme that investigates any possible sources of pollution to create award winning beaches, and we also provide real time information to the beachbuoy scheme which provides alerts on possible sewage releases. We also enforce dog restrictions between May and October and carry out daily beach cleaning."

The previous Mayor of Swale Colin Prescott has died aged 78.

Mr Prescott, who passed away with COVID-19 at The Kent & Canterbury Hospital on Monday (7th February), served his community in many ways during his long 27-year career, starting as ward councillor for East Downs in 1992 through to 2019 and as Mayor for the 2004-05 and 2017-18 civic years. He was also chair of the Planning Committee for several years and was awarded the Honorary Alderman title in 2019.

Cllr Paul Stephen, the current Mayor of Swale, told SFM News: “On behalf of Swale Borough Council, I would like to offer my condolences to the family and friends of former Councillor and Mayor of Swale, Honorary Alderman Colin Prescott who has sadly passed away. Colin worked hard and enjoyed his first term as Mayor of Swale in 2004 so much that he took the role on again in 2017. During his second term as Mayor, Colin raised more than £17,000 for his chosen charities including Swale Hospital Radio and Parkinson’s Support Sittingbourne and Sheppey. Colin was respected and liked by his peers and performed his duties as Mayor with enthusiasm along with his Mayoress, Mrs Pamela Prescott, carrying out more than 250 engagements in 2017. Colin will be sorely missed by all that knew him.”

Alderman Prescott's funeral will be held at 2pm on Monday 14th March at The Garden Of England Crematorium in Bobbing . Flowers, white carnations and freesias, or donations to Spesis Trust or Diabetes UK are welcome c/o Doves Funeral Directors, 100-102 East Street, Sittingbourne ME10 4RX.

The funeral is being attended by past Mayors from across Kent from his 2 tenures, past Mayors of Swale, current Swale councillors, the current Mayors, The Chairman of KCC , the leader of the conservatives on SBC plus the leader of the council and the Deputy Lord Lieutenant of Kent.

People can now have their say on Swale Borough Council’s plans to regenerate Sittingbourne town centre.

The plans are outlined in a draft supplementary planning document that is now available for public consultation after it was approved by councillors in December.

Following consultation, the document will then become part of the current local plan and will shape how the council considers new development proposals, outlining what developers and landowners need to include in planning applications.

Cllr Mike Baldock, cabinet member for planning at the council, told SFM News: “These exciting new plans to revitalise Sittingbourne town centre will bring much needed life to the area and we want to know what local people think. We plan to develop a leisure quarter, a historic quarter and a community hub, but it’s important that we hear from local people. They know better than anyone what their community needs. Once this draft supplementary planning document has gone through the consultation and approval process, it will sit alongside our current and future local plan. We have important heritage that will need to be considered when developing Sittingbourne town centre and it’s important that we preserve and promote what we have whilst incorporating these plans for the future.”

Cllr Monique Bonney, cabinet member for economy at Swale Borough Council, told SFM News: “We have essential plans to revitalise Sittingbourne town centre, bringing much needed footfall to the high street and providing better links to surrounding areas. We’ve been committed to investing in our town centres and high streets and we want to hear from local people who really know what will benefit the area. We know we need not only leisure and businesses in our town centre but also a better healthcare provision that is easily accessible. We also need a range of housing in our town centre to meet the diverse needs of the population from young to old, including affordable homes. The consultation is now open and will run for six weeks, and I encourage people to take this opportunity to have their say on how we bring life and much need investment to Sittingbourne.”

The consultation is open from today (Monday 7th February) until 5:00pm on Monday 21st March.

The Sittingbourne draft supplementary planning document can be viewed online at www.swale.gov.uk/sittingbourne-spd or in-person at The Forum Shopping Centre, Swallows Leisure Centre and Sittingbourne Library.

Comments can be made on the council website, by email to lpcomments@swale.gov.uk or by post to Planning Policy Team, Swale Borough Council, Swale House, East Street, Sittingbourne ME10 3HT.

Swale Borough Council is writing to local Kent County Councillors to ask them to oppose £2.3 million of cuts to homelessness support.

The proposals to stop funding Kent Homeless Connect are part of Kent County Council’s budget proposals being discussed  next Thursday (10th February).

The service was launched by Kent in 2018 to “create a fairer, more accessible and consistent service for vulnerable people” so “homeless people with support needs will now benefit from more flexible, tailored, recovery-focused provisions”.

The service is delivered by the charities Porchlight and Look Ahead and specialises in supporting people who have multiple needs – such as mental health needs, experience of trauma or substance misuse – and who would otherwise struggle to access the housing services they need.

They support vulnerable people who need help to get away from rough sleeping, or to maintain a tenancy. These people have often experienced trauma, are misusing drugs or alcohol, or have mental health needs.

District councils like Swale only found out about the proposals when the draft budget was published in January, despite assurances that any such decisions would be subject to meaningful discussion and consultation.

Cllr Ben Martin, cabinet member for housing at Swale Borough Council, told SFM News: “These cuts came out of the blue and potentially have a significant impact on our own finances. Our own budget setting is already well advanced, and Kent’s lack of consultation – not for the first time – raises the prospect of passing on significant unexpected costs to us. This service supports the most vulnerable people and has proven it can get them back into permanent accommodation much more effectively than the general provision we can offer. These people often need specialist mental health support or help with overcoming drug or alcohol issues".

Ben then went on to add: "Kent Homeless Connect brings both expert support from specialist charities, and the benefits of economies of scale to provide a genuine lifeline to these people. Since the announcement, we have asked numerous times for the detailed impact assessment of the plans, but as far as we know these haven’t been done, which makes us think the true implications of the plans have not been thought through. We do understand that Kent – like all local councils – faces significant budget pressure, but this cut would only pass on more expense to district councils, NHS services and their own social care services. The Government have been crystal clear that they want to end rough sleeping, and this proposal flies in the face of that promise. I have written to our local Kent councillors to ask them to help us avoid what could prove to be a costly decision that leaves some of the most vulnerable people in our communities without the support they need to keep a roof over their head.”

We will keep you up-to-date with any developments on this story.