Local News

Monday (6th March) saw Sittingbourne get it's own hybrid car club launch - in part due to the success of the three year low emissions car club trial launched in Faversham in April last year.

The vehicles are supplied by Hiyacar, in partnership with Swale Borough Council, and are vailable to the general public on a quick and free app-based sign up and verification through the Hiyacar app. So there is now an opportunity to rent 3 hybrid vehicles, located across the town, for as little as £3 an hour or £35 a day. The rental price also includes insurance, car cleaning and maintenance.

The hybrid vehicles are now available for hire from the following locations across the town: Spring Street car park, Bell Road car park and Albany Road car park.

Graeme Risby, CEO and Co-Founder of Hiyacar, told SFM News: “We’re thrilled to be working with Swale Borough Council again, to launch another low emission car club. It’s great to see the continued success of the Faversham car club trial, and we’re excited to be offering yet more Swale residents affordable access to these vehicles."

Cllr Julian Saunders, chair of Swale Borough Council’s environment committee, told SFM News: “After the success of the first car club in Faversham last year, it’s great to be extending the trial to Sittingbourne. We are excited to be rolling this trial out further around the borough as a way to try and encourage alternative travel. The car club offers users an affordable, pay as you go alternative to car ownership, and has been shown to improve air quality and encourages more walking and cycling.”

It was Sittingbourne Parkrun's seventh birthday on Saturday (25th February) with event number 290 and a celebration with cheers, cake and coffee.

Parkrun legend, 82 year old John Waterman, completed his 250^th parkrun milestone as part of the celebrations.

Since the event started there has been 6,480 participants with a whopping 8,896 personal bests recorded. All made possible by 752 volunteers including four legged friends Bertie, Milo, Mollie and Blue to name a few.

Yvonne Crawford, Sittingbourne's Event Director, told SFM News: “Parkrun is a great way to keep fit and be part of a community. We were pleased to be able to celebrate our seventh birthday in style with cheers, cake and, thanks to parkrun’s sponsorship with De’Longhi, their coffee van which has been visiting events across the country since 2022.”

Yvonne added: “We mustn’t forget our hi viz heroes, without whom we couldn’t have put on such an event, and of course without our participants there would be no parkrun!  We are already planning for our next milestone event our 300^th parkrun on 6^th May 2023!”

The free 5km event takes place at Milton Creek Country Park every Saturday at 9:00am and is designed for people of all ages and abilities – including walkers, as there is now a new parkwalk volunteer role. 

It's all made possible by more than a dozen volunteers each week and they are always looking for new volunteers. Full details can be found on their website: http://www.parkrun.org.uk/sittingbourne

The local Parkrun was set up in February 2016 and regularly sees around 150 people take part every week here in Sittingbourne.

At a packed Full Council Meeting, at Swale House last night (Wednesday 22nd February), Swale Borough Councillors finally agreed to a savings package of more than £2.8 million in the next financial year through a restructure of services and a review of council fees and charges.

The savings proposals were approved and the meeting also agreed that the Swale element of the council tax for the next financial year would increase by 2.99% - a rise, they say, of less than 11p a week for a typical band D property.

Cllr Mike Baldock, Leader of the Council, told SFM News: “We’ve seen a significant increases in our costs in the last year, and there has been a rise in demand for our help with things like housing as local people struggle with the cost of living. After years of cuts to our funding from central Government, we have been left to make some incredibly difficult decisions. Despite this, we have worked to agree a balanced budget that still looks to protect vital services that local people value.

He went on to add: “Our share of the council tax bill will cost a typical band D household just £3.75 a week, though most people in Swale will be paying less as most households are in the lower bands. I still think this represents real value given the range of services we provide, and maintains our position as one of the lowest council taxes in Kent.”

The final Council Tax Bill people will receive is made up of several charges from local services.

For 2023/24 the council tax bill for a typical band D property will include charges for:

• Kent County Council: £1,534.23 (4.995% increase)
• Kent Police & Crime Commissioner: £243.15 (6.57% increase)
• Swale Borough Council: £194.94 (2.99% increase)
• Kent & Medway Fire and Rescue Authority: £87.30 (6.01% increase)
• Parish or town councils in areas where they exist.

The full budget report can be read on the agenda page for the full council meeting on Wednesday 22nd February.

A convicted sex offender from Sittingbourne is starting a prison sentence after ignoring measures imposed by the courts to prevent him from reoffending.

Lewis Mortimer has been jailed for five years after he was found in possession of a haul of child abuse material, which even included a paedophile manual.

Mortimer, 42, of Shortlands Road, had a number of previous convictions for child sex offences and when he was arrested had been the subject of measures imposed by the court which restricted his access to the internet. These restrictions meant he also had to notify police of any internet enabled devices he possessed, such as phone and computers, as well as details including online usernames, bank cards and passport information. 

In December 2019, Kent Police learned that Mortimer had contacted a woman on the internet and claimed to be a photographer who worked with young children. A similar report was made to police a few months later, when after contacting another woman Mortimer sent images of children being abused.

On 1st April 2020, he was arrested at his home address. Searches led to the seizure of several devices, including a tablet concealed within a base of a divan bed. The devices were examined, and a phone was found to contain files containing indecent images, as well as pages from a so-called paedophile manual containing explicit details of how to groom and abuse victims. More than 23,000 images were also recovered from the tablet Mortimer had hidden inside the bed, many of which were in the most extreme category.

Mortimer appeared before Maidstone Crown Court, where he pleaded guilty to three counts of distributing indecent images, four counts of possessing indecent images and with possessing a paedophile manual. He also admitted ten counts of breaching notification requirements and seven further counts of breaching a sexual offence prevention order.

He was sentenced on Friday (10th February) to five years’ imprisonment, with an extended licence period of a further two years. He will remain on the sex offenders register for life.

DS Vicky Whitmill, of the Offender Management Unit, told SFM News: "Mortimer was subject to strict measures designed to reduce the risk of him reoffending. He has been unable to adhere to these restrictions and has demonstrated a clear determination to access illegal and harmful images, many of which include the horrific abuse of children. Make no mistake, the material Mortimer deliberately sought and downloaded will have resulted from real victims suffering appalling abuse. He has a significant offending history and appears to have no understanding of the gravity of his actions. People like him must face the consequences and we will continue to do everything we can to ensure they are brought before the courts."