Sheppey

Kent County Council (KCC) has today (Thursday 4th July) issued a Statement regarding the recent traffic problems in Sittingbourne and the Isle Of Sheppey following the closure of the Kingsferry Bridge and the continuing work at the Grovehurst/Iwade junction of the A249.

A KCC spokesperson told SFM News: “We understand how frustrated people living and working in the area feel about the severe traffic delays they have experienced this week while work continues on three major road schemes near Sittingbourne and the Isle of Sheppey.

It was yet another afternoon / early evening of "gridlock" in Sittingbourne again today (Tuesday 2nd July) due to the continuing closure of the Kingsferry Bridge.

The bridge remains closed, for essential maintenance work by Network Rail, until 5am on Sunday (7th July). This will also be the case across the weekend of Saturday 13th and Sunday 14th July and then another full week's closure from Saturday 20th July until Saturday 27th July.

With just six days to go until the General Election, pollsters Electoral Calculus’ new survey of 20,000 people (across Kent) suggests the Conservatives are still facing a loss in the Sittingbourne and Sheppey Constituency.

Labour is set to win 12 constituencies in the county with the Conservatives taking only 6.

Our local constituencies, both Sittingbourne & Sheppey and Faversham & Mid Kent are both set to be Labour gains on Thursday (4th July).

Members of the Sittingbourne and Sheppey Conservative Association have voted, by secret ballot, and have selected Aisha Cuthbert as the Conservative Parliamentary Candidate for Sittingbourne and Sheppey at the next General Election.

Gordon Henderson, Member of Parliament for Sittingbourne and Sheppey, has announced he will be standing down at the next General Election.

Mr Henderson made the announcement in a speech at the Sittingbourne and Sheppey Conservative Association Annual General Meeting earlier this eveening (Friday 17^th March) in front of members.

Before becoming an MP, Mr Henderson was elected to both Swale Borough Council, where he was twice Deputy Leader, and Kent County Council.

The Environment Agency have issued a Flood Alert for the Isle of Sheppey and the coastal areas from Kemsley to Seasalter for tomorrow (Tuesday 11th October).

A high spring tide and positive tidal surge is expected to affect the coast overnight tonight and in the early hours of tomorrow. Tides will be at their highest between midnight and 04:00 BST on Tuesday morning.

This Flood Alert has been issued by the Environmant Agency due to the high tide expected to affect coastal and tidal locations this afternoon (Monday 21st February).

The Agency say that flooding is possible two hours either side of high tide, between 2pm and 6pm today, with strong winds and unsettled weather causing higher water levels than normal. Flooding will affect lower lying locations nearest the coast throughout this area, particularly around Faversham Creek, Conyer and low-lying parts of Seasalter.

Local MP Gordon Henderson, in partnership with Sittingbourne and Sheerness JobCentres, welcomed over 30 local businesses on Friday (17^th September) morning to their Kickstart Scheme Seminar, where they were encouraged to offer 6-month work placements to young people on Universal Credit.

Swale Borough Councillors are set to be discussing the lack of options for secondary school places in Sittingbourne and Sheppey at the next round of area committee meetings.

At the Sittingbourne and Sheppey meetings, councillors will receive an introductory paper from Swale Council Leader, Roger Truelove, a statement from Sittingbourne and Sheppey MP Gordon Henderson, and a presentation from Marisa White, Area Education Officer at Kent County Council (KCC) outlining how the provision of secondary schools can be improved.

Gordon Henderson MP has welcomed ultrafast broadband being introduced to thousands of additional properties here in Sittingbourne and on the Isle Of Sheppey.

Today’s (Friday 28th May) announcement by Openreach shows it intends to rollout ultrafast, ultra-reliable Full Fibre broadband to 8,320 premises in the constituency and is part of the firm’s ongoing commitment to connect three million homes and businesses in some of the UK’s hardest to serve communities.