Swale Borough Council

Councillor Ann Cavanagh, who was elected to Swale Borough Council in May this year, as a Swale Independent representing Borden and Grove Park ward, has joined the Labour Group and will sit with Labour when the Council convenes its next Full Council meeting next week.

The balance of the Council will thus change to; Labour-16 seats; Swale Independents 12; Conservatives 11; Liberal Democrats 5 and Green Party 3. It will make no difference to the balance between the Coalition administration and the opposition, as Cllr Cavanagh is exchanging one coalition group for another.

Swale Borough Council (SBC) have teamed up with Kent Police’s Rural Task Force to crack down on suspected fly-tipping on a day of action collecting evidence and taking enforcement action for waste related crimes.  
  
SBC have confirmed that 8 vehicles were stopped and searched and 4 Fixed Penalty Notices were issued.  
  

Swale Borough Council have raised concerns about Kent County Council (KCC) proposals to change youth services across the borough. 

The council has written to Kent’s Cabinet Member for Communities and Regulatory Services, Cllr Clair Bell, to set out its opposition to cut externally commissioned youth services, as part of proposals to create new family hubs to support children and families. 

Electric vehicle drivers will now be able to get a more reliable charge when visiting Sittingbourne, with Swale Borough Council (SBC) upgrading the EV charging points in the Bourne Place Multi-Storey Car Park. 

The previous chargers on the ground floor of the car park were unreliable and have now been replaced with two brand new Pod Point chargers.  

These offer a total of four charging outlets for electric vehicles to use, two 22KW fast chargers and two 7KW chargers.  

People visiting Swale’s award-winning beaches this summer are being reminded to stay safe on the coast.

The beaches on the Island remain popular every year, and Swale Borough Council is again partnering with the RNLI to make sure people stay safe at Sheerness and Leysdown beaches.

Lifeguard cover began operating on Leysdown-on-Sea and Sheerness beaches seven days a week, from Saturday 8th July and will be there until Sunday 3rd September, having covered weekends and Bank Holidays since 27th May earlier this year. 

Swale Borough Council is celebrating after receiving a Green Flag Award for Milton Creek Country Park and Oare Gunpowder Works Country Park.

The news that Milton Creek and Oare have achieved the accreditation - the international quality mark for parks and green spaces - "is testament to the hard work and dedication of the team that care for the green space so that everyone can enjoy it" says the council.

Swale Borough Council is making grants of up to £5,000 available to support activities to improve local town centres.

The council has set up the Town Centre Action Grant (TAG) scheme to help boost the borough’s principal towns of Faversham, Sittingbourne and Sheerness, as well as the smaller historic centres of Milton Regis and Queenborough.

The council wants interested groups to come together to develop co-ordinated action plans and projects for the towns, with grants of between £1,000 and £5,000 to schemes that focus on:

Swale Borough Council and the LTA have today (Monday 3rd July) announced a partnership to invest in and refurbish public park tennis courts in Swale.

In total, park tennis courts at Milton Recreation Ground and Kind George’s Playing Fields in Sittingbourne, will be renovated, with additional investment of £124,578.54 helping provide quality facilities for the local community. 

The leader of Swale Borough Council and the chair of the council's Environment Committee have raised concerns about the potential borough-wide impact of the closure of the Faversham Household Waste and Recycling Centre (HWRC).

Kent County Council have proposed three options for saving £1.5m from their HWRC’s and every one of those options includes the closure of Faversham HWRC. Two of the three options would also see Sheerness HWRC close for two days a week.

A programme to support people struggling to feed their families and pay their bills has reopened across the borough.

Swale Borough Council has received more than £500,000 from Kent County Council’s (KCC) Household Support Fund to help households access food boxes, get vouchers to pay their electric, gas and water bills, and buy items needed to keep warm until March 2024.

The money is being used to support organisations within the local community who have been on the ground helping people navigate the cost-of-living crisis.