NEWS IN KENT

Looking for the news in Kent and what’s happening near you? Keep informed about the latest happenings in Kent with our news round-up. Discover new events, local developments, and interesting stories from the Garden of England.

KENT’S DEVOLUTION
The government has decided that Kent and Medway councils will be split into four, with the change coming into effect on the 1st of April 2028.
This is the biggest shake-up of local authority arrangements in 50 years, replacing Kent County Council, Medway Council and the 12 district, borough and city councils that currently deliver services in the county. The new four unitary councils are:
📍a unitary council covering the areas currently served by Dartford, Gravesham and Medway in the North of Kent
📍a unitary council covering the areas currently served by Sevenoaks, Tonbridge and Malling, Maidstone and Tunbridge Wells in the West of Kent
📍a unitary council covering the areas currently served by Swale, Ashford, Folkestone and Hythe in the middle of Kent
📍a unitary council covering the areas currently served by Canterbury, Thanet and Dover in the East.
What Changes
Under the current system, Kent County Council (KCC) delivers some services, such as education, social services and roads, and district or borough councils deliver others, like emptying your bins and providing council housing. In the proposed new system, unitary councils will deliver all council services within their areas. Medway Council operates in that way today.
For more information, see here.

GREAT SUMMER SAVINGS

The government have released a range of schemes to help families visit attractions, travel and eat out. From 25 June to 1 September 2026, VAT will be slashed on eligible activities with the Great British Summer Savings scheme. This targeted, temporary scheme will reduce the cost of children’s meals in restaurants, and children’s tickets for theatres and cinemas. Admission tickets, for both children and adults, to a range of attractions, including: amusement parks, fairs, museums, zoos, soft play centres, circuses, adventure parks, nature reserves, wildlife parks and more. The VAT rate on eligible activities will be cut from 20% to 5%.
Free Bus Rides
Plus, children aged five to 15 years in England will be able to travel free on local bus services throughout August.
Rachel Reeves, Chancellor of the Exchequer, says, “Great British Summer Savings will support families with the little treats in life while boosting business across the UK.”
Kent is full of great attractions that will no doubt welcome this news, with the scheme set to give families more reasons to explore the county while boosting tourism and footfall.”
Read the full government details on the Great British Summer Savings Scheme.

WALPOLE TIDAL POOL UPDATE

Great news for swimmers! The Walpole Bay Tidal Pool has been repaired and is now open. According to Thanet Council, it will be open until the Autumn, though it may have to close for short-term maintenance.

WINTER GARDENS PLANS

Westwood One Theatre hopes to reopen the Winter Gardens in Margate in Winter 2026/Spring 2027. They have put in their plans and drawings to Thanet Council in May 2206. There will be two main event spaces, a rooftop bar/restaurant and a daytime cafe. The company has also put in plans for an office, drama school, and nursery. The company is behind The Granville Theatre, Ramsgate.

KENT POP BAND MEMBER

A boy from the King’s School, Rochester, has been chosen to be a member of Simon Cowell’s latest boyband – December 10! He joined the school in Year 4 on a Choristership, which then became a Music Scholarship. He credits his time as a Chorister with giving him the resilience required for the music industry. “It builds your confidence and musicality,” John explains. “Most of my understanding of music began from this stage, and I definitely wouldn’t be where I am today if not for that.” Starring in the Netflix series Simon Cowell: The Next Act, he juggles life on set with his A-Levels. The group has been described as ‘hugely fun, utterly joyful and incredibly charismatic’.
See here for more details.

DOUBLE THANET REPRIEVES

Broadstairs Theatre Saved
The Sarah Thorne Theatre in Broadstairs was on the for sale list as declared surplus to Kent County Council’s needs. Having failed to sell at auction, it has been confirmed that the theatre’s founder and director, Michael Wheatley-Ward, is now the owner of its home, the Broadstairs Memorial Hall and Pottery.
Pie Factory Victory
Also, it has been revealed that the sale of the premises of the Pie Factory Music youth charity in Ramsgate may also be secured, following a potential grant from the Ramsgate Neighbourhood Board. According to the charity, there is still work to be done, as the capital grant of £535,000 has to be approved by their Board of Trustees and ratified by Thanet District Council’s Cabinet. For more details, see here.

ASHFORD INTERNATIONAL IS READY
Following up on an earlier call for European lines opening up in Kent again, one step towards this is now more secure as the rail regulator opens the door to future international train services with Temple Mills International depot access approval for Virgin Trains. Access to Temple Mills is an important first step towards the operator being able to operate cross-border train services using the Channel Tunnel. Virgin Trains plans to begin running services in 2030. According to Cllr Noel Ovenden, Leader of Ashford Borough Council, “This move could not only enable potential new operators who have already expressed an interest in introducing international rail services, but it also creates the right conditions for the return of direct international trains to Kent, including Ashford and Ebbsfleet.”
He adds, “Ashford International stands ready. Ready for trade – Ready for jobs – Ready for tourism – Ready to return to the international train map.”
See Ashford Borough Council’s press release here.
Read the Government’s full announcement here

FAVERSHAM FIRE
Sad news about the fire at Faversham’s Standard Quay. Glad to hear there were no reported injuries and, according to Kent Fire & Rescue Service, the cause is believed to be an electrical fault.
Read more on Kent Fire & Rescue Service’s website here.

DOCKYARD FUNDING
The historic dock has been awarded £533,084 from the Museum Renewal Fund. It will, says the dockyard, “help us navigate current financial pressures but, more importantly, allows us to invest in the preservation and reuse of our estate to ensure long-term sustainability.”
Read full details on their website here

ARCHBISHOP OF CANTERBURY
The current Bishop of London, the Rt Revd and Rt Hon Dame Sarah Mullally (pictured), will be the next Archbishop of Canterbury. She is the 106th Archbishop of Canterbury since Saint Augustine arrived in Kent from Rome in 597. Bishop Sarah will be the first woman to hold the office and will take up her role in March 2026.
Read the full official details here

EUROSTAR GOOD GROWTH
A new campaign from the Good Growth Foundation, a think tank focused on reforming the politics and policies of economic growth, is calling on the government to reopen Ashford International to bring good growth to towns left behind. Their End of the Tunnel project claims this could inject £534 million a year into the visitor economy – up to £2.7 billion over five years. Ashford is the epicentre of a surprisingly struggling region. Kent and its neighbour East Sussex are often perceived as affluent due to their proximity to London and their overall economic output, but face significant internal economic disparities. This is particularly true for coastal communities, which have increasingly become barometers for overall UK decline. The hope is that the reintroduction of services and tourism will boost the area.
Kent County Council has also endorsed a petition to bring back Eurostar services to Ashford and Ebbsfleet stations.
Read the Good Growth Foundations report here

COUNCIL’S MAJOR CHANGE
Government ministers want councils in Kent and Medway to deliver services differently. The proposed devolution will include the creation of a strategic mayoral authority for Kent, headed by a directly-elected mayor. Under the current system, Kent County Council (KCC) delivers services such as education, social services and roads, and district or borough councils deliver others, including emptying bins and providing council housing. In the proposed new system, unitary councils would deliver all council services in one area. Medway Council operates in that way today. Maidstone Borough Council has set up a survey – see our link here – to share your thoughts on this. You have until 9am on the 6th of October 2025 to take part. The new unitaries will start operating in April 2028.

MILLIONS FOR KENT
The government has announced £5bn of investment for 339 ‘overlooked’ communities under the Pride in Place Strategy. The investment will see some areas receive £2m every year for a decade. For Kent, this is Maidstone’s Parkwood & Senacre, Swale’s Sheppey East and Dover’s Buckland & St Radigund. A further 95 places will receive a one-off payment of £1.5m, including Gravesham, Medway, Swale, and Thanet, according to bbc.co.uk. Adding, the money will be targeted at improvements backed by the local community and could include projects to tackle littering and graffiti or building a new sports ground. Unlike the levelling up schemes, councils do not have to bid to get the money. The government has said spending would only be approved if community groups, local organisations and social clubs have been involved in deciding how the money will be spent.
This is on top of the Plan for Neighbourhoods, which promises to invest £1.5 billion in 75 of the ‘most deprived’ areas across the UK over the next decade, and Ramsgate in Thanet was on the list to ’empower local people to take back control of their future with a long-term, flexible funding pot of up to £20 million of funding and support over the next 10 years’, says the government.

SHELTERS RENEWAL
The Heritage Lab in Thanet are taking on the 20-year lease from Thanet District Council to redevelop the eight art deco shelters on Ramsgate’s East Cliff lower promenade. They will refurbish and renovate them and are exploring ideas. They are hoping to open them for Summer 2026, and are calling out for people who may be interested in individuals, community organisations and private operators to run one or more of three commercial units: a café/bar, a watersports facility and a sauna.
More details here.

FOLKESTONE’S BRIGHTER FUTURE
As part of the Folkestone – A Brighter Future project, Bouverie Square will be returned to its former use as a public garden space, and a new linear bus station will be created along Middelburg Square. New temporary busy stops will now operate from Middleburg Square. The current bus station in Bouverie Square is replaced with a new park that creates a new ‘green heart’ for the town. Stagecoach has a map and plan – see the link here – to help users navigate the changes with details of stops and routes. The new changes start from the 21st September 2025.

UNIVERSITY TRAILBLAZER
University of Greenwich and the University of Kent have agreed to create a ‘super-university’. The plan is to initiate a new model bringing both institutions under one structure whilst enabling each university to retain its name, identity and local presence. Professor Georgina Randsley de Moura, Acting Vice Chancellor and President of the University of Kent, said: “This exciting collaboration is about harnessing the combined power of two ambitious universities looking to the future, to ensure we are sustainable, impactful and can make a bigger difference to the communities we serve.
It is seen as a trailblazer and the start of other institutions to follow, and this merger creates a blueprint for other institutions to follow. If approved, the aim is for it to start from the 2026/2027 academic year. 

EUROSTAR PLEA
Kent County Council has endorsed a campaign to bring back Eurostar services to Ashford and Ebbsfleet stations. Since the services were suspended during the COVID-19 pandemic, they have not been reinstated, despite the recovery of other travel routes. This has prompted a petition, which has already gathered more than 65,000 signatures at the time of writing, to urge Eurostar to restore these vital connections.

BROADSTAIRS IS THE BEST
Kent has some of the best seaside towns for food and drink, according to a new survey by Which! Along with Cornwall, the coastal towns of Broadstairs, Deal, Folkestone and Whitstable scored highly for the best seaside towns for food in South East England. Broadstairs came out top, scoring highly as a destination, with a beach rating of 5 stars!

NEW BEACH SPA
Folkestone Harbour and Sea Scrub Sauna are joining forces to create a unique Beach Spa. It will include two saunas, a hot tub, a plunge pool, cold dowse showers, a healthy eating café and changing facilities. This will be Kent’s largest beach sauna concept. Works are due to start at the end of 2025.

BREWERY ARTS VENUE
Gravesend’s St Andrew’s Arts Centre will be run by the Gravesham Iron Pier Brewery and, in collaboration with Gravesham Borough Council, will develop a programme of exhibitions, events and activities. The venue is named after the  neighbouring Town Pier, the world’s oldest surviving cast-iron pier

FOLKESTONE FAVE IS SAVED
The Sports Trust, with support from the De Haan Foundation, has agreed to take over and re-open the Folkestone Sports Centre to run alongside the Three Hills Sports Centre and F51 Skate Park. ” We are delighted to announce that, after months of productive discussions with the administrator, we are now in the final stages of the agreement to take over the operation and ownership of Folkestone Sports Centre,” says The Sports Trust. See the full details of the Folkestone Sports Centre’s future here.

THANET’S TOP LISTING
According to Condé Nast Traveller magazine, Thanet is listed third in their article on the best places to visit in August, with 30 of their favourite destinations. Margate. The feature highlights Kent’s age-old seaside resorts, which well and truly come alive during the Summer months.

WINTER GARDENS UPDATE
Thanet District Council has identified its preferred partner for the Grade II Margate Winter Gardens refurbishment and reopening. Westwood One Theatre, the organisation behind the recent renovation of the Granville Theatre, Ramsgate, have been chosen. They have put forward a vision for the Winter Gardens which aims to create a sustainable and profitable multi-use space. Primarily, it would operate as a theatre and live music venue, with the scope to accommodate conferences, corporate events and weddings. These activities would be bolstered by a rooftop bar with panoramic sea views. The building would also house a drama school, a vocational learning centre and a registered day nursery.

£20 MILLION TO SPEND
The £20 million Levelling Up Fund has successfully been awarded final approval from the Government to spend ‘our’ £20 million Levelling Up Fund allocation on a new health, wellbeing, employment and skills hub in Gravesend, says Gravesham Borough Council. Of the fund, £17 million will replace the ageing Cascades Leisure Centre facility with a new low-carbon leisure venue that can host regional events alongside an improved family-fun offer. The remaining £3m of funding will be used to deliver a range of initiatives within the borough’s urban areas to improve public spaces, create new workspaces for small businesses and accommodate new community uses.

TUNNEL, BUS AND BIKE
The new 1.4km road Silvertown Tunnel has opened, linking Silvertown to the Greenwich Peninsula in east London with the aim of reducing congestion at the Blackwall Tunnel, in addition to existing Blackwall Tunnel services, zero-emission bus services through Silvertown Tunnel and across both tunnels. There will be 21 buses an hour during peak times between 7am-7pm Monday to Friday. For cyclists, a new dedicated service will let cyclists take their bikes on a shuttle bus through the Silvertown Tunnel.
Please note that charges apply to the new Silvertown Tunnel as well as the Dartford Tunnel. 

NEW ROAD IMPACT
The Lower Thames Crossing has been approved by the government. It will connect Kent and Essex through a tunnel beneath the River Thames. It will almost double road capacity over the river east of London, according to National Highways. It aims to reduce congestion by taking over 13 million vehicles away every year from Dartford and freeing up almost a full lane of traffic. However, Kent Wildlife Trust believes this is a shortsighted decision, as it will impact ancient woodlands, Sites of Special Scientific Interest and cause irreversible damage to the UK’s climate and biodiversity.

Main picture: Markus Winkler at unsplash.com

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News In Kent
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Picture Credit: © King’s School Rochester.