Kent Current

Kent Current Independent journalism helping you understand what’s happening across Kent.
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Kent County Council is seeking another £7.5m for its finance and payroll overhaul, taking the expected cost to nearly £3...
29/07/2026

Kent County Council is seeking another £7.5m for its finance and payroll overhaul, taking the expected cost to nearly £38m. KCC confirmed the new funding comes on top of its previous £30.4m forecast.

Payroll is still being tested without a firm launch date. Meanwhile, nobody has begun assessing what happens to the system when KCC disappears in 2028.

🔗 Full story in the comments.

More boys are passing the Kent Test around Maidstone than the area’s boys’ grammar schools have room for.KCC’s proposed ...
27/07/2026

More boys are passing the Kent Test around Maidstone than the area’s boys’ grammar schools have room for.

KCC’s proposed answer is a £7.2m expansion of Oakwood Park Grammar School, adding 30 places to each new intake from September 2027.

Also in today’s briefing: Why one of Kent’s proposed new councils could stretch from Folkestone to Sheppey, warnings of six-hour border queues, and a far-right march in Dover that failed to match its online billing.

🔗 Full briefing in the comments.

Writing about Margaret Thatcher is one thing. Writing about yourself is another.Broadcaster Iain Dale tells us why he ev...
24/07/2026

Writing about Margaret Thatcher is one thing. Writing about yourself is another.

Broadcaster Iain Dale tells us why he eventually decided to write an autobiography, why he wanted to include the failures as well as the successes, what he now makes of Kent politics, and how a shoplifting incident involving three cassette tapes still features in his life story.

🔗 Full interview in the comments.

Kent County Council is very keen to stress that it did not approve an extension of Hermitage Quarry into Oaken Wood.That...
22/07/2026

Kent County Council is very keen to stress that it did not approve an extension of Hermitage Quarry into Oaken Wood.

That is technically correct. It also obscures what councillors did decide.

By keeping Oaken Wood in the Mineral Sites Plan, KCC moved the proposal forward and declared the land acceptable in principle for mineral development. If the plan survives examination, Gallagher will eventually be able to apply with council policy on its side.

We explain what the close vote actually changes, why 41 hectares of ancient woodland could still be lost, and what has to happen before any quarrying can begin.

🔗 Full story in the comments.

Rich Lehmann almost turned this interview down.The former leader of Kent County Council's Green group spent months reluc...
21/07/2026

Rich Lehmann almost turned this interview down.

The former leader of Kent County Council's Green group spent months reluctant to speak publicly about the mental health crisis that saw him step back from frontline politics and ultimately leave the Green Party.

He eventually agreed in the hope that sharing his experience might encourage others to take mental health seriously, particularly in the often unforgiving world of local politics.

We spoke about burnout, ADHD, the accusations that left him questioning himself, and why he believes talking openly matters.

🔗 Full interview in the comments.

Kent County Council introduced the national anthem to the end of its meetings. Kent County Council then immediately disc...
20/07/2026

Kent County Council introduced the national anthem to the end of its meetings. Kent County Council then immediately discovered it hadn't specified how much of the national anthem had to be sung.

The result was four verses, a constitutional loophole and live subtitles that became convinced councillors were singing The Star-Spangled Banner.

Elsewhere this week, KCC has finally located documents it insisted didn't exist, Tunbridge Wells has lost its water supply again, Southern Water has been fined £7m for illegal sewage dumping, and campaigners are preparing for a fight over ancient woodland near Maidstone.

It's been one of those weeks.

🔗 Full Monday briefing in the comments.

Every council in Kent and Medway is being abolished.From April 2028, the authorities currently responsible for everythin...
17/07/2026

Every council in Kent and Medway is being abolished.

From April 2028, the authorities currently responsible for everything from bin collections and planning to roads, schools and social care will disappear. Four entirely new councils will take their place.

That will eventually affect who makes decisions about your town, how much council tax you pay and where billions of pounds of debt, property and public services end up.

The government has finally chosen the new map. It has left almost everything else to be worked out in less than two years.

We explain what is changing, why Whitehall chose the unexpected Option 4B, and what the upheaval could mean for communities across Kent.

🔗 Full story in the comments.

Breaking: Kent will be carved up into four unitary authorities, including a wild MidKent Council that spans from Sheppey...
16/07/2026

Breaking: Kent will be carved up into four unitary authorities, including a wild MidKent Council that spans from Sheppey to Romney Marsh.

We’ll have the full breakdown of what it means across the county in today’s edition.

For 82 years, the main strategy for dealing with Kent’s most famous wreck has been to leave it alone.The SS Richard Mont...
15/07/2026

For 82 years, the main strategy for dealing with Kent’s most famous wreck has been to leave it alone.

The SS Richard Montgomery sits around a mile and a half off Sheerness, still carrying around 1,400 tonnes of wartime explosives. In September, specialist engineers will head into the Thames Estuary, build an underwater platform beside it, and start cutting off the three masts that have become part of the Sheppey landscape.

We look at why doing something has finally become safer than doing nothing, the long and occasionally bizarre history of plans to deal with the wreck, and what happens when its most visible features finally disappear from the Kent coast.

🔗 Full story in the comments.

A Kent councillor decided Clacton needed saving from joke candidates. Within 24 hours, the arrival of a reality TV conte...
14/07/2026

A Kent councillor decided Clacton needed saving from joke candidates. Within 24 hours, the arrival of a reality TV contestant had apparently restored enough seriousness for her to withdraw.

We look at Amelia Randall’s extremely brief journey towards Westminster, from planning meet-and-greets and designing leaflets to deciding her work in Essex was done.

Elsewhere, Kent waits to discover its local government future, Operation Brock returns until late August, London firefighters are helping cover Kent, Southfleet reacts to a huge AI data centre, and KCC has launched a walking app that we couldn’t get past the signup screen of.

Plus council meetings, planning, property and what’s happening around Kent this week.

🔗 Full briefing in the comments.

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