News

Sandgate Parish Council has put up signs along the beach front informing residents and visitors that the quality of the water at our beach is normally excellent or good, but that after heavy rainfall or stormy conditions, the quality of the water may be adversely affected for up to 48 hours. The signs include websites and QR codes where further information on water quality may be found.

This follows work done by the Parish Council a year ago to test the water at Granville Parade, because of concerns about the accuracy and reliability of the data published by the Environment Agency and Southern Water. We decided that we should issue advice to sea users on best practice so that they may enjoy the sea in a safe manner – the signs that have now gone up.

Based on the sea water testing, Sandgate Parish Council reluctantly decided last year not to apply for the Seaside Award, Keep Britain Tidy’s nationwide standard for the best beaches across the UK.  Sandgate had been proud to receive the Seaside Award for the last ten years and the Parish Council wrote an open letter in April 2024 to various organisations to explain this decision (https://sandgatepc.org.uk/2024/04/04/sandgate-parish-council-and-the-seaside-award-2024/).

The Parish Council has again reluctantly decided not to apply for the Seaside Award this year, as conditions have not changed.

Our open letter contained specific recommendations for Southern Water and the Environment Agency and we can now provide an update on these as follows.

We recommended that Southern Water should update their wastewater handling so it no longer requires discharge of sewage to sea at Granville Parade (and elsewhere). We also recommended that, in the interim, the sewage outfall pipe at Granville Parade should be extended further out to sea by Southern Water to help keep sewage spillage away from the bathing area and beach.

Southern Water responded that they “do not have any plans to extend the sewage outfall pipe at Granville Parade as the Sandgate area is already achieving the Government’s target.”

We also recommended that the Environment Agency’s sampling point for Sandgate should be at Granville Parade as this is where most people swim. Currently, the sampling point for Sandgate is at Seabrook Point: a mile west from Granville Parade and to the west of a sewage outfall pipe. The prevailing current in this area runs west to east and testing therefore fails to pick up pollutants which are dissipated in an easterly direction towards Sandgate and Folkestone. The Environment Agency’s response explained that designations for bathing waters are decided by DEFRA. The Bathing Water Regulations and application guidance are currently being revised and during this time, DEFRA is not accepting applications for bathing water designation.

DEFRA expects to begin accepting applications again in Spring 2025 and the Parish Council, working with the District Council, will be applying to DEFRA for the beach at Granville Parade to be designated as bathing water, with water quality testing being undertaken at that location.

The latest chapter of bi-annual beach management work helping to protect more than 3,000 homes and businesses from flooding starts next week.

Contractors will begin recycling and regrading shingle along the five-mile stretch of coast between Fisherman’s Beach in Hythe through Sandgate to Folkestone Harbour on Monday 4 November – a process that takes up to eight weeks to complete.

This approach is currently the most cost-effective way of protecting the district and offers far superior protection than the old timber groynes.

This important task, which will see 142,000 tonnes of shingle moved on this occasion, is carried out twice a year and helps shield the sea wall.

It’s all about further reducing the possibility of flooding and coastal erosion and, ultimately, protecting our residents.

Shingle is moved from east to west to allow the longshore drift to naturally spread it to aid the prevention of overtopping during storm events.

Any disruption will be kept to a minimum, and no work will be carried out between Christmas and the new year. 

Christmas at Sandgate Library!

For children up to 9 years old.

Meet Santa and receive a special free gift!

Friday December 6th
5:15 PM – 6:00 PM

Children must be accompanied by a grown-up to share in the fun!

Don’t miss this wonderful holiday event!

The Connectivity Access Scheme is now OPEN for Kent County Council area residents.

The Connectivity Access Scheme provides digitally excluded residents with access to the internet (by providing sim cards).

To be eligible for a SIM card through the Connectivity Access Scheme, beneficiaries must meet all the following criteria:

• be digitally excluded
• be aged 18 or over
• be a Kent resident, permanently living within one of the 12 local authorities covered by Kent County Council (this excludes Medway)
• be in receipt of means tested benefits, or your household income is less than £40,000 per annum before tax
• and qualify for one or more of the following statements:
  • have no access or insufficient access to the internet at home
  • have no or insufficient access to the internet when away from home
  • cannot afford their existing monthly contract or top up

For more information on the criteria and how to apply, please visit the Connectivity Access website.

Brightly coloured and more than a bit fabulous, Parish Clerk Gaye Thomas has worked with Sandgate Parish Council for over 10 years.

To mark the anniversary, Gaye has generously donated a brightly coloured and more than a bit fabulous bench to the Parish, which was this morning sited on Sandgate Village Green.

Sandgate Parish Chair Tim Prater said:

“Gaye’s commitment to Sandgate over the last decade and more has been second to none, and we’re really touched that she’s has chosen to mark that time with a gift like this to the Parish.

“Gaye gained her Certificate in Local Council Administration (CiLCA) qualification last year in record time, meaning Sandgate meet the criteria of a Quality Council. We absolutely want to keep both!

“This isn’t a goodbye bench but a celebration one!”

Last Friday was a Kent Speedwatch Action Day and the volunteer Sandgate Speedwatch Team joined in.

Although we have been doing Speedwatch sessions in Sandgate pretty much every week at various locations through the Parish through 2024, we wanted to join the County-wide day, and had a late afternoon session on West Road opposite the newly opened children’s playground.

We were shocked, but sadly not surprised. Local residents have told us regularly there is a speeding problem on West Road. They were right.

In all other locations in Sandgate in 2024 we have seen really good compliance with the speed limit. We have recorded very few people over 35mph. On West Road 9 vehicles, over 4%, were travelling above 35mph – by a children’s playground, remember – with top speeds over 50mph. We have, as ever, reported all our findings to Kent Police, and will be further raising the need for more safety measures along there with Kent Highways.

The speed limit on North Road and West Road always has been, and remains, 30mph. No higher, and especially not now there is a playground there. Community SpeedWatch is entirely run by volunteers, and seeks to raise awareness of the speed of traffic. It raises no money for the Council, Police or others.

We’re delighted for any local resident who wants to help raise awareness of speeds on local roads to join our team (you need to complete an online training course, then we ask you to join a session a week): you can learn more at https://sandgatepc.org.uk/2023/11/28/can-you-join-the-sandgate-kent-speedwatch-volunteer-team/

Many residents will have been caught up in delays in the Folkestone area when the A20 Roundhill Tunnel is closed – as it was for a time on Friday and Saturday.

Explaining why the closure and other traffic measures are necessary is included in a letter to the district’s residents and businesses published by the Kent and Medway Resilience Forum.

How emergency services cope when cross channel traffic delays affect local roads is also detailed.

The message warns of busy weekends ahead with the beginning of the school holidays on 19 July and the start of the Olympics the following weekend. As a result Operation Brock is being put in place overnight on Wednesday (10 July).

You can read the letter in full here:

A free summer holiday bus service takes to the road in Folkestone next month (from 20^th July).

 The “Reach the Beach” service will bring visitors and residents from the town’s train stations into Folkestone town centre and down to the beach.

The new summer season hop on, hop off buses will run daily from Saturday 20 July until Sunday 1 September and will be free for passengers to use wherever they get on.

Buses will leave Folkestone West half-hourly beginning at 10am (breaks at lunch time and mid-afternoon), with the last bus returning from Folkestone Harbour at 7.45pm.

Stops during the 10-minute journey will include Cheriton Road outside Folkestone Central Station, Shellons Street (for town centre), F51 Skate Park, Old High Street and the Harbour Arm.

The hop on, hop off service is being provided by local bus company, Crosskeys, and supported with funding from the government’s Bus Service Improvement Plan allocation to Kent County Council.

Announcing the new service, Alan Johnson, Managing Director of Crosskeys said:

“We are very pleased to be providing this service in Folkestone during the summer.  It will have the benefit of bringing visitors and residents into the town centre, boosting our local businesses whilst helping ease congestion.

“The additional benefit of the service is the environmental one, by providing a seamless journey between train and bus. Also, being free this is a great opportunity to demonstrate the value of the bus and joined up public transport.”