A Government Consultation on Local Government Reorganisation (LGR) is now live.
It asks for opinions on the shape of the Unitary authorities that will replace Kent County Council, Medway Council and all district and borough Councils in Kent from April 2028.
A presentation on LGR and the various options from Folkestone & Hythe District Council is below:
lgr-briefing-2026
Sandgate’s campaign to get Granville Parade beach designated a bathing beach has had a massive boost with news the government has accepted the Parish Council’s application and it is included among 13 new designated swimming sites nationally proposed by the government.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c1kgngg4wl4o
Designation would mean Granville Parade would get regular water quality testing to reassure swimmers on pollution levels – at the moment our closest water monitoring point is at Seabrook (despite being officially called “Sandgate beach”).
Sandgate Parish Council ran an informal consultation and beach usage surveys in 2025, as a part of the application process. The application was submitted in October 2025, and has resulted in Granville Parade being included as one of 13 potential new designated bathing beaches nationally.
You can take part in the consultation on the DEFRA website.
Sandgate Parish Council Chair Tim Prater said:
“We’re delighted that our application for Granville Parade – Sandgate’s main beach – to be a designated bathing water has moved to the next stage.
“We have got here due to the work of volunteers, and the support of residents, visitors, swimmers, organisations and people from across the community including our MP Tony Vaughan.
“We hope people will input into this survey too and support the designation. Doing so literally puts us on the map, but more importantly means we may get regular water quality testing here, where people swim, rather than at Seabrook Battery Point, where less people do.”
The Big Green Fair 2026 will be held on 7th June, by kind permission of Saga, in the beautiful setting of Enbrook Park in Sandgate.
Run by Sandgate Environmental Action, The Big Green Fair will include amongst other things:
• Free stalls;
• Information displays and stand;
• Free brochure with details of your charity, project or business;
• Free parking on site and good public transport;
• Beautiful setting;
• A well promoted event as part of Great Big Green Week 2026;
• Talks, children’s activities, wellbeing sessions & workshops;
• Launch of the Wild About Sandgate community nature project;
• Friendly, eco focused audience & community atmosphere.
Why The Big Green Fair? Because there is so much positive and important stuff going on locally. So many people that care about where they live, about climate and nature, their friends, family and communities, and who show they care by taking action, making changes and making a difference. There is so much to celebrate.
The Big Green Fair will encourage even more people to ‘come together for good’, the theme of this year’s national Great Big Green Week.
Thanks to the Folkestone & Hythe District Council Green Grant Scheme this will be a free event both for public and stall holders and promises to be a fun, positive, celebratory, engaging and educational community event.
We have had a lot of interest already and are now taking bookings for stalls and putting together a programme of events. If you, your business, charity, project or group would like to be involved then please email sandgateenvironmentalaction@gmail.com with your contact details and they will be in touch.
The-Big-Green-Fair-2026-Information-16_02_26
The agenda for the Sandgate Parish Council Full Parish Council meeting, to held on Monday 23rd February 2026, in Sandgate Library at 6.45pm (or the fall of the Planning Committee meeting, whichever is later).
Agenda-council-meeting-23-02-2026The Council meeting is open to press and public. If you would like to attend this meeting, please notify clerk@sandgate-pc.gov.uk in advance. Letting us know allows us to make sure we have sufficient seats for you and allow reasonable spacing.
We keep a full list of previous Sandgate Parish Council Meeting Agenda and Minutes on this website. We publish those agendas a few days before each meeting, and will also post draft minutes in the week after a meeting.
Most of our meetings are broadcast live on our Facebook page. We’ll then leave those recordings on Facebook for a few months after the meeting so you can watch them back later.
We issue agenda’s at least three clear days before a meeting. We display them on the noticeboard in the library, Parish noticeboards on the Village Green and by Enbrook Valley shops, and on our website.
The minimum three clear days for notice of a meeting does not include:
All meetings of our Council are open to the public, except in limited defined circumstances. We can only decide, by resolution, to meet in private when discussing confidential business or for other special reasons where publicity would be prejudicial to the public interest.
Those reasons might include, for example, discussing the conduct of employees, negotiations of contracts or terms of tender, or the early stages of a legal dispute.
The agenda for the Sandgate Parish Council Planning Committee meeting, to held on 23rd February at the fall of the Finance Committee meeting (or 6.30pm, whichever is later) at Sandgate Library.
Planning-Agenda-23-02-26The Planning Committee meeting is open to press and public. If any member of the public wishes to attend, please can they notify clerk@sandgate-pc.gov.uk in advance. This allows us to ensure we have sufficient seats and allow reasonable spacing.
Previous Sandgate Parish Council Planning Committee Agenda and Minutes. We publish agendas a few days before a meeting. We then post draft minutes in the week after a meeting.
Most of our meetings will be broadcast live on our Facebook page. Recordings of the meetings will be left on Facebook for a few months after the meeting so they can be watched back later. Comments left on Facebook broadcasts during the meeting are not be monitored and are not a way of feeding back to the Council.
We issue agendas at least three clear days before a meeting. We display them on the noticeboard in the library, Parish noticeboards on the Village Green and by Enbrook Valley shops, and on our website.
The minimum three clear days for notice of a meeting does not include:
All meetings of our Council are open to the public, except in limited defined circumstances. We can only decide, by resolution, to meet in private when discussing confidential business or for other special reasons where publicity would be prejudicial to the public interest.
Those reasons might include, for example, discussing the conduct of employees, negotiations of contracts or terms of tender, or the early stages of a legal dispute.
The agenda of Sandgate’s Parish Council Finance Committee meeting. We will hold the meeting on 23rd February at 6.15pm. It will be held in Sandgate Library.
Our Finance Committee meeting is open to press and public. Please could any member of the public who wants to attend notify us via clerk@sandgate-pc.gov.uk in advance. This allows us to ensure we have sufficient seats and allow reasonable spacing.
We publish our financial reporting on the “in-running” budget monthly. So at this meeting we will consider the reports since the last meeting.
Previous Sandgate Parish Council Finance Committee Agendas, Minutes and Financial Reports.
We use (the excellent) Scribe Accounts to manage our Council accounts and generate reports.
Sandgate Parish Council’s finances are governed by our Financial Regulations and Standing Orders, and every Town and Parish Council has similar rules. Because those rules govern our financial management, we can only amend or vary them by a Council resolution.
The Council’s Standing Orders require quarterly reporting of receipts, payments and balances. For instance, they say at 17.c:
The Responsible Financial Officer shall supply to each councillor as soon as practicable after 30 June, 30 September and 31 December in each year a statement to summarise:
i. the council’s receipts and payments for each quarter;
ii. the council’s aggregate receipts and payments for the year to date;
iii. the balances held at the end of the quarter being reported
and which includes a comparison with the budget for the financial year and highlights any actual or potential overspends.
We’re now publishing our reports monthly, exceeding that requirement. Consequently we will consider the reports at the next Parish Council Resources Committee meeting.
The minutes of Sandgate’s Parish Council Planning Committee meeting, held on 2nd February 2026, in Sandgate Library.
02-02-26-Planning-MinutesYou can find previous Sandgate Parish Planning Committee Agendas and Minutes on this website. We publish agendas a few days before a meeting. The Clerk then posts draft minutes in the week after a meeting.
We broadcast our meetings live on our Facebook page. Those meeting recordings are then left live for a few months after the meeting, giving you the chance to watch it back later!
The next suitable meeting will formally approve the draft minutes of this meeting. When approved, the Chairman of that meeting then signs them.
The signed minutes of the meeting serve as the legal record of what has taken place at the meeting. Before a meeting approves the draft minutes of a preceding meeting, the meeting may, by resolution, correct any inaccuracies in the draft minutes. The attendance (or otherwise) of the Chairman or those voting in favour to amend or approve of the minutes is irrelevant.
Only if meeting minutes are found to be inaccurate after they have been signed can they then be altered. Inaccuracies in signed minutes can only be amended by resolution at a subsequent meeting.
The minutes of Sandgate’s Parish Council meeting, held on 26th January 2026, in Sandgate Library.
Minutes-council-meeting-26-01-2026Meeting video at: https://www.facebook.com/sandgatepc/videos/793301163761115
Previous Sandgate Parish Council Meeting Agendas and Minutes. We publish agendas a few days before a meeting. We then post draft minutes in the week after a meeting.
Most of our meetings are also broadcast live on our Facebook page. Those recordings are left on Facebook for a few months after the meeting so can be watched back later.
We broadcast our meetings live on our Facebook page (although we’re sorry: this one was not). Those meeting recordings are then left live after the meeting, giving you the chance to watch it back later. However Facebook are now removing recordings older than a few weeks, so don’t wait for long!
The next suitable meeting will formally approve the draft minutes of this meeting. When approved, the Chairman of that meeting then signs them.
The signed minutes of the meeting serve as the legal record of what has taken place at the meeting. Before a meeting approves the draft minutes of a preceding meeting, the meeting may, by resolution, correct any inaccuracies in the draft minutes. The attendance (or otherwise) of the Chairman or those voting in favour to amend or approve of the minutes is irrelevant.
Only if meeting minutes are found to be inaccurate after they have been signed can they then be altered. Inaccuracies in signed minutes can only be amended by resolution at a subsequent meeting.
The minutes of Sandgate’s Parish Council Sea Festival and Events Committee meeting, held on 26th January 2026, in Sandgate Library.
Sea-Festival-minutes-for-26-01-2025You can find previous Sandgate Parish Sea Festival and Events Committee Agendas and Minutes on this website. We publish agendas a few days before a meeting. The Clerk then posts draft minutes in the week after a meeting.
We broadcast our meetings live on our Facebook page. Those meeting recordings are then left live for a few months after the meeting, giving you the chance to watch it back later!
The next suitable meeting will formally approve the draft minutes of this meeting. When approved, the Chairman of that meeting then signs them.
The signed minutes of the meeting serve as the legal record of what has taken place at the meeting. Before a meeting approves the draft minutes of a preceding meeting, the meeting may, by resolution, correct any inaccuracies in the draft minutes. The attendance (or otherwise) of the Chairman or those voting in favour to amend or approve of the minutes is irrelevant.
Only if meeting minutes are found to be inaccurate after they have been signed can they then be altered. Inaccuracies in signed minutes can only be amended by resolution at a subsequent meeting.
The minutes of Sandgate’s Parish Council Finance Committee meeting, held on 26th January 2026, in Sandgate Library.
Finance-Minutes-26-01-2026You can find previous Sandgate Parish Council Finance Committee Agendas, Minutes and Financial Reports on this website. We publish agendas a few days before a meeting. The Clerk then posts draft minutes in the week after a meeting.
We broadcast our meetings live on our Facebook page. Those meeting recordings are then left live for a few months after the meeting, giving you the chance to watch it back later!
The next suitable meeting will formally approve the draft minutes of this meeting. When approved, the Chairman of that meeting then signs them.
The signed minutes of the meeting serve as the legal record of what has taken place at the meeting. Before a meeting approves the draft minutes of a preceding meeting, the meeting may, by resolution, correct any inaccuracies in the draft minutes. The attendance (or otherwise) of the Chairman or those voting in favour to amend or approve of the minutes is irrelevant.
Only if meeting minutes are found to be inaccurate after they have been signed can they then be altered. Inaccuracies in signed minutes can only be amended by resolution at a subsequent meeting.