Conservatives For Herne Bay

15/10/2026

Canterbury City Council is holding a consultation asking whether people living and working in Herne Bay would like a Town Council re-established.

It would be good to have as many responses along with your reasons for your viewpoint whether you are for, against or would like to propose an alternative form of local governance.

More information on the proposals and how to take part, including a useful resource library, are available here https://news.canterbury.gov.uk/consultations/community-governance-review-stage-two-have-your-say-on-local-representation/

Or you can simply email [email protected]

There is a public meeting on November 12 at Herne Bay Baptist Church from 6pm where you will be able to ask questions and find out more information about the proposals. We look forward to seeing many of you there.

14/10/2026

Is our local council getting its priorities right?

With 2027 local elections approaching, we want to know what matters most to you, what’s working and what needs to change.

Tell us what you think - our short survey takes just a few minutes:

Tell us your views....

25/09/2026

The revival of our party is continuing at pace and we are looking to sign up new members, ahead of council and Parliamentary elections in the next few years.

If you want to make a difference to the direction of our local area, as well as the country, please watch our video from other local members and sign up to join us today 💙 🤝

https://www.facebook.com/share/r/1DcPh7LQ44/

10/09/2026

We are opposed to Labour's holiday tax. An attack on a seaside town like Herne Bay - damaging jobs and businesses.

We are opposed to Labour's holiday tax and will vote against any proposals to introduce this. We are particularly concerned about the proposal to allow uncapped rates which is foolish.

At a time when youth unemployment is rising, we should be doing all we can to help our young folk into jobs. Increases in the minimum wage, employers, NI and business rates have already seen cuts in jobs.

We live in an area where the hospitality industry is vital and we need to do everything we can to encourage overnight stays by visitors to boost our economy. We are just returning to pre-Covid levels. Why clobber us again?

In a cost of living crisis, it's totally unfair to put an unnecessary and expensive additional tax on British holidaymakers.

There's absolutely no reason to believe the income from a tourism tax will be used to improve council services for local people. Most of it will be swallowed up in bureaucracy or wasted on Labour's vanity projects.

07/09/2026

Another shambolic policy from this Government... ending in another U-turn.
Whatever your views on the reorgnisation of local councils in Kent, I think everyone can agree that Angela Raynor has wasted a huge amount of time and money 😡

Kent and Medway is one of 14 areas where the controversial local government shake-up is to be reviewed and put on ice

07/09/2026

We've been preparing for Local Government Reorganisation for nearly two years in Canterbury.

Not only has it cost a lot of tax payers' money that could have been spent elsewhere, it's wasted a lot of time that could have been spent on delivering better services and it's put the people working in local government through an unnecessary period of uncertainty.

Today, the government has announced a review of LGR, which is basically an abrupt stop of the process. Elections will now be held for Canterbury City Council in May 2027 and the council is not being abolished - or not yet - or rather who knows what is going on?

The sheer incompetence of this Labour government beggars belief. Is it about delivering better services or about Labour wanting more control? I don't think it has a clue.

This affects ordinary people facing daily challenges who are homeless, who have children with special education needs or adults who are in social care. It means that the joined up services we were hoping to be delivering from 2028 to better serve our communities won't be happening.

It means the savings that could have been made delivering more joined up services for residents have just been dumped.

It's a mess made by this wholly incompetent Labour government.

27/07/2026

The extra security presence we successfully lobbied for last year has returned to Herne Bay for the summer. Early signs are positive again, with little anti-social behaviour around the town, so let's hope for a fun-filled summer 😎

Security guards have been drafted in for the second summer running to help tackle anti-social behaviour in two Kent coastal towns over the summer.

22/07/2026

Thousands have signed a petition urging a council to rethink plans to evict six businesses from an industrial estate to make way for new homes.

14/07/2026

We've received this from South East Water this morning just as they managed to avoid turning off our taps again.

Let's hope they put this money to good use to fix and upgrade local water infrastructure such as at the drinking water pumping and treatment stations.

We cannot go on with weekly announcements that our water may be turned off at any moment.

We are seconding another motion coming to Canterbury City Council on July 16 and will continue to challenge our local water companies to do better and deliver their statutory obligations which we pay for as customers.

From SE Water:
"I am writing to share an important update regarding the conclusion of Ofwat’s investigation into our historical supply disruptions between 2020 and 2023.

"Today, South East Water has finalised a £30.5 million redress package, which will be wholly funded by SEW’s shareholders, agreed in close collaboration with Ofwat. This legally binding commitment will replace an initially proposed £22 million fine, ensuring that all funds are invested directly into local network resilience and community redress.

"Our sincere apologies

"We are incredibly sorry that water supplies have been affected for some of our customers across Kent and Sussex, sometimes on multiple occasions. This is not the level of service we aim to provide, nor is it the service that our customers deserve. We understand how difficult these disruptions have been personally for families, local businesses, and the wider community.

"We accept Ofwat's findings regarding these past supply failures.

"Direct redress for impacted communities

"Creating direct redress for impacted customers is at the very heart of this outcome. The £30.5 million redress package is strictly focused on making visible, rapid improvements for the customers who suffered the most. Through the package, the company’s shareholders will fund:

"£13m to undertake further investment following an independent root and branch review of the company’s resilience.

"£5m to speed up the smart metering programme for businesses.

"£5m to help households to collect rainwater and reduce demand on the mains supply through the provision of free water butts.

"£5m to install on-site storage tanks and smart meters in high-usage businesses to help manage the network better at peak times.

"£1m to make sure critical settings don't run out of water if there is a future outage.

"£1.5m to create a community relief fund to give back to communities that suffered the worst water supply failures.

"Our Commitment Moving Forward

"We are entirely focused on learning from these past challenges. This package directly aligns with our upcoming Price Review 24 (PR24) Business Plan, which represents our largest-ever investment programme. Moving forward, our absolute priority is investing heavily in transforming our business, creating sustainable water resources, improving network resilience, and increasing our drinking water storage capacity.

"We recognise that rebuilding your trust requires visible action and long-term network reliability. We remain fully committed to delivering the resilient public water supply that you and your constituents expect and deserve.

"If you have any questions please do not hesitate to reach out. Details of the individual schemes will be shared with you in due course.

Yours sincerely,

Lisa Clement,

Interim Chair,

South East Water."

02/07/2026

We are opposed to Canterbury City Council's plans to stop renewing leases for small businesses operating in the Nursery Industrial Units at Sea Street.

These are good small businesses that add to the economy of Herne Bay.

This site is in the council's proposed Local Plan for development as housing. This is clearly a site that meets the Labour Party's objectives of developing brownfield sites without any regard for small local businesses. And we oppose this.

At the very least, given the Council has no plans to develop this site itself and no developer has come forward, we will demand that the Council rolls leases for six months until it is in a position to develop this site.

Given that CCC has some brownfield sites in past Local Plans that are yet to be developed, we expect this could be many years if not decades.

Why does Labour-run CCC want to stop businesses in Herne Bay operating and leave sites potentially vacant, derelict and vandalised with no plans to rehome businesses or build new housing?